The Susquehanna River Trail... A Pennsylvania Water
Trail
Water trails are recreational waterways on a lake, river, or
ocean between specific points containing access points and day use
and/or camping sites for the boating public. Typically, water
trails emphasize low-impact use and promote stewardship of the
resource. Explore Pennsylvania's first formal water trail...the 24
mile Susquehanna River Trail.
The Susquehanna River begins at Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New
York. It winds its way south into Pennsylvania and ends at Havre de
Grace, Maryland where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. The exact age of
the river is difficult to determine, however, some research has
found that the river is at least 60 million years old.
The Susquehanna River basin drains 27,500 square miles, covering
nearly half of the land area in Pennsylvania and portions of New
York and Maryland. There are approximately 260 tributaries to the
river. The river is 444 miles long from Cooperstown, New York to
Havre de Grace, Maryland. Most of the river flows through
Pennsylvania.
Geologically, the river is extremely ancient, often regarded as
the oldest or second oldest major system in the world. It is far
older than the mountains through which it turns - the flow of the
ancient Susquehanna was so strong that it was able to cut through
the mountains even as they were forming from the collision of
Africa and North America some 300 million years ago. Remarkably,
the river's age means that it actually predates the Atlantic Ocean.
Before the end of the last ice age, the Susquehanna was a much
longer river. The Chesapeake Bay constituted its lower valley
before it was flooded by rising waters at the conclusion of the
Pleistocene.
The river has played an enormous role throughout the history of
the United States. In the 17th century, it was inhabited largely by
the Lenape, forming roughly the western boundary of their inhabited
territory, known as Lenapehoking. In the 18th century, William
Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania Colony, negotiated with the
Lenape to allow white settlement in the colony between the Delaware
River and the Susquehanna. Local legend claims that the name of the
river comes from an Indian phrase meaning "mile wide, foot deep,"
referring to the Susquehanna's unusual dimensions, but while the
word is Algonquian, it simply means "muddy water."
In the late colonial times, the river became an increasingly
important transportation corridor with the discovery of anthracite
coal by Necho Allen in its upper reaches in the mountains. In 1792,
the Union Canal was proposed linking the Susquehanna and the
Delaware along Swatara Creek and Tulpehocken Creek. In the 19th
century the river became the scene of the growth of industrial
centers.
Email the answers to the following questions obtained from
the River Trail sign to get credit for this Earthcache. Do not post
your answers in your log or it will be deleted.
1. The Susquehanna River supplies what percent of the fresh
water in the Chesapeake Bay?
In the 1830s sawmills along the West Branch were supplied by
logs or sticks that were cut and floated downriver - either as part
of a raft or as scattered logs in a drive that were captured by a
boom placed across the river.
2. The straightest stock were used for what?
3.During the River's many flood stages how close to the
information sign do you think it came?