Youghiogheny River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Youghiogheny River
Ohiopyle Falls along the Youghiogheny
Ohiopyle Falls along the Youghiogheny
Country United States
States Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia
Counties Allegheny, PA, Westmoreland, PA, Fayette, PA, Somerset, PA, Garrett, MD, Preston, WV
Major cities McKeesport, PA, Connellsville, PA
Length 122 mi (196 km) [1]
Watershed 1,715 mi² (4,442 km²) [2]
Discharge Sutersville, PA
 - average 3,477 ft³/s (98 m³/s) [3][2]
 - maximum 717 ft³/s (20 m³/s)
 - minimum 35,500 ft³/s (1,005 m³/s)
Discharge elsewhere
 - Oakland, MD 329 ft³/s (9 m³/s) [4]
Source Silver Lake
 - coordinates 39°15′00″N, 79°29′30″W
 - elevation 2,500 ft (762 m)
Mouth Monongahela River
 - location McKeesport, Allegheny County, PA
 - coordinates 40°21′19″N, 79°52′16″W
 - elevation 718 ft (219 m) [1]
Major tributaries
 - right Casselman River
Map of the Monongahela River basin, with the Youghiogheny River highlighted.
Map of the Monongahela River basin, with the Youghiogheny River highlighted.
Youghiogheny Lake and Dam on the Youghiogheny River near Confluence, Pennsylvania. View is upriver to the south.
Youghiogheny Lake and Dam on the Youghiogheny River near Confluence, Pennsylvania. View is upriver to the south.

The Youghiogheny River (pronounced yah-kuh-GAIN-ee[5] or IPA [ˌjɑ.kəˈgeɪ.ni]; occasionally yok-uh-HAY-nee[6] or IPA [ˌjɑ.kəˈheɪ.ni]) is a tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately 122 mi (195 km)[1] long, in the U.S. states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It drains an area on the west side of the Allegheny Mountains northward into Pennsylvania, providing the drainage for extreme western Maryland in the watershed of the Mississippi River.

Contents

[edit] Description

The Youghiogheny rises in northern West Virginia, in Preston County southeast of Kingwood and near Backbone Mountain. The headwaters are approximately 10 mi (16 km) north of the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River. It flows NNE into Garrett County, Maryland, flowing north past Oakland and roughly parallel to the West Virginia border, separated by approximately 3 mi (5 km). It enters southwestern Pennsylvania on the border between Fayette and Somerset counties. It flows northwest through a gap in Chestnut Ridge and then past Connellsville. It joins the Monongahela from the southeast at McKeesport, southeast of Pittsburgh.

Upstream from Confluence, Pennsylvania, approximately 6 mi (10 km) north of Pennsylvania border, the river is impounded by the 184 ft (56 m) high Youghiogheny Dam to form the Youghiogheny River Lake, a reservoir that stretches upstream into northern Maryland. The dam was completed in 1944 primarily for flood control.

[edit] History

In the colonial era and in the early United States, the valley of the river provided an important route of access through the mountains for settlers and military forces from Virginia to the Ohio Country of Western Pennsylvania. In 1754, as a militia officer of the British colony of Virginia, George Washington followed the river in an attempt to find a water route to Fort Duquesne, then held by the French.

A former pioneer fort at Somerset, Pennsylvania was inundated by the building of the Youghiogheny Dam. Perryopolis in northern Fayette County, Pennsylvania is the site of the George Washington Grist Mill. The Youghiogheny River Trail follows the river in southwestern Pennsylvania southeast of Connellsville.

Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in the river valley southeast of Connellsville.

A portion of the river in Maryland has been set aside by the state as Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River.

[edit] Recreation

The Youghiogheny is popular for whitewater kayaking and rafting. Three sections of the river, varying in difficulty, are available on a predictable basis for whitewater recreation:

[edit] Crossings

Main article: List of crossings of the Youghiogheny River

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Geographic Names Information System entry
  2. ^ a b Based on information from United States Geological Survey (USGS); USGS 03083500 Youghiogheny River at Sutersville, PA retrieved March 17, 2007. Sutersville is several miles upriver from McKeesport and thus the real figure is higher.
  3. ^ USGS, Table of average annual daily discharges for Youghiogheny River at Sutersville, PA, retrieved March 17, 2007. Figure cited is for 2005, most recent year for which figures are available.
  4. ^ USGS, Table of average annual daily discharge for Youghiogheny River at Oakland, PA, retrieved March 17, 2007. FFigure cited is for 2005, most recent year for which figures are available.
  5. ^ Pennsylvania Vacation Travel
  6. ^ Whitewater rafting on the Lower Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania
  • Palmer, Tim (1984). Youghiogheny: Appalachian River. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0822953617.

[edit] External links

[edit] Online maps and aerial photos

Mouth or other endpoint (Monongahela River, McKeesport)

Source (Silver Lake)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../y/o/u/Youghiogheny_River_0c70.html"
In other languages