SBecker
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- Jun 26, 2010
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My orthopedic surgeon owes me a trip there after he tore my bicep a few years back. I will remind him Tuesday when he is repairing a tendon in my forearm. lol
Tobyhanna Creek public access
- Thread starter FishLips
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My orthopedic surgeon owes me a trip there after he tore my bicep a few years back. I will remind him Tuesday when he is repairing a tendon in my forearm. lol
dryflyguy
Well-known member
The Little Juniata river case was kinda unique
The "club" had put a cable across the river.
And were attempting to stop people from even floating through - and basically, stopping passage through the gorge below.
Since you can only access at Spruce Creek, or Baree
Something had to be done about it
PA Fish and Boat, along with Alan Bright from spruce creek outfitters, teamed up to fight it in court
And a lawyer from Pittsburgh - who was a fly fisherman - even volunteered his services to the cause, if I'm recalling correctly.
wildtrout2
Well-known member
Wouldn't running a cable across the river have been illegal by itself, because of the safety issue it would pose?
dryflyguy
Well-known member
For sure
I seem to recall them being told to take it down immediately - before the court case proceeded
I seem to recall them being told to take it down immediately - before the court case proceeded
This thread and discussion intrigued me. I found this (boring) YouTube video of drone footage of the section I believe you are asking about. I think the red bridge you could float a kayak under, the other looks to me like you would have to portage over. Good Luck and I hope this helps.
vealboy
Active member
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- Dec 28, 2006
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- 123
You could try asking them for info.I found this address and phone number.
PO Box 738,Pocono Lake,Pa,18347 (570)646-8828.Found this on the web not sure how accurate it is.It's worth a try.Good Luck
skiracer88
New member
Hi Everyone,
I joined this forum because this topic is of interest and very intriguing to me. Although I now live in Colorado most of the time, I grew up in the Poconos and continue to live there on and off. I have been infatuated with the waterways and streams in the Poconos for as long as I can remember. I canoed the upper Toby (from the bridge through the game lands off 423) several times at flood stage with my best friend as a kid (and as an adult), portaging around Warnertown falls each time. In the past few years, I got interested in packrafting after accompanying my twin sons on a boy scout packrafting trip in Montana. I subsequently bought my own packraft and became obsessed with figuring out which creeks in the Poconos could be packrafted (presumably more than you can canoe, and also with somewhat more marginal water conditions) and have since been ticking some off each time I happen to be around and we get a bunch of rain. I have since packrafted more of the Toby through the game lands, starting higher at route 611. I also did the Tunkhannock this past summer during a July storm cycle from the bridge near Pocono Raceway near the outflow of Long Pond and rafted the Toby through Austin Blakeslee preserve to Rte. 940, pulling out there because I didn't want to argue with Dream Mile folks.
I have actually done some research on the public nature of the Tobyhanna Creek and even pulled the applicable legal proceedings entitled "General assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - Passed at the session of 1837-38", which couldn't be more clear. The Tobyhanna Creek was declared by the legislature as a "public highway" between the confluence of the Lehigh and the confluence of the Tunkhanna (Tunkhannock) Creek. This includes the entirety of the Dream Mile fishing club. I have attached this excerpt, but I have acquired this entire book, which Google was kind enough to scan from a rough hard copy.
Later case law associated with the Upper Lehigh River case seems to also indicate that the public nature of the Toby would apply to the entirety of the Tobyhanna Creek even above the Tunkhannock confluence because the court stated in their findings that if one portion of a creek or river is declared public/navigable, then the entire creek is public from its headwaters to its confluence. All of this is somewhat moot for boating, because you can in fact legally float any waterway in the PA commonwealth as long as you enter and exit from land that you are legally allowed to be on, but the implications for wading and fishing are much larger. I suspect that the dream mile folks may yell at you but would never take an "offender" to court in fear of losing the case, which is pretty likely.
There is a fantastic book out there by Gary Gentile if you are interested in the navigability of creeks in the Poconos. It is very much worth the $20.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883056500?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Very few people put watercrafts on creeks in the Poconos outside of the Lehigh below the Frances E Walter. If you are interested in exploring more of the waterways in our beautiful part of the state and want some company, reach out (via DM). It would be fun to have someone to adventure with the next time we get a bunch of rain and I happen to be in the Poconos! I haven't done the upper Lehigh yet, and would love to do the whole thing from Goldsborough to the Bear Creek preserve and maybe hike out from there instead of floating to the FEW dam. I am also intrigued about Bear Creek, amongst others.
I joined this forum because this topic is of interest and very intriguing to me. Although I now live in Colorado most of the time, I grew up in the Poconos and continue to live there on and off. I have been infatuated with the waterways and streams in the Poconos for as long as I can remember. I canoed the upper Toby (from the bridge through the game lands off 423) several times at flood stage with my best friend as a kid (and as an adult), portaging around Warnertown falls each time. In the past few years, I got interested in packrafting after accompanying my twin sons on a boy scout packrafting trip in Montana. I subsequently bought my own packraft and became obsessed with figuring out which creeks in the Poconos could be packrafted (presumably more than you can canoe, and also with somewhat more marginal water conditions) and have since been ticking some off each time I happen to be around and we get a bunch of rain. I have since packrafted more of the Toby through the game lands, starting higher at route 611. I also did the Tunkhannock this past summer during a July storm cycle from the bridge near Pocono Raceway near the outflow of Long Pond and rafted the Toby through Austin Blakeslee preserve to Rte. 940, pulling out there because I didn't want to argue with Dream Mile folks.
I have actually done some research on the public nature of the Tobyhanna Creek and even pulled the applicable legal proceedings entitled "General assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - Passed at the session of 1837-38", which couldn't be more clear. The Tobyhanna Creek was declared by the legislature as a "public highway" between the confluence of the Lehigh and the confluence of the Tunkhanna (Tunkhannock) Creek. This includes the entirety of the Dream Mile fishing club. I have attached this excerpt, but I have acquired this entire book, which Google was kind enough to scan from a rough hard copy.
Later case law associated with the Upper Lehigh River case seems to also indicate that the public nature of the Toby would apply to the entirety of the Tobyhanna Creek even above the Tunkhannock confluence because the court stated in their findings that if one portion of a creek or river is declared public/navigable, then the entire creek is public from its headwaters to its confluence. All of this is somewhat moot for boating, because you can in fact legally float any waterway in the PA commonwealth as long as you enter and exit from land that you are legally allowed to be on, but the implications for wading and fishing are much larger. I suspect that the dream mile folks may yell at you but would never take an "offender" to court in fear of losing the case, which is pretty likely.
There is a fantastic book out there by Gary Gentile if you are interested in the navigability of creeks in the Poconos. It is very much worth the $20.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883056500?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Very few people put watercrafts on creeks in the Poconos outside of the Lehigh below the Frances E Walter. If you are interested in exploring more of the waterways in our beautiful part of the state and want some company, reach out (via DM). It would be fun to have someone to adventure with the next time we get a bunch of rain and I happen to be in the Poconos! I haven't done the upper Lehigh yet, and would love to do the whole thing from Goldsborough to the Bear Creek preserve and maybe hike out from there instead of floating to the FEW dam. I am also intrigued about Bear Creek, amongst others.
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