The Clarion River is a tributary of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, in west central Pennsylvania in the United States. It drains a rugged area of the Allegheny Plateau in the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

watershed, flowing through narrow serpentine valleys and hardwood forests.

Course

The river is formed at Johnsonburg in central Elk County by the confluence of its East and West Branches. The East Branch, approximately 15 mi (24 km) long, rises in northeastern Elk County and flows southwest through

East Branch Clarion River Lake East Branch Clarion River Lake, or East Branch Lake is a reservoir at Elk State Park in Elk County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by damming the East Branch of the Clarion River. Const ...

to join the West Branch. The river flows generally west-southwest across western Pennsylvania in a tight meandering course past Ridgway and

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

. It joins the Allegheny from the east in western

Clarion County Clarion County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,241. Its county seat is Clarion. The county was formed on March 11, 1839, from parts of Venango and Armstrong counties. Clarion Cou ...

approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of Emlenton. The Clarion is a designated part of the National Wild and Scenic River program.

Discharges

History

Before 1817, the Clarion River was more commonly called "Tobeco," likely a corruption of ''Tuppeek-hanne'', meaning the stream that flows from a large spring. The French explorers named the river Rivière au Fiel. Settlers called it the Toby or Stump Creek as early as 1809. The name Clarion was given by surveyor Daniel Stanard in 1817, who said the water sounded like a distant

clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

. At the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th century, much of what is now the Allegheny National Forest and surrounding areas were deforested, in part to make way for the oil boom that followed Edwin Drake's discovery of oil near Titusville on August 27, 1859, but also for wood chemicals. Bark was in especially high demand for local tanneries that produced prodigious amounts of leather. This deforestation significantly degraded the watershed of the upper Allegheny in general, leading to floods downstream (particularly in Pittsburgh), and eventually to the declaration of the national forest in 1923, but in the case of the Clarion River, run-off from tanneries compounded the problem, as did acid mine drainage. The Clarion was an important part of the timber industry, allowing timber to be transported downstream to the Allegheny, then the Ohio, and ultimately the Mississippi. The Clarion River came to be Pennsylvania's most polluted waterway. The regrowth of the forest did much to help restore the Clarion River, as well as a major cleaning effort in the 1980s. Today, the river is used for fishing, canoeing, and other recreational activities, and runs through extensive wildlife and forest areas, including a inventoried roadless area that has been proposed as a national wilderness area. In 1996, a stretch of the Clarion River was designated a National Wild & Scenic River.Clarion River
,
National Wild & Scenic Rivers System
/ref> The bridge at Cooksburg is in Clarion County in its western portion, passes through a narrow spike of Forest County in its middle, and is in Jefferson County at its east end. USS Clarion River (LSM(R)-409) was an LSM(R)-401-class medium-type landing ship (LSM) built for the United States Navy during World War II.

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Allegheny River Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Allegheny Plateau Rivers of Clarion County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Forest County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Elk County, Pennsylvania

Course

Discharges

History

See also

References

External links