Meshoppen Creek is a tributary of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

in Susquehanna and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

counties,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Bridgewater Township, Dimock Township, and Springville Township in Susquehanna County and Lemon Township, Washington Township, Meshoppen Township, and Meshoppen in Wyoming County. The watershed of the creek has an area of . It is possible to

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

on of Meshoppen Creek.

Course

Meshoppen Creek begins on a hill in Bridgewater Township, Susquehanna County. It heads downhill, flowing south-southeast for less than a mile before turning south-southwest. Eventually, the creek turns south and passes the community of Watrous Corners. Continuing south and slightly west for a few miles, it eventually flows roughly along the border between Bridgewater Township and Dimock Township. After a short distance, the creek completely enters Dimock Township and continues south and west for several more miles. In the southern edge of the township, it passes through a lake and receives the tributary Burdlick Creek. The creek then enters Springville Township. It continues southwest until it picks up the tributary Sevens Creek. It then briefly turns south before turning southwest again. The creek then begins

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

ing for a few miles, receiving the tributaries Pond Brook, Thomas Creek, and North Branch Meshoppen Creek. It then leaves Susquehanna County. Upon leaving Susquehanna County, Meshoppen Creek enters Lemon Township, Wyoming County. It continues meandering southwest, crossing

Pennsylvania Route 29 Pennsylvania Route 29 (PA 29) is a north–south state highway that runs through most of eastern Pennsylvania. The route currently exists in two segments, a southern segment and a northern segment. The southern segment runs from U.S. Route ...

, entering Washington Township and passing Valentine Hill. The creek then reaches Kaiserville and begins meandering west. The creek eventually enters Meshoppen Township. It almost immediately picks up West Branch Meshoppen Creek and turns south. After less than a mile, it turns west. A few miles later, it reaches the community of Meshoppen. In Meshoppen, it crosses

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

and reaches its confluence with the Susquehanna River. Meshoppen Creek joins the Susquehanna River upstream of its mouth.

Geography, geology, and climate

The elevation near the mouth of Meshoppen Creek is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The elevation of the creek's source is between and . A

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

that is high is on Meshoppen Creek. Another waterfall is also situated on the creek near Meshoppen. There are wide, shallow

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

s on the creek near State Route 3017. Large numbers of riffles and few pools area also found downstream of Pennsylvania Route 29. The

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

of Meshoppen Creek is

sinuous Sinuosity, sinuosity index, or sinuosity coefficient of a continuously differentiable curve having at least one inflection point is the ratio of the curvilinear length (along the curve) and the Euclidean distance (straight line) between the ...

. The creek flows through

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s made of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. Additionally,

glacial drift In geology, drift is a name for all sediment (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into (unsorted and) unstratified drift (glaci ...

is present in the watershed. The topography of the watershed of Meshoppen Creek is described as "rough and hilly" in a 1921 book. Steep but rounded hills are present in the watershed, as are forests and some

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s. The rate of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

in the watershed of Meshoppen Creek ranges between and per year.

Watershed

The watershed of Meshoppen Creek has an area of . The watershed is situated in southwestern Susquehanna County and northern Wyoming County. The creek's

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

is part of the Upper North Branch Susquehanna drainage basin. Major lakes in the watershed of Meshoppen Creek include Schooleys Pond and Sound Pond. They have surface areas of 39.3 and 34 acres, respectively. Meshoppen Creek flows through

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

areas for much of its length. Groves of hemlock and

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

trees are present in these areas, as are

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s. However, there is some development along the creek where it crosses State Route 3017. A

stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation ("stage") and/or volu ...

is not present on Meshoppen Creek.

Name, history and industries

Meshoppen is a name derived from a Native American language purported to mean "glass beads". In the early 1900s, major industries in the watershed of Meshoppen Creek included

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, quarries, and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s. The creek was also used to power a

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

in Meshoppen. The

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...

also went through the watershed in this time period and used the creek as a water supply. In 1921, the largest communities in the watershed of Meshoppen Creek were Meshoppen and Springville. Their populations were 630 and 550, respectively.

Recreation

A total of of Meshoppen Creek are possible to

on during

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

or within several days of heavy

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

. Edward Gertler describes the scenery along the creek as "good to excellent" and also writes that the creek is an "awfully pretty little creek". The difficulty rating of the creek for canoeing mostly ranges from 1 to 3-, but there is a patch of class 6 rapids.

References