Paddling & Pastimes

Background of the Allegheny River & Its Stewards The Allegheny River runs for 321 miles, flowing through the states of Pennsylvania and New York. It begins as a spring in a farmer’s field in north central Pennsylvania’s Potter County, 10 miles south of the New York border. The Allegheny flows down from Potter County’s hills, winding north into New York for its first 80 miles, where students at St. Bonaventure University study and relax along its banks. Here in its upper reaches it is a federally-designated “wild and scenic river”. It then flows southwest into Pennsylvania near Jamestown, NY. In Pennsylvania, the Allegheny River forms much of the northwest boundary of the 517,000 acre Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania’s only national forest. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River at “the Point” in downtown Pittsburgh, where the two rivers form the headwaters of the Ohio River. From the point, the Ohio runs for 981 miles until it empties into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. Since the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans, with patience, time, plenty of provisions, and a willingness to portage a few dams, you could launch your canoe or kayak into the Allegheny’s headwaters in Potter County, and 2,300 river miles later, you could find yourself re-hydrating in the French Quarter. Plan to arrive on Fat Tuesday. During the Ice Age, the Allegheny Mountains started to push up, and the glacial flow stopped 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. Until that time, the Monongahela River flowed from south to north into Lake Erie. Then the Monongahela doubled back on itself and began flowing east to west, merging with the Allegheny to form the Ohio River. Kayak Pittsburgh/Venture Outdoors rents kayaks by the hour OR will provide you with a guided tour. Our guides paddled alongside our group, making sure that we understood what was ahead and shared the history of the river & shoreline development - they were the key to making our Allegheny River experience as wonderful as it was. Our thanks to guides Joel and Alice Johnson, Jim Smith, Larry Gioia, Don Drolet (& off river, Liz Fager, Vanessa Bashur, Maureen Coyle). In preparation for our paddle, Venture Outdoors sent our group a written outline of what to expect on the river, what to bring, contact information, V.O.’s policies, and directions to the meeting location. Venture Outdoors mission is to connect people to the outdoors, and they do it by offering 500 public programs annually. As they do with paddling, V.O. promotes hiking (even a beer tasting hike), biking, fly fishing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, wall climbing, & geocaching trips. Their contact information is listed at the beginning of this section. The work of the Friends of the Riverfront has helped to create the Three Rivers Water Trail, with 185 miles of riverfront access for paddlers (through its 18 water access sites including this trip’s 6th Street Bridge launch), and the Three Rivers Heritage Trail - 24 miles of a gorgeous river walk for strolling, biking, and running. The Heritage Trail offers fabulous views of the rivers & the city, beautiful works of art, and interpretive signage. The FOTR mission is to increase awareness and engagement with Pittsburgh region’s rivers and riverfronts through activities, stewardship, and expansion of land and water trails. For more information go to www.friendsoftheriverfront.org.