Spruce Run is a tributary of

Little Fishing Creek Little Fishing Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Lycoming County, and Columbia County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through eight townships. The watershed of the creek has ...

in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Madison Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . Several people settled on the stream in the 1780s and 1790s. Two bridges were built over it in the 20th century. Spruce Run is designated as a "Locally Significant Area" in the Columbia County Natural Areas Inventory. More than 80 species of woodland herbs and numerous trees, mammals, and birds inhabit the area near the stream. The Pennsylvania State Game Lands are also in the watershed.

Course

Spruce Run looking downstream in wintertime

Spruce Run begins in a valley in northern Madison Township, approximately south of the Columbia/ Lycoming county line. It flows southeast for approximately a mile and then east for a slightly shorter distance, running parallel to Spruce Run Road. The stream then turns east-southeast and its valley widens considerably. Over the next few miles, the stream's valley gets broader and shallower and eventually it stops flowing parallel to Spruce Run Road. It then crosses Pennsylvania Route 254 and turns southeast for a few miles. The stream's valley becomes narrower again in its lower reaches. Shortly afterwards, it reaches its confluence with Little Fishing Creek near the community of Eyers Grove. Spruce Run joins Little Fishing Creek upstream of its mouth.

Geography and geology

The elevation of Spruce Run near its mouth is above sea level. The elevation of the stream at its source is approximately above sea level. The stream is described as a "small stream" in John Gosse Freeze's book ''A History of Columbia County, Pennsylvania: From the Earliest Times''.

Watershed

The watershed of Spruce Run has an area of . The upper reaches of the stream are in the Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 226. There are no all-terrain vehicle trails along the stream and the Columbia County Natural Areas Inventory opposes the addition of any.

History and Industries

A number of people settled on Spruce Run in the late 1700s. Peter Brugler, a former resident of Jersey, settled on the western side of the stream in 1779 or 1780 and James Masters, another former Jersey resident settled there in 1786. George Runyon arrived at the stream in 1796 and also settled there. In 1791, James Masters built a sawmill, chopmill, and fulling mill on the stream. This was one of the first industries in Madison township. Two bridges that are more than long cross Spruce Run. One was built in 1932 and repaired in 2011. It is long. The other is a concrete tee beam bridge that was built in 1970. It is long. The Columbia County Natural Areas Inventory advises against

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

on Spruce Run.

Biology

There are eastern hemlock and mixed

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 ...

forests along Spruce Run. There is also a high level of diversity of birds near the stream.

Red salamander The red salamander (''Pseudotriton ruber'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the eastern United States. Its skin is orange/red with random black spots. Its habitats are temperate forests, small creeks, ponds, fo ...

s and black-throated green warblers have the potential to inhabit the areas near the stream. In addition to eastern hemlock, tree species that live near Spruce Run include yellow birch, black birch,

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

, sugar maple, white ash,

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

, and black cherry. There are more than 80 species of woodland herbs in the area, including 15 fern species and 12 sedge species. However, invasive plants such as the multiflora rose and the autumn olive also inhabit the area near the stream. Numerous game animals are found in the vicinity of Spruce Run. These include white-tailed deer, black bear, ring-necked pheasant, cottontail rabbit, wild turkey, and

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

s. A large number of other bird species also inhabit the area. These include five warbler species, two

thrush ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

species, one flycatcher species, and a number of other species. Ruffed grouse also occur in large numbers on Spruce Run. Spruce Run is listed as a "Locally Significant Area" in the Columbia County Natural Areas Inventory.

References