Tohickon Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River. Located entirely in Bucks County, in southeastern Pennsylvania, it rises in Springfield Township and has its confluence with the Delaware at Point Pleasant. It is dammed to form Lake Nockamixon.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area through which the creek runs was inhabited by the Lenape tribe. The area was called

Tachan Hoking (pronounced Toc-ahn Hok Ing) or "Piece of Wood Area Place." It could also mean Achtuhhu Ing (pronounced "Awk-too-who Ing") or "Deers Place." Early white settlers in the area noted the fast, constant current of the creek, and by the late eighteenth century a number of water-powered mills had sprung up along the lower portion of the Tohickon valley. Notable among these was the grist mill of Ralph Stover, in Plumstead Township. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, long after the mill had been shut down, the Stover heirs gave the area around the mill to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. After the Federal Works Progress Administration converted the area for recreational use, a Ralph Stover State Park was opened to the public in 1935.

thumb|left|upright|Tohickon Creek flowing out of the dam forming [[Lake Nockamixon.]]

The creation of Ralph Stover State Park was the beginning of the Tohickon Creek's shift from an industrial area to a recreational area. The next move in this direction came in 1958, when the United States Army Corps of Engineers dammed the creek just south of Quakertown, forming Tohickon Lake, another state park. It was later renamed Lake Nockamixon, another Lenape name meaning "place of soft soil."

More and more land along the creek was eventually turned into parkland. The next addition to the park was the High Rocks unit of Ralph Stover State Park, donated to the Commonwealth by the noted author James A. Michener, a local resident. It features vertical rock cliffs above the creek. Today another park, Tohickon Valley County Park, borders High Rocks on three sides and their trail systems interlace. Together they protect the steep valley that Tohickon Creek cuts through the hills south of the old grist mill.

The Boy Scouts of America also have a camp located along the creek, Camp Ockanickon, and a few private campgrounds are located along its course.

Statistics

The Tohickon Creek is long, located entirely within Bucks County, is part of the Delaware River watershed, and drains of . The GNIS I.D. Number is 1189623, the U.S. Department of the Interior stream code is 03110. It meets its confluence at the Delaware's 157.0 river mile.

Course

thumb|left|upright|One of the calmer spots along the creek north of the lower valley.

Tohickon Creek is the longest waterway located entirely in Bucks County. This turns Tohickon Creek into a whitewater course, and boaters can manage their ways the entire route from the lake to the Delaware River.

At the High Rocks unit of Ralph Stover State Park, visitors can rock climb up cliffs or look at the view from atop. A pathway, Ridge Trail, travels along the top of the wide valley from High Rocks and goes south into Tohickon Valley County Park towards Point Pleasant. At its very end, the creek passes beneath Delaware Canal State Park, where prior to the floods of 2004–2005 visitors could walk north all the way to Easton or south all the way to Bristol. The debris caught in the bridge in the adjacent picture is from this same flood that destroyed entire parts of the canal. Reconstruction of the park is currently underway.

Crossings and Bridges

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Crossing !! NBI Number !! Length !! Lanes !! Spans !! Material/Design !! Built !! Reconstructed !!Latitude||Longitude

|-

|Rocky Valley Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Povenski Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Hickon Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|East Cherry Road||7437||||2||1||Concrete slab||1966||-||40°28'44.2"N||75°21'13.18"W

|-

|California Road||7425||||2||1||Prestressed concrete box beam or girders - Multiple||1970||-||40°28'30"N||75°20'54"W

|-

|East Pumping Station Road||7578||||2||2||Prestressed concrete box beam or girders - Multiple||1982||-||40°27'49"N||75°20'26.8"W

|-

|Pennsylvania Route 212 (Richlandtown Pike)||6937||||2||2||Steel Stringer/multi-beam or girder||1964||-||40°26'53.5"N||75°19'45.95"W

|-

|Erie Road||7576||||2||2||Steel stringer/multi-beam or girder||1932||-||40°26'40.5"N||75°19'11.2"W

|-

|West Thatcher Road||7413||||2||2||Steel stringer/multi-beam or girder||1973||-||40°26'25.7"N||75°18'40.4"W

|-

|Richlandtown Road||7416||||2||1||Steel stringer/multi-beam or girder||1974||2004||40°26'56"N||75°17'20.16"W

|-

|Covered Bridge Road (Sheard's Mill Covered Bridge)||7470||||1||1||Covered bridge||1873||1971||40°27'17.5"N||75°16'44.06"W

|-

|Pennsylvania Route 563 (Mountain View Drive)||7054||||2||3||Prestressed concrete stringer/multi-beam or girder||1972||-||40°26'8.2"N||75°15'54.13"W

|-

|South Park Road||7469||||2||3||Prestressed concrete stringer/nulti-beam or girder||1976||-||40°28'3.5"N||75°10'47.93"W

|-

|Creamery Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Farm School Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Pennsylvania Route 113 (Bedminster Road)||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Pennsylvania Route 611 (Easton Road)||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Randts Mill Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Dark Hollow Road||42700||||2||2||Prestressed concrete continuous box beam or girders - single or spread||2004||-||40°26'18"N||75°7'30"W

|-

|Stover Park Road||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||

|-

|Pennsylvania Route 32 (River Road)||6807||||2||2||Concrete Arch-deck||1922||-||40°25'22.2"N||75°3'59"W

|-

| Delaware Canal Tohickon Creek Aqueduct||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||40°25'20.7"N||75°3'53.1"W

|}

thumb|none|Tohickon Creek Aqueduct

See also

  • List of rivers of the United States
  • List of rivers of Pennsylvania
  • List of Delaware River tributaries

References

  • Delaware Canal State Park
  • Nockamixon State Park
  • Ralph Stover State Park
  • U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
  • Photo gallery