Please see Trail Log for additional information.
American Shad were once plentiful in the Susquehanna River. However, there are now several dams across the Susquehanna. To help the fish migrate to above the dams, the dam owners built fish lifts. Unfortunately, fish populations have plummeted. So currently fish are trucked past the dams. Photo is sign at a nearby overlook showing how the shad lift works.
North 39 49.---
The Holtwood Dam has a shad (fish) lift to allow fish to swim upstream over the dam. Shad swimming from the Chesapeake Bay to Harrisburg would go through lifts over dams in this order:
York Haven, Holtwood, Safe Harbor - 642
Conowingo, Holtwood, Safe Harbor - 863
Safe Harbor, Conowingo, Holtwood - 147
Conowingo, Safe Harbor, Holtwood - 221
West 76 19.---
The number of shad using the lifts has declined remarkably. Since 1997, which year had the most observed shad using the Holtwood shad lift:
1997 - 167
1999 - 791
2001 - 522
2006 - 613