Pine Creek (Pennsylvania)

For other streams in Pennsylvania named Pine Creek, see Pine Creek (disambiguation).

Pine Creek
Pine Creek from the Pine Creek Rail Trail in Lycoming County
Basin
Main source	Ulysses Township, Potter County
Source elevation	2,420 feet (740 m)
River mouth	West Branch Susquehanna River between the boroughs of Avis and Jersey Shore 41°10′16″N 77°16′09″W / 41.1710°N 77.2691°W / 41.1710; -77.2691Coordinates: 41°10′16″N 77°16′09″W / 41.1710°N 77.2691°W / 41.1710; -77.2691
Size	979 square miles (2,540 km²)
Countries	Potter, Tioga, Lycoming and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania, United States
Physiognomy
Length	87.2 miles (140.3 km)

Map of the West Branch Susquehanna River (dark blue) and major streams in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Pine Creek (red) is the first major stream to enter the river in the county. Key to Pine Creek tributaries: 1 = West Branch Pine Creek; 2 = Marsh Creek; 3 = Babb Creek; 4 = Little Pine Creek / Blockhouse Creek

Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is 87.2 miles (140.3 km) long.^[1] Within Tioga County, 23.25 miles (37.42 km) of Pine Creek are designated as a Pennsylvania Scenic River.

Pine Creek is the largest tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River and has the largest watershed of all the West Branch’s tributaries.

Name

Pine Creek is named for the many pine trees that lined (and now again line) much of its banks.^[2] The Iroquois called Pine Creek Tiadaghton, which according to Owlett, either meant "The River of Pines" or "The Lost or Bewildered River". Pine Creek is the largest "creek" in the United States.^[3]

Geography

Pine Creek's source is in Potter County, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Ulysses. It flows southeast 16 miles (26 km) to Galeton, where it receives its first major tributary, the West Branch Pine Creek. It then flows east 12 miles (19 km) to Tioga County and the village of Ansonia. Here it receives its second major tributary, Marsh Creek, and turns south again for 16 miles (26 km). This stretch is the start of the Pine Creek Gorge, which is about 1,000 feet (300 m) deep in places.

At the village of Blackwell, Pine Creek receives its third major tributary, Babb Creek. It continues southwest 14 miles (23 km) and enters Lycoming County, where it turns southeast for 28 miles (45 km) to its mouth. At Waterville it receives its fourth major tributary, Little Pine Creek. Pine Creek continues south and forms part of the border between Lycoming and Clinton counties.

Its confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River is at this border, between the boroughs of Avis (in Clinton County, to the west) and Jersey Shore (in Lycoming County, to the east).

Pine Creek

The elevation at the source of Pine Creek is 2,420 feet (740 m), while the mouth is at an elevation of 520 feet (160 m). The difference in elevation—1,900 feet (580 m)—divided by the length of the creek—86.5 miles (139.2 km)—gives an average drop or relief ratio of 22.0 ft/mi (4.2 m/km ). The meander ratio is 1.08, so the creek is fairly straight in its bed.^[4]

Watershed

Pine Creek's watershed covers 979 square miles (2,540 km²), the largest watershed of all tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Recreation

Pine Creek and Pine Creek Gorge (also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania) are a popular outdoor recreation destination. The West Rim Trail is a 30-mile-long (48 km) hiking trail along the west rim of the Pine Creek Gorge.

The Pine Creek Rail Trail runs beside the creek through the gorge from Ansonia to Jersey Shore. The railroad through the gorge opened in 1883 as the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway, passing into the control of the Fall Brook Coal Company in 1884, and the New York Central Railroad via a lease in 1899, with full integration into the NYC in 1914. Conrail took over the line in 1976, and the last train ran through the gorge on October 7, 1988.

Pine Creek Gorge Panorama from the West Rim Trail in Tioga County, Pennsylvania

History

The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans, they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly they established what was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the west bank of Pine Creek, very near the mouth.

Bridges

The Bridge in Porter Township was built in 1889.^[5]
The Bridge in Brown Township was built in 1890.^[5]
The English Center Suspension Bridge was built in 1891.^[5]

References

↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 8, 2011
↑ Meginness, John Franklin (1892). "Chapter II.". History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: including its aboriginal history; the colonial and revolutionary periods; early settlement and subsequent growth; organization and civil administration; the legal and medical professions; internal improvement; past and present history of Williamsport; manufacturing and lumber interests; religious, educational, and social development; geology and agriculture; military record; sketches of boroughs, townships, and villages; portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, etc. etc. (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co. ISBN 0-7884-0428-8. Retrieved 2006-03-16. (Note: ISBN refers to Heritage Books July 1996 reprint. URL is to a scan of the 1892 version with some OCR typos).
↑ Owlett, Steven E. (1993). Seasons Along The Tiadaghton: An Environmental History of the Pine Creek Gorge (1st ed.). Petaluma, CA: Interprint. ISBN 0-9635905-0-2.
↑ Shaw, Lewis C. Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams Part II (Water Resources Bulletin No. 16). Prepared in Cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey (1st ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Resources (no ISBN).
1 2 3 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP

National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko

National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP

National Trails	Appalachian Trail

Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Blue Marsh National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Middle Delaware National Scenic River Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

National Forests	Allegheny

USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers

National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands

State

State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station S. B. Elliott Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek

State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Lackawanna Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn (Wild areas)

Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek

Other

Other	Anders Run Natural Area Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area Johnson Run Natural Area Stone Valley Recreation Area Trexler Nature Preserve Wykoff Run Natural Area

Hiking trails	Appalachian Baker Black Forest Central Mountains Shared Use Darlington Eastern Continental Five Star Glacier Ridge Great Eastern Greene River Horse-Shoe Indian Creek Valley Loyalsock Mid State Standing Stone Mason-Dixon North Country Ohio River Old Loggers Path Pinchot Potomac Heritage Quehanna Rachel Carson Sheepskin Susquehannock Thunder Swamp Tuscarora Valley Forge Historical West Rim Wissahickon Youghiogheny River

Rail trails	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Beaver River East Coast Greenway Five Star Ghost Town Great Allegheny Passage Great Shamokin Path Greene River Indian Creek Valley Lebanon Valley Lehigh Gorge Liberty Bell Lower Montour Ohio River Palmer Bikeway Panhandle Perkiomen Pine Creek Plainfield Township Schuylkill River Sheepskin Struble Susquehanna Warrior Switchback Three Rivers Heritage York Country Heritage Youghiogheny River

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Susquehanna River system

Streams shown as: Tributaries
subtributaries
(subsubtributaries)

Lower Susquehanna River

Juniata River

West Branch Susquehanna River

Middle Susquehanna River

Chemung River

	Susquehanna R. (mouth) Baldwin Cr. Bentley Cr. Seeley Cr. South Cr. Newtown Cr. Cohocton R. Meads Cr. Mud Cr. Campbell Cr. Fivemile Cr. Tioga R. Canisteo R. (Tuscarora Cr.) (Bennetts Cr.) (Canacadea Cr.) Cowanesque R. (Troups Cr.) Crooked Cr. Mill Cr.

Upper Susquehanna River

Chemung R.
Cayuta Cr.
Wappasening Cr.
Pipe Cr.
Owego Cr.
Catatonk Cr.
Apalachin Cr.
Nanticoke Cr.
Choconut Cr.
Chenango R.
Tioughnioga R.
(Otselic R.)
Canasawacta Cr.
Genegantslet Cr.
Sangerfield R.
Snake Cr.
Salt Lick Cr.
Starrucca Cr.
Kelsey Brook
Unadilla R.
Butternut Cr.
Wharton Cr.
Ouleout Cr.
Otego Cr.
Charlotte Cr.
Schenevus Cr.
Cherry Valley Cr.
Oaks Cr.
Otsego Lake (New York) (source)

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