The Little Juniata River, sometimes called the "Little J," is a river in central Pennsylvania. It is a 32.1-mile-long (51.7 km)[1] tributary of the Juniata River in the Susquehanna River watershed. It is formed at Altoona by the confluence of several short streams. It flows northeast in the Logan Valley at the foot of Brush Mountain.
At Tyrone, the river receives the southern Bald Eagle Creek, then turns abruptly southeast, passing through a water gap between the Brush and Bald Eagle Mountain ridges and enters the Sinking Valley where it receives Sinking Run. Approximately 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, near Petersburg, it joins the Frankstown Branch Juniata River, forming the Juniata River.[2]
In colonial America, the river provided the farthest canoe-navigable headstream along the Alleghenies of the Juniata River, allowing a portage over the ridge through the Kittanning Gap. In the 1830s, its valley was used as part of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, which connected to the Allegheny Portage Railroad at Hollidaysburg, along a tributary of the Little Juniata southeast of Altoona.
The Little Juniata River is a good spot for fly fishing; trout inhabit its waters. Former President Jimmy Carter is said to have enjoyed fishing at Spruce Creek on the river's lower half.