Spring Creek Canyon Opens

On September 30, 2011 Spring the Creek Canyon Cooperative Management Coalition unveiled a jointly managed environmental area of 1,800 acres in Benner Springs, Pennsylvania. The canyon is now jointly managed by Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the state Department of Corrections, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Pennsylvania State University and Benner Township. Originally closed to the pubic as a part of the Department of Corrections' Rockview State Correctional Institution is now open to hikers, hunters and anglers.

For anglers this provides access to a stretch of water from the Benner Springs Hatchery downstream to the Fly Fishermen's Paradise. The new parking lot and extended trails provide easy access to these new waters for some. Actually many would sneak in although technically off limits in the past.

The new waters on Spring Creek are a great addition to some of the finest trout waters in Pennsylvania. I really enjoyed the new stretch as I felt I was a little more removed from the population of Happy Valley. Red squirrels, hawks and the canyon take you off the road and connect you a little closer to nature.

More pictures, videos and a canyon map can be found on the PFBC dedication page here. More photographs from Dave Kile have been posted on the Paflyfish Facebook fan page here.


New parking lot


Ron Kohlman of Indiana, Pennsylvania in the Spring Creek Canyon.