Lackawanna River Conservation Plan - 8. Natural Areas and Special Places Inventory

The cultural and social heritage of the Lackawanna watershed communities is diverse and provides a strong base for contemporary arts and culture. The numerous organizations and institutions provide opportunities for local residents and visitors to learn about and experience aspects of cultural heritage and the creative arts.

During the past twenty years, several interpretive sites and programs have developed in the valley dealing with the mining, railroad, iron and textile industries and the various cultural aspects of the settlements of the valley by European immigrants. The communities’ interactions with its river and watershed resources have recently received some attention with the 1990 Citizens Plan for the Lackawanna River and the 1991 Heritage Valley Plan. The plans for the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail include sites and opportunities to access the river and encourage a friendlier relationship with the river. Plans for more river access sites and interpretive signage are gradually being implemented.

The evidence gathered in the river and tributary stream walk surveys provides some interesting commentary on the degree and quality of the communities contact with historic, cultural and scenic resources in the watershed.

The LRCA has developed an Inventory of Lackawanna Watershed Special Places, which includes natural areas and habitat, scenic view sheds, ridge top summits, waterfalls, ravines, escarpments and geological features, historic and archeological features.

The inventory contains about one hundred sites and areas along the river and tributary streams. Most of these sites are on private property or former utility property. Most sites even those close to developed areas are not readily or easily accessible by the public. Most sites have a high degree of visitation by local youth and persons with outdoors skills, hunters, anglers, hikers, mountain bikers and ATV riders.

Some sites more accessible to off-road vehicles present a contrast of remarkable natural beauty marred by thoughtless dumping of trash and litter. There are approximately fourteen significant waterfalls in the Lackawanna watershed on the inventory. They range from the well known Nay Aug Falls and Gorge at Nay Aug Park in Scranton to the Forty Foot Falls on Indian Cave Creek at White Oak Creek in Archbald. Escarpments include Campbells Ledge, Old Forge Cliffs, The Notch, Bald Mountain and Cobbs Gap. Wetlands complexes include Dunns Pond and Mud Pond/Orson Glade, Simersons Marsh, Bear Swamp, and Little Virginia. Historical and archeological sites include the Duryea Canal Prism, the Pennsylvania Coal Company and D&H Gravity Railroad inclines and stationary engine sites, the Powder Mill Dam and the Scranton Iron Furnaces. Many of the natural areas are included in the Lackawanna and Wayne county natural areas inventory. Those natural areas not included on the county inventories are included in the Watershed Special Places inventory due to their local significance as a scenic, habitat, or cultural feature.

The protection and conservation of these special places is recognized as a significant need by many participants in this study process. The sites on this inventory are all under threat. Only a small number of sites such as Lake Scranton or the Iron Furnaces have adequate conservation management and public use plans.

8.1 Historic Places	Municipality	Watershed
Confluence habitations	Duryea	R1
Canal Prism	Duryea
Canal masonry	Duryea	R1
Ore Mine Road	Scranton	Stafford Meadow Brook
South Works	Scranton/Taylor	R3
Scranton Iron Furnaces	Scranton	Roaring Brook
Erie Arch	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Pennsylvania Coal Co. Building	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Pennsylvania Gravity Railroad	Dunmore & others	Roaring Brook and Stafford Meadow Brook
Chico's Spring	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Cliff St. Bridge Site	Scranton	R3
Capouse Meadows	Scranton	R4
Market Street	Scranton	R4
Depot Street	Scranton	R4
Cayuga Vault	Scranton	Leach Creek
Griffins Mills	South Abington	Leggetts Creek
Marvine Conveyor Trestles	Scranton	R4
Valley Junction	Dickson City	R5
South Valley Arch	Olyphant	Eddy Creek
DL&W Pancost Arch	Throop	Eddy Creek
Erie Arch	Throop	Eddy Creek
DL&W Winton Arch	Throop	Eddy Creek
Erie Abutments	Jessup	R6
Heritage Crossing	Peckville	R6
Gravity Slope Shanties	Archbald	R6
Laurel Park	Archbald	R6
Frogtown Inclines	Archbald	R7
Powder Mill Dam	Jermyn	R7
D&H Light Track	Carbondale Twp.	Powderly Creek
Carbondale Retaining Walls	Carbondale	R8
D&H sites and Gravity Inclines	Carbondale	R8 and Racket Brook
Racket Brook Vault	Carbondale Twp.	Racket Brook
Doyle & Roth	Fell Twp.	R8 and Wilson Creek
Morss Mills	Fell Twp.	R9
Greys Slope	Fell Twp.	R9
Shepards Crook	Fell Twp.	Panther Bluff Creek

8.2 Waterfalls and Morphologic Sites (water gaps and escarpments)	Municipality	Watershed
Campbells Ledge	Duryea	R1 and Campbells Ledge Run
Suscon Falls	Pittston Twp.	Mill Creek
Moosic Anticline	Old Forge	R1 and R2
Old Forge Escarpments	Old Forge	R2
Race Brook Falls	Old Forge	St. Johns Creek
Moosic Bend	Taylor	R2
Fawnwood Falls	Scranton	Keyser Creek
Nay Aug Gorge and Falls	Scranton	Roaring Brook
Mill Street Tubs	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Nay Aug Tubs	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Cobbs Gap and Barneys Ledge	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Little Roaring Brook Falls	Dunmore	Little Roaring Brook
Rock Bottom Glen	Roaring Brook Twp.	Rock Bottom Creek
Madisonville Cliffs and Glen	Madison/Covington Twps.	Roaring Brook
Leggetts Gap and the Notch	Scranton	Leggetts Creek
Blakely Falls	Blakely	Hull Creek
Marshwood Slides	Olyphant	Eddy Creek
Laurel Run Sinuosity	Archbald	Laurel Run
White Oak Ravine	Archbald	White Oak Run
Forty Foot Falls	Archbald	Indian Cave Creek
Edgerton Slides	Archbald	Aylesworth Creek
Rush Brook Gap	Archbald and Scott Twp.	Rush Brook
Fall Brook Falls	Carbondale Twp.	Fall Brook
Panther Bluff Falls	Fell Twp.	Panther Bluff Creek
No. 10 Falls	Fell Twp.	R9
Stillwater Gap and Cliffs	Clinton and Clifford Twps.	R10
Lake Lewis Falls	Uniondale	R12 and Fiddle Lake Creek

8.4 Ponds, Reservoirs and Water Works	Municipality	Watershed
Campbells Ledge and Falling Springs	Ramsom Twp.	Campbells Ledge Run
Spring Brook, Nesbitt and Watres	Spring Brook Twp.	Spring Brook
Maple Lake	Spring Brook Twp.	Spring Brook
Lake Scranton, No. 5 and Williams Bridge Dam	Scranton and Roaring Brook Twp.	Stafford Meadow Brook
Hazard Pond	Roaring Brook Twp.	Stafford Meadow Brook
The Step Falls	Scranton	Roaring Brook
Dunmore No. 1	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Dunmore No. 7	Dunmore	Roaring Brook
Elmhurst	Elmhurst	Roaring Brook
Curtis	Jefferson and Madison Twps.	Roaring Brook
Hollister	Covington Twp.	Roaring Brook
Griffin Pond, Maple Lake and Summit Lake	South Abington and Scott Twps.	Leggetts Creek
Fountain Springs	South Abington Twp.	Leggetts Creek
Marshwood	Olyphant	Eddy Creek
Dunmore Nos. 3 and 4	Jefferson Twp.	Eddy Creek and Little Roaring Brook
O’Conner Dam	Jessup	Sterry Creek
Olyphant Nos. 1, 2 and 3	Jessup	Grassy Island Creek
Francis Cawley Dam	Archbald	Laurel Run
White Oak Dam	Archbald	White Oak Run
Aylesworth Dam	Archbald	Aylesworth Creek
Edgerton Dam	Archbald	Aylesworth Creek
O&W Reservoir	Carbondale Twp.	Lees Creek
Rush Brook Intake and Heart Lake	Scott Twp.	Rush Brook
Brownell and Carbondale Nos. 4 and 7	Carbondale and Clinton Twps.	Racket Brook
Forest City Intake	Forest City	R10
Brace Brook Reservoir	Clinton Twp.	R10 and Brace Brook
Old Stillwater	Clifford Twp.	R10
Stillwater Dam	Clifford Twp. and Uniondale	R10
Lewis Lake	Uniondale	Fiddle Lake Creek
Fiddle Lake	Herrick Twp.	Fiddle Lake Creek
Hathaway Lake	Herrick Twp.	R12
Orson Pond	Preston Twp.	R11
Lake Lorrain	Preston Twp.	R11
Independent Lake	Preston Twp.	R11
Bone Pond	Preston Twp.	R11

8.5 Wetlands, Swamps and Bog Complexes	Municipality	Watershed
Duryea Swamps	Duryea	R1
Little Virginia	Scranton	Stafford Meadow Brook
Simmerson Swamp	Roaring Brook Twp.	Stafford Meadow Brook
Bear Swamp	Roaring Brook Twp.	Stafford Meadow Brook
Justus Meadows	Scott Twp.	Leggetts Creek
Throops Tank Swamp	Roaring Brook Twp.	Roaring Brook
Muni Bogs	Jefferson Twp.	Rock Bottom Creek
Freytown Marshes	Covington Twp.	Roaring Brook
Dunmore Swamps	Jefferson Twp.	Eddy Creek
Marshwood	Olyphant	Eddy Creek
Laruel Run Marshes	Jefferson Twp.	Laurel Run
Powderly Bogs	Carbondale Twp.	Powderly Creek
Fall Brook Glade	Fell Twp.	Fall Brook
Panther Bluff Bog	Fell Twp.	Panther Bluff Creek
Old Stillwater	Clifton Twp.	R10
Herrick Glen	Herrick Twp.	R12
Ball Pond	Herrick and Ararat Twps.	R12
Lake Romobe and Sinkhole Swamp	Herrick Twp.	R12
Orson Glade/Mud Pond	Ararat Twp.	R11
Dunns Pond	Ararat Twp.	R11

In addition to these sites, this plan includes recommendations for permanent conservation management of all sites listed in the Natural Areas Inventory of Lackawanna County and similar sites identified in the Natural Areas Inventories of Wayne and Luzerne Counties. This plan recommends inclusion of these sites in open space plans and the further development of conservation easements and management agreements with private property owners, or the acquisition of these sites and natural areas by public or private conservation agencies.

8.3 Natural Areas	Municipality	Watershed
Moosic Mountain Barrens	multiple municipalities	multiple watersheds
West Mountain Summits	multiple municipalities	multiple watersheds