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39 . Pine Creek

Location: North-central Pennsylvania, about a 1-hour ride from State College, a 2-hour ride from Harrisburg, a 3½-hour ride from Philadelphia; and a 3½-hour ride from New York City. Full-service airports are available in all four cities.

The South, Middle, and West branches of Pine Creek converge near the town of Galeton to form Pine Creek, sometimes referred to as Big Pine Creek. The creek enters what is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania near the town of Ansonia. Here it is paralleled by the Pine Creek Rail Trail. From here the stream travels due south to the town of Blackwell. Routes 414 and 44 parallel the creek for the rest of its length. The stream ends at its confluence with the West Branch of The Susquehanna River near Williamsport—home of Little League Baseball.

The Iroquois called this stream Tiadaghton, or “The River of Pines.” It is the longest creek in the United States, at over 85 miles. The watershed covers more than 975 square miles. The creek drops 1,900 feet in elevation over its length. There are four major tributaries: the West Branch of Pine Creek, Marsh Creek, Babb Creek, and Little Pine Creek.

From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, demand for timber by the shipbuilding industry left the Pine Creek Valley a barren wasteland. The debris the loggers left behind fueled massive wildfires that led to extensive erosion and siltation. This left Pine Creek a lifeless stream. The forest was eventually reclaimed, and today the area is an inviting recreational area with stands of trees over a hundred years old. The streams have cleansed themselves and now host populations of wild brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, and walleye.