Clarion River
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The Clarion River is a
tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...
of the
Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...
, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, in west central
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It drains a rugged area of the Allegheny Plateau in the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
watershed, flowing through narrow serpentine
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
s and hardwood
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s.


Course

The river is formed at Johnsonburg in central Elk County by the confluence of its East and West Branches. The East Branch, approximately 15 mi (24 km) long, rises in northeastern Elk County and flows southwest through East Branch Clarion River Lake to join the West Branch. The river flows generally west-southwest across western Pennsylvania in a tight
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
ing course past Ridgway and Clarion. It joins the Allegheny from the east in western Clarion County approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of Emlenton. The Clarion is a designated part of the National Wild and Scenic River program.


Discharges


History

Before 1817, the Clarion River was more commonly called "Tobeco," likely a corruption of ''Tuppeek-hanne'', meaning the stream that flows from a large spring. The French explorers named the river Rivière au Fiel. Settlers called it the Toby or Stump Creek as early as 1809. The name Clarion was given by surveyor Daniel Stanard in 1817, who said the water sounded like a distant clarion. At the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th century, much of what is now the Allegheny National Forest and surrounding areas were deforested, in part to make way for the oil boom that followed Edwin Drake's discovery of oil near Titusville on August 27, 1859, but also for wood chemicals. Bark was in especially high demand for local tanneries that produced prodigious amounts of leather. This deforestation significantly degraded the watershed of the upper Allegheny in general, leading to floods downstream (particularly in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
), and eventually to the declaration of the national forest in 1923, but in the case of the Clarion River, run-off from tanneries compounded the problem, as did
acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...
. The Clarion was an important part of the timber industry, allowing timber to be transported downstream to the Allegheny, then the Ohio, and ultimately the Mississippi. The Clarion River came to be Pennsylvania's most polluted waterway. The regrowth of the forest did much to help restore the Clarion River, as well as a major cleaning effort in the 1980s. Today, the river is used for fishing, canoeing, and other recreational activities, and runs through extensive wildlife and forest areas, including a inventoried roadless area that has been proposed as a
wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...
. In 1996, a stretch of the Clarion River was designated a National Wild & Scenic River.Clarion River
,
National Wild & Scenic Rivers System
/ref> The bridge at Cooksburg is in Clarion County in its western portion, passes through a narrow spike of Forest County in its middle, and is in Jefferson County at its east end. USS Clarion River (LSM(R)-409) was an LSM(R)-401-class medium-type landing ship (LSM) built for the United States Navy during World War II.


See also

* List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers *
List of rivers of Pennsylvania This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Delaware Bay Chesapeake Bay *''E ...
* List of tributaries of the Allegheny River * Wilderness Act


References


External links


U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Allegheny River Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Allegheny Plateau Rivers of Clarion County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Forest County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Elk County, Pennsylvania