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November on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania
- Thread starter MichaelMerry
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Gabriel: Welcome to the forum. I haven't paddled below Emlenton but my understanding is that it gets tough downstream of Parker. The river downstream will require you to portage around or navigate through the Army Corps locks and there is little, if any, public land available for camping so you'd have to arrange something with the individual landowners (or trespass). As far as I'm aware, the state water trail ends at Emlenton for that reason.
If you want a longer trip than the (typically) 4 days from Kinzua to Emlenton, it would be logistically easier to start at Port Allegheny, paddle the upper Allegheny, portage around Kinzua dam & continue downstream to Parker or Emlenton. There's not a ton of camping above Kinzua either and this plan would require you to paddle a lake that is overrun by recreational boat traffic in the summer but, if you picked your season, you might not get run over.
If you want a longer trip than the (typically) 4 days from Kinzua to Emlenton, it would be logistically easier to start at Port Allegheny, paddle the upper Allegheny, portage around Kinzua dam & continue downstream to Parker or Emlenton. There's not a ton of camping above Kinzua either and this plan would require you to paddle a lake that is overrun by recreational boat traffic in the summer but, if you picked your season, you might not get run over.
Hi Gamma, thanks for the info. I live down in the Pittsburgh area and have always had this “big idea” to get dropped off up north and paddle home. As I started researching it, I can’t find much river information for paddling south of Emlenton. What you shared is probably why.
Maybe I need to rethink this trip.
Maybe I need to rethink this trip.
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Don't get me wrong; it's been done. I read somewhere that there was a woman (or a group) that paddled the entirety of the Allegheny from Port Allegheny (near Coudersport) to (I think) Cairo, IL and, if I can find the article, I'll post it but I would think that it would involve a lot of illegal camping. Most of the islands upstream of Tionesta are public but the further you get downstream the more likely it becomes that they're privately owned.
The Allegheny, from Kinzua to Emlenton / Parker is typically 4 days and there are several options locally for 3-4 day trips but, if you want longer, you'll probably want to look into the West Branch of the Susquehanna (starts in Cherry Tree and is generally considered to be navigable from Barnesboro down) or make a road trip and head for the BWCA or the ADKs.
The Allegheny, from Kinzua to Emlenton / Parker is typically 4 days and there are several options locally for 3-4 day trips but, if you want longer, you'll probably want to look into the West Branch of the Susquehanna (starts in Cherry Tree and is generally considered to be navigable from Barnesboro down) or make a road trip and head for the BWCA or the ADKs.
