Penns creek-Weikert Road access

STONEMAN

STONEMAN

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New Cumberland PA
Just saw that the bridge on Weikert/Winters road over Cherry Run is closed until mid June. This is a couple of hundred yards or so before the parking lot at the end. Parking is going to be challenging. Trying to post the link.
 
You can still access the parking lot via Cherry Run Road. It just changes where you get off of 45 and due to the length of that drive you are committed to the Cherry Run Parking area for your day of fishing.
 
STONEMAN wrote:
Just saw that the bridge on Weikert/Winters road over Cherry Run is closed until mid June. This is a couple of hundred yards or so before the parking lot at the end. Parking is going to be challenging. Trying to post the link.
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I drive in on Weikert Road to get to that section of Penns. I plan to make a trip there in the next week or so. Can you post a link of the notice to confirm the road is closed?
 
Penns Creek Angler just posted this on FaceBook. I can't seem to find the press release from PF&B anywhere but FB.

"Folks there is a tiny bridge that crosses Cherry Run before you get to the parking lot at the end of Weikert Rd and it is closed. The detour for access to the parking lot is Rt 45 to Cherry Run Road to Weikert Rd from the East and Rt 45 to Woodward Gap Rd to Cherry Run Rd to Weikert Road from the West. All these Mountain Roads are very narrow with lots of blind corners and they are made of dirt. This detour is extremely dangerous even during the summer. Its still winter up here, we had sleet this morning. Traveling these roads is going to be a disaster waiting to happen! Someone will get hurt. I can hardly believe that some official has even suggested using these roads as a detour. If you have a family and are looking to access the parking lot I would pick another area to fish. There are lots of places upstream and downstream of this bridge to fish and have a quality experience. It is not worth your life to travel these roads in the spring. I live here and I don't travel these roads, I know better. As you all know its not you that causes the accident its the other people you have to watch out for. Stop at the shop I'll point you in the right direction so you can have a quality experience without endangering your life. This is as simple as I can put it. Logging Trucks, Narrow Mud Roads, Wet Weather and Fishermen in a hurry is a recipe for a disaster. Someone should have their head examined to even suggest these roads as a detour that is safe. Again stop at the shop and I will try to help you find a spot. There are 10 miles of very good water below the Cherry Run Bridge. There are 10 miles of very good water above the Bridge. To those of you that decide to drive these roads please go very slow and be careful. All the Best!."
 
I am not sure how Cherry Run Rd is much different than just about any other forestry road in the state. Obviously in the early spring you must consider the snow/ ice pack. I would think that other than a select few locations in deep drainages, that most if not all roads are clear of ice. Yes, the roads are narrow, but so is virtually every other forestry road. The road into Ingleby for example is the next access road upstream and it is just as narrow if not more so in some places than Cherry Run Rd. Take your time and go fish!
 
I've driven Cherry Run Road many times from Route 45 at Woodward across to Penns Creek many times.

In a Honda Civic.

It's just a typical state forest gravel road.

You should follow the usual safety practices when driving gravel roads, of course, but there was nothing particularly unusual about that road.



 
I would pay heed to Bruce from Penns Creek Angler's warning about the road conditions. He lives back there.

Many times, before a complete thaw of the ground the road surface is unable to drain and it becomes soupy and slippery as ice with any precipitation. I've experienced that very thing back in there early in the season.

Plus after the winter season many of the roads are in dire need of road grading to get them in decent drive-able shape for travel by most vehicles.
 
I've driven that road and it sucks. It's sucks even worse when you get to your vehicle at 10:30pm, drive out Cherry Run Rd, get disoriented and take a wrong turn. I was in a Honda and ended up on a section that requires a lifted 4x4. LoL
 
Concern for safety on this road should be taken seriously. For the most part it's one lane so difficult to find room for two vehicles to pass by each other. The gravel surface is slippery even when dry. I avoided it even when 99% of the fishermen headed to the C&R lot arrived via Weikert Road. IMHO, poor judgment to close Weikert Road for this bridge repair from April to June.
 
 
The safety concerns about the proposed detour into the parking lot noted, but otherwise that post is over the top and not very tactful or well placed IMO.

The DCNR has more bases to cover than angler convenience, and as long as reasonable standards are being met to protect the stream, I'm not sure there is much more to be asked. (I don't see anything out of the ordinary from the pictures of the site in the post. If anything, I see MORE stream protection than I've seen on other similar projects on small streams.) From a traffic, and angler usage perspective, does August or September make more sense to do this project, yeah, probably. But that then leaves less "good weather" before next Winter to complete it. (I don't know how long this is planned to take, but I can understand why you'd want to start work on it ASAP once the weather improves in the Spring.)

Bridges get replaced all the time, and roads along streams get worked on all the time. The fish live through it just fine. They can handle some muddy runoff during rain events for a couple months. (Look at wild Browns in some valley streams where the runoff is like that after every rain event.) I do remember one pretty big fish kill after a concrete pour problem during Rt. 322 work on Tea/Honey, but that was an exception, not the rule. Both of those streams recovered very quickly, and are high biomass Class A's now.

I can understand some concern for the lowest reaches of Cherry Run, but the effect on Penns, given the small amount of water that Cherry Run contributes to its total volume will be negligible. Keep in mind too that the bridge over Cherry Run being replaced is only approximately 1/4 mile up from its mouth. The 4 or 5 miles of Cherry Run above that will be unaffected.

Be careful on the detour roads into the parking lot if you choose to use them. Most of the folks who choose to do so likely know what state forest mountain roads are like, have vehicles capable of traversing them, and know how to drive on them. Other than that, this is a minor temporary inconvenience for prolonged access to the Cherry Run lot.

I would think a business in that area would attempt to downplay the impacts of such a project, as opposed to inflate them.
 
Swattie87 wrote:
The safety concerns about the proposed detour into the parking lot noted, but otherwise that post is over the top and not very tactful or well placed IMO.

The DCNR has more bases to cover than angler convenience, and as long as reasonable standards are being met to protect the stream, I'm not sure there is much more to be asked. (I don't see anything out of the ordinary from the pictures of the site in the post. If anything, I see MORE stream protection than I've seen on other similar projects on small streams.) From a traffic, and angler usage perspective, does August or September make more sense to do this project, yeah, probably. But that then leaves less "good weather" before next Winter to complete it. (I don't know how long this is planned to take, but I can understand why you'd want to start work on it ASAP once the weather improves in the Spring.)

Bridges get replaced all the time, and roads along streams get worked on all the time. The fish live through it just fine. They can handle some muddy runoff during rain events for a couple months. (Look at wild Browns in some valley streams where the runoff is like that after every rain event.) I do remember one pretty big fish kill after a concrete pour problem during Rt. 322 work on Tea/Honey, but that was an exception, not the rule. Both of those streams recovered very quickly, and are high biomass Class A's now.

I can understand some concern for the lowest reaches of Cherry Run, but the effect on Penns, given the small amount of water that Cherry Run contributes to its total volume will be negligible. Keep in mind too that the bridge over Cherry Run being replaced is only approximately 1/4 mile up from its mouth. The 4 or 5 miles of Cherry Run above that will be unaffected.

Be careful on the detour roads into the parking lot if you choose to use them. Most of the folks who choose to do so likely know what state forest mountain roads are like, have vehicles capable of traversing them, and know how to drive on them. Other than that, this is a minor temporary inconvenience for prolonged access to the Cherry Run lot.

I would think a business in that area would attempt to downplay the impacts of such a project, as opposed to inflate them.
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^ Agree for the most part.

I am not an engineer and cannot assess whether the method used to divert the stream and build a new bridge is SOP or in some way not the proper way to proceed. I'll defer to others with more knowledge of engineering procedures to make that determination. If it is improper and unduly harmful it should be reported to the proper authorities. If not, than we should just bide our time and wait to gain access through Weikert Road.
 
I have a friend with a cabin on Cherry Run Road so quite familiar with it - and it gets slick when it's wet and icy when it's cold. And in the summer, when it's dry, people will drive quite fast. So it will be dangerous, I can guarantee that, especially with increased traffic. It is tough to fit two cars side by side in many areas, but, there are quite a few pull-offs or wider areas. Just need to drive carefully. Driven it plenty of times in my Honda HRV and had no issues. Can be scary at night though - and those unfamiliar may easily get lost.

If I'm correct, the lowest reaches of Cherry Run - from the bridge down to Penns - are posted anyways right? So access to that part of the stream isn't affected. It seems like they are doing a good job at setting reasonable standards to protect the stream as well - like Swattie said I don't see anything glaringly wrong with what they're doing - if you do construction, there will be dirt, and it will wash off during a rainfall. Better to do it now than during spawning season when the big browns run up Cherry Run to spawn...and better to do it in the Spring when there are usually higher flows / run-off anyways that will run that silt/dirt downstream faster. If you do it in July/August, I'm sure you'll have plenty of people complaining about it then as well. And maybe you won't have the rainfall needed during the late summer to disperse any silt downstream fast enough either. Who knows?

Only thing I would be worried about is any blockages from the bridge down to Penns that might affect trout spawning up in Cherry Run this fall.

I fish the water below Cherry Run a couple times a year - so if I notice anything out of the ordinary I will take note and report it.
 
Stopped and talked to the supervisor on the cherry run project. Very nice chat. By the way he and most of his workers are fishermen too. They have taken precautions, over and above to protect the stream and area. I am sure when finished all will be happy. Road is closed to general public use.
 
All will be good in the end. If you fish below the old c and r into the new regulated water be respectful of landowners. Don’t park on lawns or in non designated spots. Cherry run road is fine to travel. Take your time and enjoy the drive. It’s a dcnr dirt road not some epic adventure into the Himalaya. It’s not dangerous and there is very rarely log trucks as mentioned in some post. It’s state ground that hasn’t been timbered in decades. Penns Creek angler post is over the top. Enjoy the hatch season and be cool!
 
Cherry run road is fine, workers are parking on it for the bridge work, also big equipment is working there. Why not just try to be helpful and wait till project is complete. Everyone is trying to do the best. I did not state this before, project supervisors and workers are not very happy with penns creek angler shop. Penns creek angler has ruffled some feathers. Let us as fishermen show some respect. Why stir up a hornet's nest. Things are pretty stirred up on Penn's now. In the next few years, depending on fishermen, it will be better or less will be available.

Maxima12
 
Paraleptalata wrote:
All will be good in the end. If you fish below the old c and r into the new regulated water be respectful of landowners. Don’t park on lawns or in non designated spots. Cherry run road is fine to travel. Take your time and enjoy the drive. It’s a dcnr dirt road not some epic adventure into the Himalaya. It’s not dangerous and there is very rarely log trucks as mentioned in some post. It’s state ground that hasn’t been timbered in decades. Penns Creek angler post is over the top. Enjoy the hatch season and be cool!
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Only road there that's really a problem is Paddy Mountain Road. Shouldn't be on that one anyway to get to Penns. Bear Run Road is a good one to get into Penns from the east off 45.

Usually when there is logging on SF land the state grades the roads and clears the culverts.

BTW I used to fish Penns back there at least a dozen times a year in January and February. My favorite spots is off Mingle Road. Somewhere back along Cherry Run Road is a nice Orvis rod with a Ross real that I forgot to take off the roof of the truck. If you find it it's yours. I consoled my loss by heading up to FlyFisher's Paradise and picking up a new Sage rod.
 
Fished the C & R area today and entered by Bear Run road off route 45. The bridge crew stopped me and told me the road will be TOTALLY closed on Friday 6/14 for paving. Save yourself some frustration and access Penns elsewhere or fish another stream on Friday!
 
afishinado wrote:
Here are pics and a report from Bruce at Penns Creek angler from FB about the closure of Wiekert Road for construction of a new bridge over Cherry run. Pretty rough! >
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Wow, a bit dramatic and whiny I'd say.
 
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