Clarion River | The Beauty Around Us

Posts tagged ‘Clarion River’

Pennsylvania 2019 River of the Year

I read today that the Clarion River in northwestern Pennsylvania was voted the state’s 2019 River of the Year.

Here are a few photographs that I have taken over the past few years of the Clarion River.

Clarion River, August 2013

Clarion River, March 2014

Clarion River, April 2016

Clarion River, April 2016 on the First Day of Trout Season

Clarion River, April 2016. We enjoy riding the motorcycle on River Road.

Clarion River, May 2017 in Hallton, PA.

Sunday Drive: Warren to Benezette

Bob and I went for a drive yesterday. We were gone all day and covered a little more than 200 miles. We drove along the Clarion River; through Brookville, DuBois and Reynoldsville; saw elk in Benezette and ate an early dinner in St. Marys before heading back home.

This blog post shares photographs taken during our drive from our hometown (Warren, PA) to Benezette, PA. This portion of our drive is highlighted in the following map.

According to a Wikipedia article, the Clarion River is formed at Johnsonburg at the confluence of the East Branch and West Branch Clarion rivers. It flows generally southwest for about 110 miles, past the towns of Ridgway and Clarion, to join the Allegheny River. The name Clarion was given by surveyor Daniel Stanard in 1817 who thought the water sounded like a distant bird of the same name.

Clarion River, as seen from Rt. 899 bridge
in Clarington, PA

Clarion River
en route Cooksburg, via River Road (Rt. 2002)

Rt. 36 bridge over Clarion River
Cooksburg, PA

Clarion River
Cooksburg, PA
(looking away from the Rt. 36 bridge)

From River Road we drove over the Clarion River and continued following Rt. 36 to Brookville, PA.

I took this photograph of the Jefferson County Courthouse, as we were driving through Brookville.

From Brookville we followed Routes 322, 950, 219, 255 and 555 through Reynoldsville, DuBois, and Penfield to Benezette. The only stop we made, before reaching Benezette, was in Reynoldsville.

Abandoned ARCO fuel station
Reynoldsville, PA

I was able to remove the utility lines in this photograph. Also, I made an attempt to give the photograph an authentic “feel”.

Close-up photograph of one of the fuel pumps

My next blog post will highlight the final leg of our day trip, Benezette to Warren.

A Drive Along the Clarion River

Bob and I went for a drive, yesterday, alongside the Clarion River. It was nice to be out of the house for a few hours, see nice scenery, and get some fresh air.

Helen Iron Furnace

Our first stop, en route Clarion River, was at the Helen Iron Furnace. Helen’s Furnace is located about 8 miles north of Clarion. According to a sign at this site, this cold blast furnace was built in 1845. It was operational until 1857. In 1856, within a 26 week period of operation, the furnace generated 1,000 tons of iron. The furnace is 32′ high, 12′ across at the top, 30′ across at the bottom, and had an 8′ bosh.

About 10 minutes after leaving the Helen Iron Furnace, we passed by an interesting sight. Bob kept driving, although I remarked “hey look at that!”. A few seconds later Bob asked if I wanted him to turn around. I said “yes, please”. Bob turned around and found a place to pull off the road across from what appeared to be a collection of junk, or perhaps an antique shop. The area was roped off and several no trespassing signs dotted the landscape.

An antique shop (?) along Route 36 near Leeper, PA.

The remaining photographs were taken during our drive alongside the green (yes green!) Clarion River. The river and the roadway are extremely busy in the summer months. On this early Spring day we enjoyed a peaceful drive along River Road.

We lucked out, arriving at River Road after 1:00 PM. The road had been closed until noon as runners participated in the Cook Forest Half Marathon.

River Ride

This past Friday afternoon (July 10th) we went for a motorcycle ride along two rivers — the Allegheny River and the Clarion River.

Allegheny River
View from West Hickory Bridge (Rt. 127 off of Rt. 62)
Looking up river

Bob on River Road; Clarion River in background

While riding alongside the Clarion River we enjoyed watching people wading and swimming in the water, sunning themselves on large flat boulders, and rowing canoes or floating lazily in inner tubes on the river.

Before returning home we ate dinner at The Farmers Inn in Sigel.

The Farmers Inn

It was a beautiful day for a ride, sunny and warm. Our round trip river ride added about 123 miles onto the odometer. Click here for the route that we traveled.