The Lackawanna River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. It starts in north Wayne County, Pennsylvania and ends in east Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in Duryea, Pennsylvania. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urban areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenape word meaning "stream that forks".
The river rises in two branches, the West and East branches, along the boundary between Susquehanna and Wayne counties. The branches, each about long, flow south, closely parallel to each other, and join at the Stillwater Lake reservoir in Union Dale. The combined river flows southwest past Forest City, Carbondale, Mayfield, Jermyn, Archbald, Jessup, Blakely, Olyphant, Dickson City, Throop, Scranton, Taylor, Moosic, Old Forge, and Duryea. It joins the Susquehanna River at the northern boundary of Pittston about west-southwest of Scranton. As part of the Susquehanna River, it ultimately flows to Chesapeake Bay.
By the mid-20th century, the river was severely polluted from mine drainages in its watershed. The decline of industry in the region, as well as federal, state, and private efforts, have improved the water quality. Still, the Lackawanna River is the largest point source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. The upper reaches of the river are a popular destination for fly fishing of trout. It was designated as an American Heritage River in 1997.
Course
The Lackawanna River begins at the confluence of the East Branch Lackawanna River and the West Branch Lackawanna River in Stillwater Lake in Clifford Township, Susquehanna County. It flows south-southeast for a few miles in a deep valley, crossing Pennsylvania Route 171 and passing through Forest City. The river then enters Clinton Township, Wayne County. Here, it flows south for more than a mile before turning southeast for several tenths of a mile. It then turns south-southwest for a few miles, meandering into Vandling, in Lackawanna County. The river only flows through Vandling for a few tenths of a mile before entering Fell Township. The western side of its valley becomes steeper again and the river continues meandering south-southwest for a while before turning west for several tenths of a mile and into Simpson, where its valley broadens again. In Simpson, it turns southwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 171 again before receiving the tributary Wilson Creek from the right.
After receiving the tributary Wilson Creek, the Lackawanna River continues flowing southwest alongside Pennsylvania Route 171 and soon enters Carbondale. After flowing for several tenths of a mile through Carbondale, the river turns south for a few tenths of a mile, receiving the tributary Racket Brook from the left and crossing Pennsylvania Route 106 and a spur of US Route 6. It then turns west-southwest for several tenths of a mile and receives the tributary Fall Brook from the right before turning southwest for several miles. In this reach, the river passes through Carbondale Township and enters Mayfield. It eventually enters Jermyn, where it crosses Pennsylvania Route 107 and receives the tributary Rush Brook from the right. The river then turns south for a few miles, receiving the tributary Aylesworth Creek from the left and entering Archbald. In Archbald, it continues flowing south, receiving the tributaries White Oak Run and Laurel Run from the left. Several tenths of a mile downstream of the latter tributary, it enters Jessup and turns abruptly west.
Tributaries
The Lackawanna River has 33 named direct tributaries and another 32 sub-tributaries and sub-sub-tributaries.
The Lackawanna River has a perennial flow. Nevertheless, it experiences low flow conditions during warm weather.
Geography and geology
The elevation near the mouth of the Lackawanna River is above sea level. The elevation of the river's source is between above sea level.
The headwaters of the Lackawanna River are in the glaciated plateau physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains. However, the Lackawanna Valley is in the northernmost part of the ridge and valley physiographic province. The river also flows through a portion of the Coal Region. The Lackawanna Valley is part of the Lackawanna/Wyoming Syncline, which is a large syncline in the Allegheny Front and is the main geological feature of the watershed. The syncline is canoe-shaped, with a length of and a width of . The crests of the anticlines on both sides have been eroded away. An escarpment known as Campbells Ledge is located near the river's mouth, where the Susquehanna Valley enters the 55-mile-long Lackawanna/Wyoming Valley. In general, riffles and pools on the river form a "watery stairway". The pools can be as short as a few hundred feet or as long as several thousand feet, with larger ones mainly correlating to broad floodplains. Rapids mainly occur in reaches such as Panther Bluff (in Fell Township), the Winson area (in Archbald and Jessup), near Cliff Street (in Scranton), and at the Moosic anticline (in Old Forge).
Large parts of the Lackawanna River watershed, including its upper reaches in the Moosic Mountains, West Mountain, and the North Pocono Plateau, are largely forested. However, large areas of urban and suburban development occur in the river's valley from Pittston to Carbondale, with some urban sprawl reaching as far as halfway from the river to the ridge tops. Abandoned mining land lies between many of the developed areas in this part of the watershed. Such land contains at least of culm banks, overburden piles, silt basins, non-vegetated soil, and degraded waterways. One of the main owners of forested land in the watershed is the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, which owns the Lackawanna State Forest that straddles the border between the Lackawanna River and Lehigh River watersheds. The Pennsylvania Game Commission also owns more than several thousand acres of Pennsylvania State Game Lands in the watershed. Additionally, there are more than of wetlands in the watershed and another historically existed. All of the minor tributaries of the river begin in wetlands in the West Mountains or the Moosic Mountains. Riparian wetlands occur along the lower reaches of the river and a feature known as the Duryea Swamp is located in former mining pits at the river's mouth.
A number of Native American trails historically existed in the vicinity of the Lackawanna River. One of these was the Minisink Trail, which went from the upper Delaware River to the Lackawanna Valley and the Wyoming Valley via Wallenpaupack Creek and the Moosic Mountains. This trail was later used by settlers from Connecticut, who turned it into a wagon trail the Connecticut Road. Parts of the trail still exist in the form of jeep trails. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the river from its headwaters downstream to the Lackawanna County/Luzerne County line, a distance of . Five sections of the river are designated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as Class A Wild Trout Waters for brown trout. The sections are adjacent to each other and run from the upper Carbondale city line downstream to Green Ridge Street, a distance of .