Spies Run is a tributary of

Catawissa Creek Catawissa Creek (colloquially known as The Cat) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in th ...

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through East Union Township. The stream has a pH that is fairly close to neutral. The stream is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Conyngham. Trout naturally reproduce in it.

Course

Spies Run begins on a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

in East Union Township, a few hundred feet from the border between East Union Township and

Kline Township Kline Township is a township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,473 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of of which is land and (1.13%) is water. It is drained ...

. It flows northwest in a narrow valley for several tenths of a mile. The stream then receives an unnamed tributary and turns north-northwest, entering a much broader valley. After a few tenths of a mile, it turns northwest and crosses a road. Within several hundred feet, the stream reaches its confluence with Catawissa Creek. Spies Run arrives at its confluence with Catawissa Creek upstream of the mouth of the creek.

Hydrology

Spies Run is described as a "clean stream" in the January 2013 Progress Report for the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation. An extremely low pH was once observed in the stream using two water chemistry units. However, laboratory analysis of water samples for the stream determined that its pH was significantly closer to neutral. The pH measurements observed in the field are considered to erroneous, while the pH measurements observed in the laboratory are considered to be correct.

Geography

The elevation near the mouth of Spies Run 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 stream's source is between and . Spies Run is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Conyngham. The community of McAdoo is near the stream. There is a

in the watershed of Spies Run. A

spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for ...

-like geographical feature a mile from Buck Mountain is present at the headwaters of the stream. This geographical feature contains a

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 ...

known as Formation No. XII.

History

Spies Run was listed in the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on January 1, 1990. Additionally, the stream is in the ''Atlas of the Anthracite Coalfields of Pennsylvania''. The stream was considered by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

for addition to their list of Pennsylvania's wild trout streams in April 2009.

Biology

Wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

reproduce naturally in Spies Run between its headwaters and its mouth. They have done so as early as 2009.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed
{{authority control Rivers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania