Stonycreek River

An Acclaimed Trout Fishery... and a Whitewater Adventure!

      From the Upper Gorge down through the Canyon, the Stonycreek River is a scenic, largely wild resource with enormous, untapped recreational potential.  

      That potential is being discovered by fishermen willing to hike into the Upper Gorge in search of holdover trout, and canoers and kayakers who travel to Somerset County from surrounding states to run the Canyon's whitewater.  

      Other sections of the river offer scenic water trails for less daring canoers; a rail-trail for hiking and biking is being expanded along the lower Stonycreek in and near the City of Johnstown; and enthusiasm for the river is growing as efforts to clean up acid-mine drainage progresses.  

      The Stonycreek begins at Pious Springs in Berlin Borough, 5 miles south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  

      The River flows northward for 43 miles, draining 466 square miles in Somerset and Cambria Counties.  At the Point in Johnstown, the Stony joins the Little Conemaugh River, which flows into the Kiskiminetas River, then the Allegheny River above Pittsburgh.  

      Shade Creek and another tributary, Rhoads Creek, originate high on the Allegheny Front at elevations above 2,700 feet, while Quemahoning Creek and Bens Creek begin high on Laurel ridge at elevations exceeding 2,600 feet.  At its mouth in Johnstown, the Stonycreek is at approximately 1,140 feet elevation.  

      The steepness of the feeder strems and river, evident in descriptive names such as the Upper Gorge and the Canyon, are a primary reason Johnstown has a history of floods.  I 1889, 1936, 1977, the Stonycreek River received ominous notoriety in conjunction with the infamous Johnstown floods.  

      But the elevations and gradients of the headwaters also help make many tributaries excellent whitewater boat runs and cold-water trout fisheries.  

      In addition to Stonycreek Gorge, Beaverdam Creek, Beaverdam Run, Bens Creek and the South Fork of Bens Fork of Bens Creek are trout fisheries managed by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.  Clear Shade Creek and its tributaries Cub and Piney Runs are excellent trout streams, flowing though the Babcock Division of Gallitzin State Forest.  Clear Shade is a popular fishery, Cub Run is more difficult to get to and Piney Run is so isolated that it's classified as a Wild Trout Stream by the Fish Commission.  

      And when water levels are high in the spring, canoers can be found not only on the mainstem Stonycreek, but also on Shade, Clear Shade Paint and Bens creeks.  

      From its headwaters at Berlin, the river meanders through a high plateau of pastureland for 10 miles until it reaches the historic Glessner Covered Bridge, built in 1881, on Township Route 565 a half-mile north of Shaksville.  Much of the stream in this area lacks vegetative cover and has a low gradient, so fishing here is limited.  

      Over the next 9 miles, the river drops 500 feet in elevation through an inaccessible area called the Upper Gorge.  This 9-mile stretch provides some of the best trout fishing in the region and is hailed as one of the nation's best reclaimed trout fisheries on a waterway that once was dead from mine drainage.  

      From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Fish Commission tried several times to stock the Gorge, but periodic bursts of acid-mine drainage produced regular fish kills and frustration.  

      This classic "freestone" river benefited from some mine reclamation in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as slow improvement of several feeder streams from natural causes.  Fisheries experts believe the river has an optimum riffle/pool ratio and a wild and scenic nature that give it potential to become one of the fines sport fisheries in Pennsylvania.  

      The Fish Commission resumed stocking the Gorge in the late 1970s with catchable trout.  In the early 1980s, the Commission switched to stocking fingerlings only to produce more of a wild-trout character. 

      Commission surveys show that the Gorge supports 20 species of fish, including brook, brown and rainbow trout, smallmouth, spotted and rock bass.  And the fishermen report catches of 15-to 18-inch trout.  

      However, access is limited.  The fishery can be accesses upstream of the Gorge at Shanksville or State Route 1007, which follows the river, but the closest access point to the top of the Gorge is Glessner's Covered Bridge on Township Route 565. 

      The only access to the middle of the Gorge is along State Route 1008 near Kimmelton.  The lower end of the Gorge can be reached by hiking upstream from another historic bridge, the Trosletown Bridge built in 1845, located on Township Route 647 a half-mile east of Kantner just south of Route 30.  

      The fishery continues only a short distance below Kantner.  Four miles upstream of Hooversville, acid-mine drainage from Oven Run and Pokeytoen Run seriously degrade the river.  That's not to say that the is dead.  From there to its end, sections of river hold some pollution-tolerant species of fish but aquatic life is far less diverse and in times of high acidity, the fish either die or migrate to cleaner streams.  

      Oven Run and Pokeytown Run are more acidic than vinegar.  Iron from these streams stain the Stonycreek's rocks orange and trash the river's chemistry.  (PH is a measure of acicdity, with 7 being neutral, orange juice at pH 4.5 and vinegar, pH 3.5; Oven Run and Pokeytown run have pH below 3; above Oven Run, he Stonycreek is neutral, but below Oven Run, the river pH ranges from 5.4 to a low of 3,8 -- barley better than vinegar.)

      Ironically, where the Stonycreek becomes so poor, Hooversville draws its drinking water from the river, the best canoeing and kayaking begin, and the river has great potential to become an excellent bass fishery.  

      The 5-mile section from Hooversville to Benson is the site of Benscreek Canoe Club's annual Stonycreek Rendesvour which, in good years, has drawn over 500 boaters for this April event.  This section of river is a scenic course for intermediate and perhaps novice canoers because of its Class 2 and occasional Class 3 rapids (higher classes are more dangerous).  

      But the novices take out at Benson because the next 5 miles can be treacherous.  Not far below Benson is the start of the Stonycreek Canyon, one of the most continuous rapid-pool runs in the East with about 20 Class 3and Class 4 rapids.  When the river flow is high, the ratings on several rapids actually go to the highest rating Class 5, promoting even the most experienced kayakers to stay off the water.  

      The Canyon drops over 200 feet in elevation in about 3 miles, and is one of the most isolated and gorgeous sections of the river.  This was the site of the 1972 Olympics qualifying runs and site of the annual Stonycreek Race, again sponsored by Bens Creek Canoe Club.  The annual event draws whitewater enthusiasts as far away as North Carolina and Vermont.

      Experienced boaters say the Canyon in March and April provides a better run than the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle, one of the most popular rafting and canoeing destinations in the nation, drawing 2 million visitors a year.  

      The Canyon ends at the mouth of Paint Creek on the border of Cambria and Somerset Counties, and from there through the City of Johnstown, the Stonycreek provides intermediate and novice canoeing opportunities.

      Although the boaters can tolerate some mine drainage, the fish have a much tougher time.  Sadly, fisheries experts say the Stonycreek from Hooversville to its mouth could be an outstanding smallmouth bass fishery.  These lower reaches would be too warm for trout, but would support panfish and perhaps a few musky to add fishing trills.  

      Inside the concrete flood-control channels, studies and monitoring by the Stonycreek- Conemaugh River Improvement Project (SCRIP) show that the Stonycreek supports a marginal, probably seasonal fishery of acid-tolerant species.  The Corps of Engineers, in a 1993 study, said the river has seen "dramatic improvement in water quality" with mean total acidity deceased by at least 80% since 1977.  

      In an hour of electrofishing within the Stonycreek's concrete flood channels, the Corps counted 260 fish, mostly suckers and perch, plus a few blacknose dace and creek chub.  The Corps noted that the step from no fishery to even a marginal, seasonal fishery is a major stride.  Once a fishery is established it sometimes expands quickly both in numbers of fish and species of fish, prompting the Corps to predict that demand for access to the river inside the flood-control channels would grow.  

      Indeed this has happened.  On the edge of the city is the first section of Rail-Trail to be completed in the basin.  The two-mile James E. Mayer Trail is extremely popular with local residents, running between the river and a wooded hillside from the city's Moxham neighborhood to the village of Riverside in Stoneycreek Township.  

      The trail is being expanded through the city and will be linked to the James Wolf Sculpture Trail on the wooded hillside adjacent to the famous Johnstown Inclined Plane, which was built after the 1889 flood to provide residents with a convenient means of escaping future floods.  

      The Inclined Plane and the sections of the Sculpture Trail provide great views of the city looking out across the Stonycreek River.  The 9-mile Stonycreek trail will also connect to propsed trails along the Conemaugh  and Little Conemaugh Rivers.  

      All these recreational opportunities will be developed as acid-mine drainage is cleaned up.  The Stonycreek-Conemaugh River Improvement Project, U.S. Soil Conservation Service and other partners are undertaking a $5 million, six-site reclamation effort on Oven Run and Pokeytown Run.  This effort should extend the fishery up to 4 miles, greatly improve public water quality for Hooversville Borough and have a measurable impact on the middle Stony - perhaps enough impact to advance the prospect of a bass fishery between Hooversville and Seanor.  

      Several other mine-discharge remediations are being developed, including projects on Bens Creek and Paint Creek.  And three co-generation power plants in Cambria County are beginning to burn old coal-refuse or boney piles, which are a major contributor of acid, iron and other pollutants. 

      The Stonycreek River is a resource offering amazing diversity, ranging from the urban trail development on its lower end to the excellent trout fishery near its headwaters with highly acclaimed canoe courses and potential bass fishery in the middle.