Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania)

Kettle Creek
Kettle Creek at Ole Bull State Park
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Elk Township, Tioga County Pennsylvania
Mouth
• location	West Branch Susquehanna River at Noyes Township, Pennsylvania
• coordinates	41°18′03″N 77°50′18″W / 41.3009°N 77.8382°W / 41.3009; -77.8382
Length	43 mi (69 km)
Basin size	244 sq mi (630 km2)

Kettle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River running through Tioga, Potter, and Clinton counties, in Pennsylvania. It is slightly less than 43 miles (69 km) long.^[1] Although many streams in the Kettle Creek watershed are considered "Class A Wild Trout streams" by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the lower reaches of the stream experience acid mine drainage.^[2] The upper reaches of the creek are considered to be very high-quality.^[3]

Kettle Creek flows through Elk Township in Tioga County, then Abbott Township and Stewardson Township in Potter County, then Leidy Township and Noyes Township in Clinton County. Its mouth is at the community of Westport. Major tributaries include Cross Fork, Hammersley Fork, Little Kettle Creek, and others. The Kettle Creek Lake is located on Kettle Creek. Numerous metals and other substances contaminate the creek. These include iron, aluminum, manganese, and sulfates. The creek's discharge at Westport ranges from 4 to 6280 cubic feet per second and the pH ranges from 5.5 to 8.6. It also experiences abnormally high water temperatures.

Kettle Creek is a freestone stream. The rock in the watershed is mostly sandstone and interbedded sedimentary rock. Rock formations in the watershed include the Burgoon Sandstone, the Huntley Mountain Formation, the Pottsville Group, and the Allegheny Group. The Lower Kittanning and Upper Kittanning coal beds are also found in the watershed. The Kettle Creek watershed has an area of 244 square miles (630 km²) in Tioga, Potter, Clinton, and Cameron Counties. The vast majority (approximately 93%) of the land in it is forested land and approximately 92% is publicly owned land, such as state forests. The watershed has a sparse permanent population, although it is home to numerous seasonal camps.

The Iroquois and Delaware Indians were the first inhabitants of the Kettle Creek watershed. The first European settler arrived in 1794 and with more settlers arriving in the following decades. The coal mining industry began in the watershed in 1874 and lasted until the 1970s. The lumbering industry lasted from the mid-1800s to around 1910. Natural gas was also extracted in the watershed in the 20th century.