Nescopeck Creek

Nescopeck Creek begins in Dennison Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at the confluence of an outlet of Olympus Pond and Creasy Creek. The creek's source is also on the eastern edge of Mount Yeager. It flows northwest for a short distance before passing through Olympus Pond and turning west. For the next several miles the creek continues in this direction, running through Pennsylvania State Game Lands #18 and receiving tributaries such as Reilly Creek and Little Nescopeck Creek A. Eventually, the creek passes the northwestern edge of Mount Yeager and continues into Butler Township. Here, the creek heads southwest at a more southerly angle, crossing Interstate 80, receiving Oley Creek, and passing an area of strip mines. A few miles later, the creek turns west-southwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 309. Continuing onwards, it passes the communities of Rumbels and St. Johns and then crosses Interstate 81. Several miles later, the creek leaves Butler Township and enters Sugarloaf Township. It continues west in this township, receiving the tributary Little Nescopeck Creek B, crossing Pennsylvania Route 93, and making several meanders. After a number of miles, the creek meanders into Black Creek Township, where it turns north and picks up the tributary Black Creek right before crossing Interstate 80 and flowing through a gap in Nescopeck Mountain. In the gap, the creek crosses from Black Creek Township into Nescopeck Township, where it meanders northwest, passing the borough of Nescopeck and entering the Susquehanna River on the border between Nescopeck Township and Columbia County. Tributaries Nescopeck Creek has more than of tributaries. This consists of of named streams and of unnamed ones. Major streams include Black Creek, two tributaries named Little Nescopeck Creek, Oley Creek, Creasy Creek, and Long Run. There are 13 named streams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. The portion of Nescopeck Creek from its mouth upstream to the mouth of Black Creek has a Strahler number of 5. This makes up of the streams in the watershed. Most of Black Creek and almost all of Nescopeck Creek upstream of Black Creek has a Strahler number of 4. These make up of streams in the creek's watershed. Eight smaller tributaries in the watershed have Strahler number of three. These make up of the creek's watershed. A total of 25 streams in the creek's watershed have a Strahler number of 2. They make up of the creek's watershed. One hundred thirteen very small streams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed have a Strahler number of 1. Such streams make up of the creek's watershed. Kester Creek in Luzerne County is listed Class A Wild Trout Waters. ==Hydrology==

Discharge From 1919 to 1926, the discharge of Nescopeck Creek at St. Johns was . The month with the highest average discharge during this time was March, when there was a discharge of . The month with the lowest average discharge during this time was September, when there was an average discharge of . The highest discharge in a single month was in March 1920. The lowest discharge in a single month was in September 1922. The average discharge of Nescopeck Creek from 1995 to 2002 is . pH and contaminants In 2005, a study was done on the pH of the waters of Nescopeck Creek and its tributaries. At three sites, its pH averaged 5.06, 4.85, and 4.49. Brook trout are able to tolerate pHs down to 4.8 and the ideal pH range for freshwater fish is 6.5 to 9.0. At these sites, the study also found averages of 1.7, 2.23, and 5.56 parts per million of aluminum, respectively. Above Little Nescopeck Creek B, Nescopeck Creek's iron concentration is 110 micrograms per liter and the creek's aluminum concentration is 40 micrograms per liter. Below Little Nescopeck Creek B, however, these values increase to 1260 micrograms per liter for iron and 7450 micrograms per liter for aluminum. ==Geology==

Nescopeck Creek has coal veins near its source. Sugarloaf Mountain is near Nescopeck Creek. Nescopeck Creek has a number of rapids. At its mouth, Nescopeck Creek carries of aluminum, of iron, and of manganese per day. However, the eastern reaches of the Nescopeck Creek watershed are near the border of the Appalachian Plateau region. Nescopeck Creek's watershed contains several major rock formations. These are the Mauch Chunk Formation, the Llewellyn Formation, the Pocono Formation, and the Pottsville Formation. The Mauch Chunk Formation is associated with large amounts of high-quality groundwater. This formation consists of a layer of shale, sandstone, and silt. It is situated under the Hazleton valley. The Mauch Chunk Formation contains outcrops of reddish rock. This formation is softer than many of the nearby rock formations. This formation makes up Sugarloaf Mountain and most of the Nescopeck Creek watershed. The Llewellyn Formation contains more coal than any other formation in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. This formation is thick and is composed of brownish-gray sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Buck Mountain, Mammoth Mountain, and Gamma Mountain are all carved out of the Llewellyn Formation and contain coal seams. The formation was once extensive but has been worn down by erosion over millions of years. The Pottsville Formation also contains a large number of aquifers. This formation is thick, and is composed of gray conglomerate and sandstone. While there is no anthracite in the Pottsville Formation, it does contain three-foot seams of other varieties of coal. Groundwater from this formation is acidic and high in manganese and iron. The Pottsville Formation makes up the valleys directly surrounding Nescopeck Creek. The Pocono Formation consists of conglomerate and sandstone and surrounds the Pottsville Formation. The rock formations are typically more varied in the northern and western part of the watershed than the southern part. A total of of material have eroded into Nescopeck Creek. Black Creek has the most erosion for an individual stream in the Nescopeck Creek watershed, with of erosion. The main stem of Nescopeck Creek and Little Nescopeck Creek B also have high amounts of erosion, with and , respectively. Soils The most common soil series in the Nescopeck Creek watershed is the Hazleton-Dekalb-Buchanan series. Twenty-six percent of Nescopeck Creek's watershed contains this soil series. Much soil and bedrock in this series has been removed during mining operations. This soil series occurs in the southern part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed, near tributaries such as Black Creek and Stony Creek. The soils in this soil series are highly permeable. Approximately 24 percent of the creek's watershed contains the Wellsboro-Oquaga-Morris series. The series is made of Wellsboro soils, Oquaga soils, and some Morris soils. This type of soil series is most common near the creek's source. Another twenty-four percent of the Nescopeck Creek watershed is made up of the Leck Kill-Meckesville-Calvin series. This soil series tends to occur on hillsides near streams. The Leck Kill-Meckesville-Calvin series occurs quite near the mouth of Nescopeck Creek, with a large patch further upstream, and a small patch in the southwestern part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Eleven percent of Nescopeck Creek's watershed is made up of the Udorthents-Urban Land-Volusia series. There is some urban development over lands containing the soil series. Other areas where this soil series occurs have been surface-mined. The limiting factor for plant growth in this series is the rocky surface and the depth of the bedrock below. The Udorthents-Urban Land-Volusia soil series occurs in the southeastern and parts of the southwestern parts of the Nescopeck Creek watershed. The Lackawanna-Arnot-Morris series is present in nine percent of Nescopeck Creek's watershed. The Lackawanna-Arnot-Morris soil series mostly is near Nescopeck Creek's source, but there is some of it in the central Nescopeck Creek watershed. ==Watershed==

Nescopeck Creek's watershed is in area. Most of the land in the Nescopeck Creek watershed, except for area near its source, is publicly owned. Thirteen percent of the land in the Nescopeck Creek watershed is owned by the state of Pennsylvania. Fifty-seven percent of the Nescopeck Creek watershed is composed of deciduous forest. Areas of perennial herbaceous vegetation make up 11 to 12 percent of the creek's watershed. Additionally, there are scattered patches of mixed vegetation and annual herbaceous vegetation in the northwestern part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Four to seven percent of the Nescopeck Creek watershed consists of mines, quarries, and gravel pits. A total of 95 percent of the Nescopeck Creek watershed is rural. The remaining 5 percent is suburban or urban. All sub-watersheds of the Nescopeck Creek watershed contain at least 50 percent forest. A number of streams in the upper Nescopeck Creek watershed, in fact, have more than 80 percent forest coverage. Only 55 percent of the Black Creek watershed is covered by forest. Most sub-watersheds of Nescopeck Creek have only a small amount of barren land. However, the Cranberry Creek watershed contains 6.5 percent barren land, the Black Creek watershed contains 14 percent, and the Stony Creek watershed contains 30 percent. The Little Nescopeck Creek watershed contains 30 percent farmland and the Nescopeck Creek watershed contains 24 percent. Other sub-watersheds of Nescopeck Creek range from 2 to 13 percent farmland. There are of roads in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Forty percent of the creek's length is within of a road. Eighty-seven percent of Nescopeck Creek's length is within of a road. There are of roads in Nescopeck Creek's main stem sub-watershed. There are of roads in the Black Creek sub-watershed. The Long Run and Little Nescopeck Creek sub-watersheds also contain close to of roads, respectively. Terrain Most of the Nescopeck Creek watershed is flat, with a slope of 0 to 3 percent. There are two major lines of hills in the watershed, one of which is in the northern part and the other of which is in the central part of the watershed. These lines of hills have a slope of 3 to 8 percent. In both of the lines of hills, there are patches where the slope is 8 to 15 percent and in the northern line of hills, there is an area with a slope of over 15 percent. The elevation at Nescopeck Creek's mouth and along Nescopeck Creek for a few miles upstream is in the range of above sea level. The elevation of the creek's watershed north of the northernmost line of hills is in the range of . The central part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed, south of the northernmost line of hills, including the mouth of Black Creek, is also in this range. The area close to the main stem of the creek upstream to several miles from the source is in the range of . In the central part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed, several tributaries also lie in this elevation range. Near the creek's source, its elevation is in the range of . The central part of the Black Creek watershed is also in this range, as is much of the Nescopeck Creek watershed's northernmost line of hills. Nescopeck Creek's elevation within of its source is in the range of . The upper portion of the Black Creek watershed and the southeastern part of the Nescopeck Creek watershed is also in this range. Scattered parts of the creek's watershed, such as its southwestern corner and the creek's source, are in the elevation range of . The Long Hollow sub-watershed is Nescopeck Creek is Nescopeck Creek's smallest sub-watershed, with an area of . The main stem of Nescopeck Creek has the largest sub-watershed, with an area of . The Black Creek sub-watershed is Nescopeck Creek's second-largest sub-watershed. The Little Nescopeck Creek A at , Little Nescopeck Creek B at , Cranberry Creek at , and Oley Creek at are also among the largest Nescopeck Creek sub-watersheds. ==History==

Native American inhabitation Nescopeck Creek's name comes from a Lenape word meaning "deep black waters". Historically, two tribes of Native Americans known as the Fork Indians and the Delaware Indians lived near the mouth of Nescopeck Creek. Other parts of the Nescopeck Creek watershed were settled by Lenni Lenape Indians. The Lenni Lenape inhabited the Nescopeck Creek watershed a thousand years before European settlers. There is no definitive record of permanent settlements in the interior of Nescopeck Creek's watershed, but temporary Native American settlements existed in what is now Nescopeck State Park. By the 1700s, the Lenni Lenape had left the Nescopeck Creek watershed due to encroaching Iroquois and European settlers. There were two major Native American trails in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. These were the Lehigh Path, which is also known as the Warrior Trail, and the Trade Trail. Parts of these trails would become Vine Street and Broad Street in Hazleton, respectively. European inhabitation In the early 1700s, some European settlers, who were granted warrants by William Penn, explored Native American trails in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. On these paths, skirmishes occasionally occurred between settlers and Native Americans. One example is the Sugarloaf Massacre, when a group of Native Americans ambushed some soldiers on the Lehigh Path near Nescopeck Creek in 1780. The first mill was built in the Nescopeck Creek watershed in 1788. By 1791, there were four settlers along Nescopeck Creek. In 1830, a forge which made bar iron was built on Nescopeck Creek. The most destructive flood on Nescopeck Creek occurred in 1850, when a dam on the creek was breached, killing 22 people. In 1885, a number of French Indian artifacts, which were Plaster of Paris casts for making sculptures, were discovered along Nescopeck Creek in Dennison Township. A dam on Nescopeck Creek was destroyed during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. In the early 1900s, there was a steam-electric power station at the mouth of Nescopeck Creek. The Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton Railway passed over Nescopeck Creek in the beginning of the 1900s. The Jeddo Tunnel, which drained a colliery in the 20th century, emptied into Nescopeck Creek. After World War II, there was a large increase in unemployment rates in the Nescopeck Creek watershed due to the failing coal mining industry. From 1919 to 1926, the United States Geological Survey had a station on Nescopeck Creek near the community of St. Johns. Two other stream gauging stations have been built on Nescopeck Creek. One of these stations, which was in use from 1949 to 1950 was in Nescopeck. The other, which was in use from 1963 to 1970, was 0.6 miles upstream of Nescopeck Creek's mouth. In the 1990s, some people were caught stealing Native American artifacts at the Nescopeck Creek headwaters. ==Biology==

Nescopeck Creek is home to brown trout and brook trout near its source, but does not have much life further downstream because coal mine waste in Little Nescopeck Creek pollutes the lower reaches of Nesocpeck Creek. The creek's southeastern corner contains the highest density of amphibian species in its watershed. The highest density of snake species in the watershed is in the same area. The lowest density of snake species in the watershed is along the central part of Nescopeck Creek. The highest density of bird species in the watershed is in the southern and central part of the watershed. The highest density of mammal species in the watershed is at Nescopeck Creek's headwaters. In the Nescopeck Creek watershed, there are seven natural areas. These are Arbutus Peak, Valmont Industrial Park, the Black Creek flats, the Humboldt barrens, the Nescopeck Creek valley, and the Edgewood vernal pools. Arbutus Peak is a area at Nescopeck Creek's headwaters. Also, the Nescopeck Barrens are home to 15 rare species of plants and animals. The Nescopeck Creek valley also contains a number of rare species. The Edgewood vernal pools provide a breeding ground for wood frogs and Jefferson salamanders. The Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) has been measured for a number of sites along Nescopeck Creek and its tributaries. Upstream of the Jeddo Tunnel, Little Nescopeck Creek B has a high HBI. However, just downstream of the Jeddo Tunnel, the HBI drops off by a large amount. Black Creek has an HBI of 0 to 6.6, and this tributary's biodiversity is lower at its headwaters than at its confluence with Nescopeck Creek. Nescopeck Creek's HBI is from 1.7 to 5.4, depending on the site. In Nescopeck Creek, the total number of macroinvertebrate taxa at several sites ranges from 5 to 26. In Little Nescopeck Creek, the values range from 1 to 18. In Black Creek, the number ranges from 0 to 11. In 1999, the only Class-A fishery waters in the Nescopeck Creek watershed were those of Little Nescopeck Creek A, the headwaters of Nescopeck Creek, and several minor tributaries of Nescopeck Creek. Only one small stream near Nescopeck Creek's mouth had Class-C fishery waters. The central part of Nescopeck Creek, as well as most of Black Creek had Class-D fishery waters. There were twenty species of fish in Nescopeck Creek in 1999. Of these, seventeen had been seen in the watershed before. However, since between a 1999 study of the watershed and the study before that, the brown bullhead and the bluegill fish had vanished from the Nescopeck Creek watershed. A large number of genera of macroinvertebrates have been discovered in and around Nescopeck Creek. These consist of one genus of segmented worm, one genus of sowbugs, 11 genera of mayflies, 8 genera of stone flies, 11 genera of caddisflies, 6 genera of dragonflies, 2 genera of helgrammites, 10 genera of beetles, and one genus of fly. In the Nescopeck Creek watershed, pitch pine – scrub oak forests occur on Arbutus Peak and several barren areas in the southern part of watershed. In this type of forest, pitch pine, scrub oak, black oak and chestnut oak are the main trees. Bracken fern, teaberry, black chokeberry, blueberry, and huckleberry are the most common shrubs in this habitat. All of the streams in the Nescopeck Creek are considered sub-optimal habitats and rated on a scale of 1 to 240. The most optimal water habitat in the watershed is a site along Nescopeck Creek, with a rating of 184. The least optimal water habitats in the watershed are two sites along Black Creek. These sites are considered poor to marginal habitats, with ratings of 56 and 96 respectively. ==Recreation==

Nescopeck State Park is one source of recreation in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Nescopeck Creek flows through this state park and on it there are opportunities for trout fishing. Nescopeck Creek takes up of the northwestern part in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Additionally, there are four golf courses, two community parks, and two Pennsylvania State Game Lands, and ten sites for water-based recreation, including Lake Francis in Nescopeck State Park. A tourist attraction, Eckley Miner's Village, is within the Nescopeck Creek watershed. A resort known as the Eagle Rock Resort is in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. Since the late 1990s, there have been plans to convert old railroad lines in the Nescopeck Creek watershed to rail trails. One such plan is to link the Hazleton area to the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. ==See also==

• Nescopeck Creek Watershed Stewardship Report (Spring 2002). Center for Watershed Stewardship Keystone Project. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved July 5, 2013. ==External links==