Allegheny Islands State Park | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
![]() The eastern part of Allegheny Islands State Park and the C. W. Bill Young Lock and Dam (No. 3) on the Allegheny River | |
Location | Allegheny County, Pennsylvania |
Coordinates | 40°32′09″N79°49′44″W / 40.53583°N 79.82889°W [1] |
Area | 43 acres (17 ha) |
Elevation | 735 feet (224 m) [1] |
Established | 1980 |
Named for | Allegheny River islands |
Administrator | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
Allegheny Islands State Park | |
Pennsylvania State Parks |
Allegheny Islands State Park is a 43-acre (17 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Harmar Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The undeveloped park is composed of three alluvial islands located in the middle of the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh. [2] The islands are just north of the boroughs of Oakmont and Plum, and southwest of Cheswick. [3] [4] Bridges for the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) and the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Branch of the Canadian National Railway cross the Allegheny River at the middle island. [5]
The park land on the islands has a total area of 43 acres (17 ha), with two islands downstream of the Allegheny River Lock and Dam Three (officially named the C. W. Bill Young Lock and Dam), and the other island upstream. [2] Twelve Mile Island is the farthest downstream (west) and has a number of houses and buildings on the western four-fifths of the island (the park land is the eastern end). [5] [6] The remaining two islands are both uninhabited and have no structures on them. They were originally one island named Fourteen Mile Island, but were split into two parts by the construction of the dam. [7] Today the name Fourteen Mile Island is given to the middle island, just downstream (west) of the dam, and it is the site of the highway and railroad bridges. [5] [6] According to the USGS GNIS, the last island (which was once part of Fourteen Mile Island) is unnamed (although it is still labeled "Fourteen Mile Island" on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation maps of the Allegheny River.) [1] [8] This unnamed island is the easternmost and the only one upstream of the dam. There are also five to seven shoals near the islands, which are occasionally exposed. [1]
Twelve Mile Island and Fourteen Mile Island are named for their distances, 12 miles (19 km) and 14 miles (23 km), up the Allegheny River from the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers to form the Ohio River in downtown Pittsburgh. They are two of six alluvial islands in the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh (for comparison, near Pittsburgh the Ohio River has only three islands and the Monongahela River has none). "The large number of islands in the Allegheny is a reflection of the large amount of glacially-derived sediment that was moved by the river." [9]
Allegheny Islands State Park was established on December 31, 1980. As of 2007 [update] , it is undeveloped so that there are no facilities, and also no plans for future development. The park can only be accessed by boat. Camping is allowed on the islands and they are open for visits by groups such as the Boy Scouts and Venturing. Allegheny Islands State Park is administered from the Region 2 Office in Prospect, Pennsylvania. [2]
The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Allegheny Islands State Park: [10] [11]
The Ohio River is a 981-mile-long (1,579 km) river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River, which divides the eastern from western United States. It is also the sixth oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for five million people.
The Allegheny River is a 325-mile-long (523 km) tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, northwesterly into New York, then in a zigzag southwesterly across the border and through Western Pennsylvania to join the Monongahela River at the Forks of the Ohio at Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's second most populous city. The county is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region of the commonwealth, and is the center of the Pittsburgh media market.
The Monongahela River, sometimes referred to locally as the Mon, is a 130-mile-long (210 km) river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. The river flows from the confluence of its west and east forks in north-central West Virginia northeasterly into southwestern Pennsylvania, then northerly to Pittsburgh and its confluence with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. The river includes a series of locks and dams that makes it navigable.
The Youghiogheny River, or the Yough for short, is a 134-mile-long (216 km) tributary of the Monongahela River in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It drains an area on the west side of the Allegheny Mountains northward into Pennsylvania, providing a small watershed in extreme western Maryland into the tributaries of the Mississippi River. Youghiogheny is a Lenape word meaning "a stream flowing in a contrary direction".
Point State Park is a Pennsylvania state park which is located on 36 acres (150,000 m2) in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River.
Pennsylvania Route 120 is a state highway located in north-central Pennsylvania in the United States. It stretches from U.S. Route 219 in Ridgway east to US 220 near Lock Haven.
Transport in the U.S. state of West Virginia is handled by the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) which employs more than 6,000 in West Virginia.
Elk State Park is a 3,192-acre (1,292 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jones Township, Elk County and Sergeant Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. East Branch Clarion River Lake is a man-made lake covering 1,160 acres (470 ha) within the park. The lake and streams in the park are stocked with cold and warm water fish. There are 3,151 acres (1,275 ha) of woods open to hunting.
Sycamore Island is an alluvial island in the Allegheny River parallel to Ninemile Island in the borough of Blawnox, Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Route 88 is a 68-mile-long (109 km) north–south state highway located in southwestern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 119 (US 119) in Point Marion less than 2 miles (3 km) from the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border. The northern terminus is at PA 51 in Pittsburgh. PA 88 runs parallel to the Monongahela River for almost its entire length.
Bucktail State Park Natural Area is a 16,433-acre (6,650 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Cameron and Clinton Counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park follows Pennsylvania Route 120 for 75 miles (121 km) between Emporium and Lock Haven. Bucktail State Park Natural Area park runs along Sinnemahoning Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River and also passes through Renovo. The park is named for the Civil War Pennsylvania Bucktails Regiment and is primarily dedicated to wildlife viewing, especially elk.
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a 4,548 acres (1,841 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania. The park encompasses a gorge, which stretches along the Lehigh River from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam in Luzerne County to Jim Thorpe in Carbon County.
Turtle Creek is a 21.1-mile-long (34.0 km) tributary of the Monongahela River that is located in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Situated at its juncture with the Monongahela is Braddock, Pennsylvania, where the Battle of the Monongahela was fought in 1755.
A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roadway mile markers, except that river miles are rarely marked on the physical river; instead they are marked on navigation charts, and topographic maps. Riverfront properties are sometimes partially legally described by their river mile.
Natrona is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is located in western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh. Natrona is situated along the Allegheny River at Lock and Dam Four, Pools Three and Four between Brackenridge, Natrona Heights, Karns, Allegheny Township, and Lower Burrell.
The Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a lock and fixed-crest dam from 1932. It crosses the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park and the suburb of Aspinwall. The lock and dam were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a part of an extensive system of locks and dams to improve navigation along the Allegheny River. It is the most-used lock operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The Davis Island Lock and Dam Site on the Ohio River in Avalon, Pennsylvania, is the site of the former Davis Island lock that was completed in 1885.
The Ohio River Water Trail navigates the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Columbiana, and Hancock in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The trail is under the stewardship of the Ohio River Trail Council. The water trail or blueway geographically extends from the Three Rivers Water Trail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Newell, West Virginia, and East Liverpool, Ohio. The 69-mile Ohio River Water Trail (ORWT) includes 13 miles of the Ohio River along the Three Rivers Water Trail from "The Point" in Pittsburgh at milepost zero downstream to the Dashields Lock and Dam at milepost 13, 33 miles of the Ohio River from Dashields Dam at milepost 13, downstream to Newell at milepost 46.0, 16 miles of the Little Beaver Creek to Beaver Creek State Park, three miles of the Beaver River to the Townsend (Fallston) Dam, and four miles of the Raccoon Creek.