Blacklick Creek,
|
|
Route 259 to Saylor Park in Blacklick
| Usual Difficulty |
II-III(IV) (may vary with level) |
| Length |
6.2 Miles |
| Avg. Gradient |
43 fpm |
| Max Gradient |
66 fpm |
The best drop on Blacklick
The best drop on BlacklickPhoto of Rand McFarland by Lisa McFarland (KHCC) taken 1234587600 @ 4.5', 1000cfs
Gauge Information
River Description
Blacklick Creek is located in southern Indiana County, Pennsylvania.It has been overlooked for
years by many paddlers because of its bad reputation for acid polution and a devastated
landscape, both the result of a coal mining past. Today, the Blacklick is a river in recovery. It
has a way to go yet, but the upstream acid mine drainage has been significatly reduced (the
boulders are no longer orange). The conversion of the railroad bed to the Ghost Town multi-use
trail included some clean up of the banks and hill sides. Trees have grown back and hide much of
what remains of the boney piles and discarded mine equipment. The over-all impression the paddler
now gets is one of beauty, mared only in spots. The white-water starts about a hundred yards
above the Rt. 259 bridge in Heshbon. Put in from the Ghost Town Trail upstream of the bridge on
the northern side. It is permissible to drive up to the gate to unload boats and equipment.
Parking is back at the gravel lot by the road. The put-in is just beyond the gate on the right by
a large rusting cable winch. You may also put-in on the down stream side of the North end of the
bridge, but this is difficult and you miss some rapids. This section starts with about 3/4 of a
mile of ledges and boulder gardens that lead into Auld's Run Rapid (IV-). On your right you will
pass Auld's Run, a small tributary. It is bright orange. Auld's Run Rapid is just below. Work
your way over to the right and eddy out on the right just above the drop. You can scout the rapid
from here(by boat or bank). The line is a diagonal one from right to left. If you drop over to
soon you land in a nasty hole. The middle has submerged rocks in it. So you need to get all the
way over to the left near the leaning boulder to drop over the ledge. The river maintains a busy
class II-III pace for the next two and a half miles. With one last good class III just past the
half way point. After this drop there are still a bunch of small ledges that provide good surfing
opportunities. As the rapids and the scenery decline you are coming into the town of Blacklick.
The take-out is at Saylor Park in Blacklick on river left (Josephine is on river right). Take out
above or below Old Indiana rd. This is the first road bridge encountered below Heshbon. Above the
bridge is a shorter portage to the parking lot, but the bank is steep. Below is a better place to
beach but a longer walk.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2009-08-02 21:33:17
Editors
No guide books for this stream. If you know of a book that describes this stream please contact and advise the StreamTeam member for this run. 
River Alert
User Comments
left. Edit
the very large square rock in the center, at the bottom of the right channel. The log is across the
passages on both sides of the rock. The right channel of this island should not be run. The left
channelis open. There are pictures of this hazard in the photo sec.
Blacklick. You can put in at Rt.403 in Dilltown or up river where River Rd.(SR 2012) crosses the
river. These are put-ins for the class I sec. that ends at Heshbon. The II-III(IV-) sec. starts
here on Rt. 259 up stream of the bridge, use the Ghost Town trail to access
Also, the Ghosttown bike trail ends at Saylor Park with its own bridge. This trail makes a bike
shuttle to Heshbon easy.
Date: Jan 02 2004, 21:15 GMT
From: swampboy62
Needs 3.8 feet on the gauge at Josephine to run. Gots 12 miles of I-II, 6 miles of III-IV. More
info in the AYH guidebook.
Steve Z
"swampy"