Pine Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The creek is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed August 8, 2011 Within Tioga County, 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 A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

trees that lined (and now again line) much of its banks. The

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

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.

Geography

Pine Creek's source is in Potter County, southeast of Ulysses. It flows southeast to Galeton, where it receives its first major tributary, the

West Branch Pine Creek West Branch Pine Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Potter County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Summit Township, West Branch Township, and Galeton. Course West Branch Pine Creek begins in ...

. It then flows east to Tioga County and the village of Ansonia. Here it receives its second major tributary, Marsh Creek, and turns south again for . This stretch is the start of the

Pine Creek Gorge Pine Creek Gorge, sometimes called The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is a gorge carved into the Allegheny Plateau by Pine Creek in north-central Pennsylvania. It sits in about of the Tioga State Forest. The canyon begins south of Ansonia, ne ...

, which is about deep in places. left, upPine Creek At the village of Blackwell, Pine Creek receives its third major tributary,

Babb Creek Babb Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2004. The tributary Stony Fork Creek joins Babb Creek just upstream of the community of Blackwell, 3.5 mile ...

. It continues southwest and enters Lycoming County, where it turns southeast for to its mouth. At Waterville it receives its fourth major tributary,

Little Pine Creek Little Pine Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Pine Township and Cummings Township. Course Little Pine Creek begins at the confluence of Texas C ...

. Pine Creek continues south and forms part of the border between Lycoming and Clinton counties. Its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the West Branch Susquehanna River is at this border, between the boroughs of Avis (in Clinton County, to the west) and

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May P ...

(in Lycoming County, to the east). The elevation at the source of Pine Creek is , while the mouth is at an elevation of . The difference in elevation——divided by the length of the creek——gives an average drop or

relief ratio The relief ratio is a number calculated to describe the grade of a river or stream. The calculation is the difference in elevation between the river's source and the river's confluence or mouth divided by the total length Length is a mea ...

of 22.0 ft/mi (4.2 m/km ). The meander ratio is 1.08, so the creek is fairly straight in its bed.

Watershed

Pine Creek's watershed covers , the largest watershed of all tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Recreation

Pine Creek and

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

Pine Creek Rail Trail The Pine Creek Rail Trail is a rail trail in the Appalachian Mountains of north-central Pennsylvania. The trail begins just north of Wellsboro, runs south through Pine Creek Gorge (also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania) and ends at Jer ...

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 The Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway was a railroad built in the early 1880s to give the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad access to the coal regions around Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States. It was originally planned as ...

, passing into the control of the Fall Brook Coal Company in 1884, and the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

via a lease in 1899, with full integration into the NYC in 1914.

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do bus ...

took over the line in 1976, and the last train ran through the gorge on October 7, 1988.

History

The Fair Play Men were illegal

settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

s (

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of

in what is now the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. 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 A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

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 Bridge in Porter Township is a historic lenticular truss bridge spanning Pine Creek at Porter Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1889, and is a single-span bridge that measures long and wide. ''Note:'' This includes ...

was built in 1889. * The Bridge in Brown Township was built in 1890. * The

English Center Suspension Bridge English Center Suspension Bridge is a historic suspension bridge spanning Little Pine Creek in Pine Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1891 and has a single span measuring long and wide. ''Note:'' This includes It was a ...

was built in 1891.

References

External links