Lehigh Gorge State Park
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| Lehigh Gorge State Park, Pennsylvania, USA | |
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| IUCN Category III (Natural Monument) | |
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| Location: | Luzerne County, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nearest city: | Hazleton, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 4,548 acres (18.41 km²) |
| Established: | 1980 |
| Governing body: | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park encompasses the Lehigh 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. The primary recreational activity at Lehigh Gorge State Park is white water rafting.
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[edit] Park access
There are three primary access areas for the park. The northern access point is at White Haven, just off exit 273 of Interstate 80 on Pennsylvania Route 940. The central access point is near Rockport, a few miles off Pennsylvania Route 93 near the borough of Weatherly. The southern access point is just of exit 74 of Interstate 476 near Glen Onoko and Pennsylvania Route 903.
[edit] History
[edit] Coal
The history of Lehigh Gorge State Park is tied into the development of anthracite coal mining, which was once the center of the economy of northeastern Pennsylvania. Coal was discovered near Summit Hill in 1791, leading to rapid development of the area to mine the coal from the mountains and ship it to the cities of the east coast of the United States. However, Lehigh Gorge and its rapid waters stood in the way as barges could not pass the rapids. This problem was solved by Josiah White and the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, which built a canal through the gorge by reshaping the river. Twenty dams and twenty nine locks were built between what was then known as Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) and White Haven. The Upper Grand Section of the Lehigh Canal was destroyed by severe flooding in the mid-1800s and was eventually replaced by railroads.
[edit] Lumber
Naturalist and painter John James Audubon visited the Lehigh Gorge in 1829 and spent over a month painting the birds of the area. At this time the gorge was largely untouched by human hands, but Audubon could see that this was not to last. The demand for lumber was intense during the mid to late 1800s and the forests of much of Pennsylvania were stripped bare. Lehigh Gorge was no exception, its old growth forests of white pine and hemlock were harvested and sent down the Lehigh River. The wood was used for lumber and the bark was used in tanneries to make leather. The second largest tannery in the United States was along the Lehigh River at the small town of Lehigh Tannery. By 1875 most of the saleable timber had been clear-cut,with many acres of dried treetops and other wooden debris left on the ground. That same year a spark from a passing coal-fired steam locomotive ignited a massive forest fire that burned the debris, the remaining standing timber, the sawmills, and their lumber stockpiles. This forest fire brought about the end of the lumber era in the Lehigh Gorge.
[edit] From resort to state park
Lehigh Gorge was a resort area for a brief time at the turn of the twentieth century. Railroads operated tourist lines that led to a resort area at Glen Onoko. The resort hotel there had 47 rooms, tennis courts, a dance pavilion, and trails that led to the scenic Glen Onoko Falls. This area was very popular with people seeking to get away from the polluted cities in the northeastern United States. The hotel and surrounding forests were destroyed by fire in the 1910s and the Lehigh Gorge area was largely forgotten until the 1970s, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania began to buy land, leading to the establishment of Lehigh Gorge State Park in 1980.
[edit] Recreation
The primary recreational use of Lehigh Gorge State Park is on the whitewater of the gorge. Other uses are hiking, bicycling, sight seeing and animal/bird watching along the abandoned railroad grade of the Lehigh Gorge Trail. The park is also open to hunting and fishing.
[edit] Rafting
Rafting is very popular in Lehigh Gorge State Park. The Lehigh River is rated a Class III river on the International Scale of River Difficulty, although this depends on the water conditions, which are generally best in the spring. The conditions are controlled by the amount of rainfall in the area and by the amount of water released from the Francis E. Walter Dam at White Haven by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All boaters must wear life jackets that are in compliance with the rules and regulations of the United States Coast Guard. Several licensed commercial outfitters currently operate on the Lehigh River.
[edit] Hunting and fishing
Hunting is permitted in much of Lehigh Gorge State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania State Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, squirrels, turkey, white-tailed deer, black bear and rabbits. The hunting of groundhogs is not permitted at the park. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission assures that anglers will have plenty of chances to catch fish by stocking trout in the waters of the Lehigh River.
[edit] Nearby state parks
The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Lehigh Gorge State Park:
- Beltzville State Park (Carbon County)
- Big Pocono State Park (Monroe County)
- Frances Slocum State Park (Luzerne County)
- Gouldsboro State Park (Monroe and Wayne Counties)
- Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center (Northampton County)
- Hickory Run State Park (Carbon County)
- Locust Lake State Park (Schuylkill County)
- Nescopeck State Park (Luzerne County)
- Tobyhanna State Park (Monroe and Wayne Counties)
- Tuscarora State Park (Schuylkill County)
[edit] References
- Lehigh Gorge State Park. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.
- Lehigh Gorge State Park, USGS CHRISTMANS (PA) Topo Map. TopoZone. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.
- Find a Park Northeast Pennsylvania Mountains. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.
