Lehigh River

The Lehigh River is a 109-mile-long (175 km)[1] tributary of the Delaware River located in the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, United States.

Lehigh River
Lehigh River near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, 2002
Lehigh River watershed
Location
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountiesOn the river: Wayne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Luzerne, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, Watershed: Wayne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Luzerne, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, Schuylkill, Berks, Bucks
CitiesLehighton, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton
Physical characteristics
SourcePocono Peak Lake
 • locationLehigh Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, USA
 • coordinates41°16′42″N 75°24′22″W
 • elevation2,056 ft (627 m)
MouthDelaware River
 • location
Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, USA
 • coordinates
40°41′20″N 75°12′17″W
 • elevation
160 ft (49 m)
Length109 mi (175 km)
Basin size1,345 sq mi (3,480 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationGlendon
 • average3,740 cu ft/s (106 m3/s)
 • minimum1,160 cu ft/s (33 m3/s)
 • maximum11,700 cu ft/s (330 m3/s)
Discharge 
 • locationStoddartsville
 • average280 cu ft/s (7.9 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftTobyhanna Creek, Drakes Creek, Bear Creek (Lehigh River), Pohopoco Creek, Aquashicola Creek, Hokendauqua Creek, Monocacy Creek, Catasauqua Creek
 • rightBlack Creek, Nesquehoning Creek, Mauch Chunk Creek, Mahoning Creek, Lizard Creek, Little Lehigh Creek, Saucon Creek

Part of the Lehigh River and a number of its tributaries are designated Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The river's name "Lehigh" is an anglicisation of the Lenape name for the river, Lechewuekink, which means "where there are forks".

Course

The Lehigh River flows in a highly winding course through valleys between ridges of Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. Its upper course is characterized by numerous whitewater rapids and supports recreational pursuits, including whitewater rafting, kayaking, and canoeing. Its lower course forms the heart of the Lehigh Valley, a historically important anthracite coal and steel-producing region of Pennsylvania.

Forest scene on the Lehigh (Pennsylvania) (circa 1832): aquatint by Karl Bodmer from "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834"

The river rises in the Poconos region of northeastern Pennsylvania in several ponds in Lehigh Township in Wayne County, approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Scranton. The PA Gazetteer of Streams shows that the Lehigh River begins as the outflow of Pocono Peak Lake. Flowing south from the south end of the lake (a natural but dammed body of water), the river turns west after a mile and receives water from many lakes and ponds as it flows past Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania.

It flows initially southwest through southern Lackawanna County and then through Francis E. Walter Dam. Near White Haven, it turns south, following a zigzag whitewater course through Lehigh Gorge State Park to Jim Thorpe, then southeast, past Lehighton. Southeast of Lehighton, it passes through Blue Mountain in a narrow opening called the Lehigh Gap.

From the Lehigh Gap, the river flows southeast to Allentown, where it is joined by Little Lehigh Creek, then northeast past Bethlehem, where it joins the Delaware River in Easton at Pennsylvania's border with New Jersey.

Fishing

The Lehigh River holds many species of fish, including trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, panfish, carp, catfish, eel, and muskie. Both rainbow trout and brown trout in the 18"-20" range are average while some have been caught into the mid to upper 20" range. Smallmouth bass are large in numbers but are of smaller size with most between 8"-14" with an occasional fish from the 18"-21" range. There is an increasing number of muskie being reported within the 30"-52" range. There are both pure and tiger muskie, the usually sterile, hybrid offspring of the true muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) and the northern pike (Esox lucius) being caught in the river.

Over the years since 2005 various groups such as the Lehigh Coldwater Fishery Alliance and the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission have worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to design annual flow plans[2] from the Frances Walter Dam (F.E.W.) to maximize the cold water discharge through the spring and summer. This has helped enhance the population of coldwater species like brown trout to gain a growing naturally reproducing population within the river below F.E.W. dam all the way to Northampton.[3]

Whitewater rafting

The Lehigh River is a whitewater river with Class I, II, and III rapids. The most popular section of the Lehigh River for whitewater rafting, kayaking, and canoeing is through the Lehigh Gorge State Park.[4] The Lehigh Gorge State Park begins at the Francis E. Walter Dam and ends in Jim Thorpe. Several white water outfitters operate guided white water rafting trips in various sections of the river. The first rafting outfitter on the Lehigh River was Whitewater Challengers, which was founded in 1975. Water releases from the Francis E. Walter Dam provide enough water to make the river deep enough for boating. Three popular boating trips on the Lehigh River are:[4]

  • White Haven to Rockport – 8.7 miles
  • Rockport to Glen Onoko – 12.2 miles
  • White Haven to Glen Onoko – 20.9 miles

See also
The Lehigh River near Slatington at the Lehigh County–Northampton County line

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
  2. ""Francis E. Walter Dam Flow Management Plan Schedule"".
  3. ""Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Biologist Report Lehigh River; Carbon, Luzerne, Northampton, and Lehigh Counties Trout Monitoring. 2006-2015"" (PDF).
  4. "PA DCNR - Lehigh Gorge State Park". www.dcnr.state.pa.us. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
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