The Narrows is a
water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a pract ...
where the
Raystown Branch of the Juniata River passes through
Evitts Mountain
Evitts Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and Allegany County, Maryland.
Geography
The ridge line runs north from Rocky Gap State Park in Ma ...
in
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. The county is part of the Southwest region of the commonwealth.
History 18th century
According to ...
. Both
U.S. Route 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...
(part of the
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...
) and the
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for across the southern part of the st ...
pass through the gap. It is located in the
townships
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
of
Snake Spring and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
.
Geology
A major group of east-west trending
faults and the erosional force of the
Raystown Branch of the Juniata River are responsible for the existence of this
water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a pract ...
. Four formations are exposed on the north side of the gap (along a roadcut for the Turnpike): The
Tuscarora, the
Juniata, the
Bald Eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
, and the
Reedsville Formation.
[Berg, T.M., Edmunds, W.E., Geyer, A.R. and others, compilers, (1980). Geologic Map of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, Map 1, scale 1:250,000.] The Tuscarora is exposed on the south side of the gap along Rt. 30.
References
Water gaps of Pennsylvania
Landforms of Bedford County, Pennsylvania
{{BedfordCountyPA-geo-stub