kinzua dam tour

Allegheny Reservoir And Kinzua Dam

1205 Kinzua Rd. Warren, PA 16365 Phone: 814-726-0661 Region: Pennsylvania Wilds

The Allegheny Reservoir, a 12,000 acre impoundment, spans the border between Pennsylvania and New York. In Pennsylvania, the reservoir is completely surrounded by the Allegheny National Forest. The reservoir is a fun family place for fishing, boating, swimming and so much more. The Allegheny Reservoir offers some of the best fishing opportunities in the eastern United States and is a great fishing destination for muskie and walleye. A summary of other fishing regulations can be found at www.fishandboat.com . The current Pennsylvania state record northern pike and walleye were both caught in this lake. All motorboats must display a valid registration. All personal watercraft operators, passengers, sailboarders, water skiers or anyone being towed behind a boat must wear a life jacket.

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Flood Protection and Power

Measuring 1,897 feet long, the Kinzua Dam provides flood protection from the Allegheny River, and also produces hydroelectric power. Read on for more information on the deep history of the Kinzua Dam development.

Things to do

The Power of Water

Visitors may walk out partway on the Dam, and gaze out and below. From one side, feel and see the power of water gushing through the Dam, with energy producing hydroelectric power. On the other side, enjoy a scenic view of the Allegheny Reservoir. Look down below and you'll almost surely see large carp swimming near the surface! Below the dam is a visitor center, with information on the history of the site and its multipurpose functions.

About the Dam

Finished in 1965, the Kinzua Dam was developed for flood control of the Allegheny River, after a major flood struck Pittsburgh in 1936. Learn about the history of the Dam by visiting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Big Bend Visitor Center just downstream of the dam, open seasonally from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and weekends in September and October. The center contains exhibits and brochures which explain and illustrate the purpose to the dam and power plant.

Reverence for the Past

The construction of the dam received national attention, as the reservoir’s floodplain forced the relocation of the Seneca Nation of Indians and required the condemnation of several towns and communities. In 1964, Johnny Cash recorded the song “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow,” written by Peter La Farge, about the loss of Seneca land due to the construction of the Kinzua Dam. Today, locals enjoy the beauty and use of the reservoir, but continue to carry a profound respect for the history of the land and its people.

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Kinzua Dam - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

1-800-473-9370    |    [email protected]

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Tour Kinzua Bridge State Park & Sky Walk

Enjoy spectacular vistas and glass view of the valley below.

Kinzua Sky Walk – Kinzua Bridge State Park

296 Viaduct Road Mt. Jewett, PA 16740 814-778-5467 [email protected]   More Information About Kinzua Bridge State Park   “Walk the Tracks across the Sky” The Kinzua Sky Walk is constructed on the restored towers of the historic Kinzua Viaduct, once the longest and highest railroad viaduct in the world. This pedestrian walkway, which extends 600 feet out onto the Kinzua Gorge, features an octagon shaped overlook with a partial glass floor that provides stunning 8-mile forest vistas.   Prime fall foliage viewing is the last week of September and the first three weeks of October. Interpretive staff at the Kinzua Bridge State Park can provide group and school programming with prior arrangement. Courses offered include: History of the Bridge, Apple Cider Making, Candle Making, Birding, GPS Basics & Geocaching, and Fun with Trees and Leaves. Admission to Kinzua Bridge State Park and the Kinzua Sky Walk is free. Park has a pavilion that can be reserved if your group would like to bring a “sack lunch”. For active groups, a guided hike on-site at the General Kane Trail provides an opportunity to view American Chestnut Trees, wildlife and learn about the natural regeneration of a forest following a tornado.   Hours

Day use park, open year round. Call during winter months, may be closed due to adverse weather conditions.

Rent a picnic pavilion

Relax and have fun with your own Picnic Pavilion at Kinzua Bridge State Park. Enjoy this spectacular venue for your family reunion or large group outing. Check out available facilities .   To schedule your motorcoach or school group visit:

Contact Jason or Holly at 814-778-5467 [email protected] or [email protected]

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Admission: Free Length of Tour: 2 hours Restroom Facilities: Yes Handicap Accessible: Yes Comp: Driver & Escort Gift Shop: Yes Food Service on Site: No Free Bus Parking: Yes Other: Video, guided tour, nature programming with advance registration.

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Mansion in the Forest – Two Night Package Dine, Wine & Brews

Enjoy two nights stay at the Kane Manor Inn and sample the local fare and libations including a $50 voucher at Table 105, Kane’s foremost American bistro, wine tasting/meat and cheese tray at Flickerwood Winery ($15 value) and beer tasting or two full glasses of craft beer at our local Logyard Brewing ($12 value). Kane, PA is Trail Central™ and located on the Knox & Kane Rail Trail (2 blocks from the Inn) and adjacent to numerous trails for hiking, biking and winter sports. The total package is $299.00 plus tax for two adults.

Kane Manor Inn 230 Clay St. Kane, PA 16735 814-837-6522 [email protected]

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Fishing for Value

Lantz Corners Getaway is centrally located to all the great fishing areas. Fishing for Value Package includes one overnight stay and one $10 food & beverage voucher for the Barrelhouse Restaurant – all for only $70.00 plus tax. Phone for reservations at 814-778-5391 , and mention the Fishing for Value Package for this special pricing. Extended nights & group pricing also available.

Lantz Corners Getaway and Conference Center Intersection of Rt. 219 & Rt. 6 2952 Route 219 Kane, PA 16735 814-778-5391 [email protected]

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Stay 2 nights and get 1 night free. Fee is $140.00 + tax for one person, or two people sharing a room. Walk to the Barrelhouse Restaurant & Pub next door, serving breakfast, lunch & dinner. Spend the evening relaxing around the fire pit. Call for reservations at 814-778-5391, and mention this Fly & Drive package for special pricing!

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Stay at the Inn and enjoy 2 days of golf with 18 holes per day, plus club cleaning and storage, and unlimited range balls at our practice facility. Up to two kids age 17 and under stay free. $549 for 2 nights for 2 adults.

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Stay at the Best Western Bradford Inn, located within walking distance of downtown restaurants. Package includes 2 nights lodging, free hot breakfast bar, 4 bottles of bottled water, two ANF decals, and a bag of trail mix. $225.00* for 2 Adults, 2 nights.

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Best Western Bradford Inn 100 S. Davis Street Bradford, PA 16701 814-362-4501

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The Complicated History of the Kinzua Dam and How It Changed Life for the Seneca People

Looking upstream, the Kinzua Dam seems to protrude brusquely from the Allegheny River. Nestled securely between the rolling hills of Warren County, Pennsylvania, the dam holds the river back. Behind it, the resulting Allegheny Reservoir stretches 27 miles long and 120 feet deep. 

The Pittsburgh District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the Kinzua Dam in 1965 and manages it to this day. In 1936, Congress authorized the building of the dam as part of a system of reservoirs on the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. According to Rose Reilly, a biologist with the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Kinzua Dam has two congressional purposes: flood control and water quality improvement for the Pittsburgh region.

The formidable Kinzua Dam, which protects Pittsburgh from flooding and pollution, came at a steep price for the Seneca Nation of Indians. They lost nine communities and 10,000 acres of their Allegany Territory to the dam. Pressure from climate change, however, could threaten the protection gained from the Seneca Nation’s coerced sacrifice. 

(Map created by Blue Raster)

In 1956, plans for the Kinzua Dam — which for the previous two decades had been vague and nebulous — began to move forward. Twenty years earlier, in the infamous St. Patrick’s Day Flood, the entire Ohio River Basin had experienced catastrophic flooding. In Pittsburgh alone, water levels rose 21 feet above the usual flood level. In one day. 

The devastation caused by the flood lent urgency to long-standing calls for a flood control project on the Allegheny River. Congress responded by passing the Flood Control Act of 1936, which paved the way for the eventual construction of the Kinzua Dam. Fervor for the project waned for many years as the United States became embroiled in military conflict.

By the mid-1950s, Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers were ready to move forward. Dennis Bowen Sr., a Seneca survivor of Kinzua Dam, considers dam building an essential part of the federal government’s post-war strategy. “Keep in mind,” he says, “that, by the early 1950s, this was after World War II and the Korean War. There were a lot of white families that needed jobs, they needed industry, and those factories, those industries all across the country needed electric power. And so why not steal Indian land and build a dam and make hydroelectric power?”

In October 1956, against the Seneca Nation’s wishes, the Army Corps of Engineers began surveying Allegany Territory land in preparation for the Kinzua Dam. The proposed structure would require the flooding or condemnation of 10,000 acres of the Allegany Territory.

Much was at stake in the Kinzua Dam challenge: losing their land would eventually cost around 600 Seneca people their homes. In the balance hung communities like Red House, New York. Bowen grew up there, on the Allegany Territory. Red House was a small town that spanned the Allegheny River; connected by the eponymous Red House Bridge. He remembers his town as self-sufficient; its residents regularly canned vegetables, cut firewood, fished and hunted. Living there, he was happy. 

Fish near the base of Kinzua Dam. (Photo by Maria Diaz-Gonzalez/PublicSource)

Red House lay in the Kinzua Dam’s “take area” — defined by the Army Corps of Engineers as any land behind the structure that fell below 1,365 feet of elevation. All of that land became subject to a flowage easement, meaning it could experience flooding due to the operations of the reservoir. Some of it is permanently inundated, construction or habitation is prohibited on the rest. The Army Corps used the flowage easement to forcefully relocate the inhabitants of the take area, including those of Red House and other towns. They then burned the towns. According to Bowen, his childhood home is the first one shown succumbing to the flames in the 2017 documentary Lake of Betrayal. Many of the markers of traditional Seneca life, like their houses, wood stoves and gardens, were consumed in such fires. The losses, both physical and intangible, reverberated across the Seneca Nation. 

Stephen Gordon, a Seneca elder, grew up in a town called Coldspring, which was also within Kinzua Dam’s take area. In Coldspring, he was surrounded by fluent speakers of the Seneca language. According to Gordon, his great-grandmother, Hannah Abrams, championed the continued use of their language in the home. She would say to his mother, “You leave that English language at the road. You don’t bring it into this house. It isn’t spoken here.”

The Allegheny Front: “FaithKeepers: Reclaiming Traditional Seneca Culture”

In his mother’s time and in his own, the New York state public education system aggressively pushed assimilation for Native children. The education system, Gordon relates, hoped to erase his community’s indigeneity. “They wanted us to become a part of the melting pot. And in order to do that, it was important that the education system drill it into us that you have to learn English, you have to learn mathematics, you have to learn history. And that your history doesn’t matter,” he says. 

Despite this, the Seneca language persisted, especially among older adults. Many Seneca elders however, passed away in the aftermath of the condemnation and burning of their homelands. They died, Bowen stresses, of broken hearts. 

The Kinzua Dam spillway. (Photo by Maria Diaz-Gonzalez/PublicSource)

The devastation nearly stifled the passing down of the Seneca language. “That was the signal,” Gordon says. He describes 1964 as “the signal of change, of leaving our past behind.”

With an entire world at stake — a homeland, a way of life, a language — the Seneca Nation did not want to cede its territory and launched a legal case to protect it.

The Seneca Nation grounded its legal defense in the Treaty of Canandaigua. The 1794 treaty affirmed a “permanent friendship” between the fledgling United States and the Hodinöhsö:ni (Iroquois Confederacy, of which the Seneca Nation was a member). 

President George Washington ordered the negotiation of the treaty with the hope of preventing a military alliance between the Hodinöhsö:ni and Ohio Territory Natives, which would have posed an existential threat to the United States. The treaty established in writing the extent of the Seneca Nation’s territory: an area that encompassed the entirety of western New York. It declared of the land that “the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb the Seneka Nation … in the free use and enjoyment thereof: but it shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase.”

Robert Odawi Porter, a lawyer and former president of the Seneca Nation, asserts that treaties with Native Nations are legally the same as treaties with international ones. They are negotiated by the president, and ratified by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. They also carry the binding force of federal law.

In 1956, the Seneca Nation believed in the words of the treaty, and in the significance of George Washington’s legally binding promises. Seneca leaders asserted that their lands could not be surveyed or condemned by the Army Corps of Engineers because the Treaty of Canandaigua remained in effect. In early 1957, however, a federal court decided against them. The judge in United States v. 21,250 Acres of Land Etc. ruled that the Seneca Nation could not bar federal agents from entering its territory and could not resist the taking of its land via eminent domain. The ruling declared that the Treaty of Canandaigua could not actually protect Seneca Nation land from seizure because it “cannot rise above the power of Congress to legislate.”

Seneca leaders appealed the ruling. In doing so, they challenged centuries of racist legal precedent. The judge in United States v. 21,250 Acres of Land Etc. cited the 1903 Supreme Court Case Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock to affirm the federal government’s right to expropriate treaty-protected reservation lands. The opinion in Lone Wolf granted Congress the right to unilaterally abrogate an Indian treaty, arguing that that no treaty could be interpreted to “materially limit and qualify the controlling authority of Congress … when the necessity might be urgent for a partition and disposal of the tribal lands.”

The Supreme Court leaned on racist notions about Native Americans to defend this decision. The opinion cited a passage from an earlier Supreme Court case Beecher v. Wetherby . The passage stated that in exercising its power to displace Natives, the federal government would presumably “be governed by such considerations of justice as would control a Christian people in their treatment of an ignorant and dependent race.”

The Allegheny Reservoir, also known as Kinzua Lake, was created by the Kinzua Dam. (Photo by Maria Diaz-Gonzalez/PublicSource)

By 1959, these centuries-old forces closed the Seneca Nation’s legal options against the Kinzua Dam. 

The Seneca people offered yet another way.

In 1957, Seneca leaders hired civil engineer Arthur E. Morgan, the first chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority , to explore alternate flood control solutions for the Pittsburgh region. Over the next three years, Morgan and the Seneca Nation argued in court, on television and before Congress that the Kinzua Dam was not an optimal solution to flooding in the Ohio River Basin. 

Instead, Morgan put forth the Conewango-Cattaraugus Plan. In it, he proposed a diversion dam near Coldspring, New York, to divide the flow of the Allegheny River. According to a Buffalo Courier-Express newspaper article from April 10, 1960, Morgan’s dam would reroute some of the river’s water into two outlets: Lake Erie and Conewango Creek by Waterboro, New York. On its way toward Lake Erie, diverted water would fill a natural depression in Conewango Valley, forming a recreational lake. 

“Indian people have always been the supermarket for America.”

Morgan held that the Conewango-Cattaraugus plan had several advantages over the Kinzua Dam. He contended that having Lake Erie as an outlet provided his plan with much greater water storage capacity than the dam. This would afford the Pittsburgh region increased protection from flood waters and create greater opportunities for hydropower exploration, he says. The engineer also affirmed that the lake at Conewango Valley would be far more stable than the Allegheny Reservoir, whose seasonal fluctuations would reveal several miles of “unsightly mud flats” every year. 

Morgan and the Seneca Nation’s efforts succeeded in delaying the construction of the dam and rallying moderate government and strong public support for their cause. Luminaries like Eleanor Roosevelt voiced support for a resolution to the region’s flooding problems that could leave Seneca lands undisturbed. Johnny Cash recorded a song “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow,” chronicling the battle against the Kinzua Dam. But it was not enough. In late 1957, the Corps hired engineering firm Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton [TAMS] to evaluate its plans and Morgan’s proposal. TAMS concluded that the Conewango-Cattaraugus plan would be too expensive. Morgan contended that TAMS was biased in favor of the Corps because the federal agency was its biggest client. 

On Oct. 22, 1960, groundbreaking for the Kinzua Dam began, promising to drown an invaluable part of the Seneca’s world. 

The federal government has a long history of betraying Native people for American gain. In Bowen’s words, “Indian people have always been the supermarket for America.”

“They wanted us to become a part of the melting pot. And in order to do that, it was important that the education system drill it into us that you have to learn English…your history doesn’t matter.”

At the Kinzua Dam, the Seneca Nation’s loss protects the lower Allegheny valley from flooding and from the pollution of Pennsylvania’s heritage industries. The Army Corps of Engineers do this by varying the amount of water in the Allegheny Reservoir: they sequester water during periods of heavy precipitation and release it during dry spells. The former prevents downstream flooding and the latter dilutes pollution in the river’s water.

Dams, like people, have lifespans. According to Reilly, the Corps biologist, the buildup of sediment (siltation) defines the lifespan of a dam and reservoir system. 

Doug Helman, a supervisory natural resource manager with the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers, explains that when moving river water approaches a reservoir, it slows down. “And when the water slows down, then those nutrients and chemicals and silt drop down to the bottom of the river.”

Over the years, the buildup of such (sometimes toxic) materials can fill an entire reservoir with sediment and render it obsolete as a method of flood control. The Allegheny Reservoir is protected from siltation by its length; most of the river’s sediment drops off near the reservoir’s northern border in the Seneca’s Allegany Territory, over 20 miles away from the Kinzua Dam. 

The system however, may face mounting pressure from climate change. According to members of the Pittsburgh District Army Corps of Engineers, the region has in recent years experienced record rainfall. Helman warns that these conditions may require that the Corps release reservoir water from the Kinzua Dam at a greater rate than they would like. This would likely increase flooding downstream. 

Areas upstream of, and not protected by Kinzua Dam are also affected by the changing weather. Mike Debes, a floodplain manager with the Army Corps, says the Allegheny River valley’s development history is a leading cause of its flooding problems. “As more and more homes and roads and impervious structures and roads are built, more and more water is working its way into the small creeks, and more and more flooding is occurring.” 

The growing imperviousness of the river’s floodplain, coupled with climate change, are bringing regular floods to communities that had rarely experienced them before. Those flood waters eventually find their way to the Allegheny Reservoir and Kinzua Dam, a system Reilly says is large enough to handle them, though it was built using climate data available before and during the 1960s.

Debes says the education public officials and community members will need to deal with the wetter reality of the Allegheny River valley will take a lot of time. But the need is pressing. Homes, towns, communities — the very things the water now threatens — are, in Debes’ words, “one of the real basic things in life.”

The Kinzua Dam was built during a time in American politics known as the Termination Era: a period after World War II in which the country tried to assimilate all Native people. To this end, in 1953, Congress adopted House Concurrent Resolution 108, which called for dissolution of all Native Nations in New York, Florida, California and Texas as well as other nations it specifically named from other states. The resolution sought to “make the Indians within the territorial limits of the United States subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities as are applicable to other citizens of the United States.” Subjecting Natives to the “same laws” as other American citizens in effect dissolves their governments, institutions and land holdings. In essence, the resolution meant to terminate Native Nations as sovereign, culturally distinct entities. 

The Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir. (Photo by Maria Diaz-Gonzalez/PublicSource)

Seneca people fought against the Kinzua Dam while the federal government held the position that their entire nation should cease to exist. Even the settlement act that the Seneca Nation negotiated with Congress in 1964, which secured funds for the relocation and rehabilitation of Seneca communities, demanded that the Seneca Nation submit a plan for its own termination by 1967. 

The Seneca Nation was not terminated. Gordon explains that his people always consider seven generations. “ The way it was explained to me,” he says, “it represents that first generation that we never saw … and the seventh generation, we will not see.” In other words, the first of those seven generations is one’s great-great grandparents, and the last is one’s great-great grandchildren. According to Caleb Abrams, a young Seneca filmmaker, Seneca leaders used the settlement funds to create a foundation for their future generations by building robust infrastructure, education and social programs. 

The Allegany Territory is a site of resurgence. “I feel like I’ve noticed a … growing movement across Indian Country in Native communities all across Turtle Island — North America, as they call it,” says Abrams, “where indigenous people of all ages are taking steps to reclaim language and various cultural practices and integrate these things … into their everyday life.”

Gordon has been witnessing a revival of Seneca culture among the nation’s young people: “More of the children want to know who they are … a lot of our children, if you go to ceremony, you’ll see that three-quarters of those in attendance are children.”

The Seneca Nation has strengthened so as to never lose a part of itself again — for this generation and countless after. 

This story was fact-checked by Matt Maielli.

Good River: Stories of the Ohio is a series about the environment, economy and culture of the Ohio River watershed, produced by seven nonprofit newsrooms. To see more, please visit ohiowatershed.org .

Paddling 300 Miles to Protect the Waters of Ohi:yo’, the ‘Good River’

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Heritage Moments: The Kinzua Dam and the broken treaty with the Seneca Nation

It was nothing less than the forced displacement of almost 700 people, and more than 50 years later the memory of it still haunts those families and their descendants.

Since 1794 members of the Seneca Nation had lived on the Allegany Reservation and the adjacent Cornplanter Tract, lands covering some 30,000 verdant acres in southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. The U.S .government pledged the land to the Senecas via the Treaty of Canandaigua , signed by 59 sachems and war chiefs and by the official agents of President George Washington — and affirmed by Washington himself .

“Now,” read the treaty, which officially recognized the land rights of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, “the United States acknowledge all the land within the aforementioned boundaries, to be the property of the Seneka nation; and the United States will never claim the same, nor disturb the Seneka nation, nor any of the Six Nations, or of their Indian friends residing thereon.”

But a century and a half later, the U.S. government did indeed disturb the people residing thereon. The Army Corps of Engineers decided to build a flood-control and hydroelectric dam across the Allegheny River — one that would inundate one-third of the Senecas’ reservation. The government took control of the land via eminent domain. The construction of the Kinzua Dam had begun.

The Senecas protested. Led by their president, George Heron, they proposed an alternative site for the dam that would not flood ancestral lands; took the government to court; and lobbied Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, then his successor, John F. Kennedy. But the Army Corps rejected the alternative plan. The courts ruled in favor of the government, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the Senecas’ appeal. Finally, President Kennedy refused to stop the project.

“I have now had an opportunity to review the subject and have concluded that it is not possible to halt the construction of Kinzua Dam currently under way,” JFK wrote to the Seneca Nation in an August 1961 letter . “I hope you will convey to the members of the Seneca Nation the desire of the Federal Government to assist them in every proper way to make the adjustment as fair and orderly as possible. I pledge you our cooperation.”

By 1965 the Senecas, their homes in Coldspring, Quaker Bridge, Shongo, Onoville, Red House, Cornplanter, SunFish, Bay State, Old Town and Bone Run bulldozed or burned, were removed to new villages on the New York side of the reservation. Cemeteries and religious sites were flooded and covered over by the reservoir — Lake Perfidy , the Senecas mordantly called it.

So blatant was the injustice of the Kinzua Dam that even white Americans, traditionally unmoved by Native American grievances, took notice. The former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt called it “a shameful thing.” The New York Times theater critic Brooks Atkinson wrote , “the consistent harassment of the Seneca Nation constitutes an intolerable stain on the honor of the United States.” And Johnny Cash recorded an album about the injustices done to Indigenous people, “Bitter Tears,” that included a song about the Kinzua Dam called “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow.”

The Senecas were uprooted from their lands, but they never forgot. Every September they gather for the Remember the Removal Walk , a solemn procession from Red House Bridge to Steamburg Barricade. Local news media commemorate the removal with eloquent articles and TV reports , as do the national media . Moving radio and https://vimeo.com/230629755">film documentaries tell the painful story of what happened at the Kinzua Dam.

But the most moving words come from the displaced residents themselves, people like Rebecca Bowen, who as a little girl was displaced along with her family. In 2011, Bowen testified before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“Like an occupation force, an army of construction companies invaded our homeland,” she told the commissioners.

“Our lives were changed forever. The waters that generate the power flow over our old homesteads where the longhouse once stood, the foundations of our churches, our school, our old ballfields, even the graves of Senecas. …”

Cast (in order of appearance):

President George Washington: Richard Lambert Rebecca Bowen: Rebecca Bowen Narrator: Susan Banks

Sound recording: Micheal Peters Sound editing: Micheal Peters Produced by the Niagara Frontier Heritage Project Written by Jeff Z. Klein Associate producer: Karl-Eric Reif

Special thanks to: Shaun McLaughlin, Buffalo State Omar Fetouh, WBFO assistant news director Brian Meyer, former WBFO news director Armin St. George, Crosswater Digital Media

Webpage written by Jeff Z. Klein (Niagara Frontier Heritage Project)

Allegheny National Fish Hatchery

Depending on the time of year you visit the hatchery, you may observe a variety of activities:

April and May: In the spring we are stocking fish. We typically load trucks between 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on various days. We stock fish at several shore sites on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. To visit during this time and observe hatchery operation please call ahead for dates and times. 

June and July: During the summer months we raise and feed young fish. This is the best time to visit us! Visiting hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

August and September: Throughout late summer we tag and fin-clip fish for lake survival and growth studies using automated machinery.

October and November: In the fall we are busy taking eggs and spawning. Egg take normally occurs on Tuesdays.

December through March: Throughout the winter we incubate the eggs at the hatchery and rear the young fry.

Allegheny National Fish Hatchery is on the Allegheny River. Though fishing is not permitted in the hatchery, it provides shore angler access, when requested to a designated area of the Allegheny River . Fishing downstream from the Kinzua Dam yields some of the largest freshwater fish (trout, walleye, bass, muskellunge) in North America. No bird blind is currently available, however there are frequent sightings on site. Species such as bald eagles, killdeer, osprey, mallards and swallows are common occurrences for viewing.

The hatchery has two public parking areas for anglers, birders and tours. Adjacent to the hatchery, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides a fishing platform and comfort station.

Other Facilities in the Complex

The hatchery is located approximately 200 feet downstream of the Kinzua Dam on the north bank of the Allegheny River. The Kinzua Dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during 1960–1965 for flood control purposes, and the 45 acres on which the hatchery is situated is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was granted a 50-year use agreement for the land in 1966, which was recently renewed in 2016.

Rules and Policies

Allegheny National Fish Hatchery follows strict biosecurity measures on site. While visiting the hatchery we ask that you use the hand sanitizer and foot-baths located at the entrances and exits of fish holding areas. These measures help us to prevent cross contamination and limit our facility exposure to outside contaminates. 

The Allegheny National Fish Hatchery is located at the northern base of the Kinzua Dam and is only accessible by Hemlock Road.

From US-62 

Head south on US-62 S/Market Street

Turn left onto Pennsylvania Ave W

Turn left onto Hemlock Road before you cross the Allegheny River

The Hatchery will be located at the end of the road near the base of the Kinzua Dam

From US-6 

Head towards Warren, PA

Turn onto Pennsylvania Ave E and cross the Allegheny River

Immediately after crossing the river turn right onto Hemlock Road

You are exiting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website

You are being directed to

We do not guarantee that the websites we link to comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act. Links also do not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Seneca Pumped Storage Generating Station conducts tour

Times Observer Photos by Jacob Perryman The spillway at Kinzua Dam. The water released at the site is not used to generate power. Rather,the flow from the upper reservoir above the dam to the power station below is used.

During the tour, Site Manager David Meyerotto provided some insight into how the station actually works. To generate power, water is pumped from the lower Allegheny Reservoir that most people are familiar with 800 feet up to an approximately 2 billion gallon upper storage reservoir, usually at night.

The water is then released, usually during the daytime, through a 114-inch pipe to the power generation station situated below the Kinzua Dam. The water coming into the plant generates more than 300 PSI of pressure.

There, it powers three turbines, two large for output generation and one small used to power pumping to the upper reservoir. The water is then released into the Allegheny River. The two large turbines can generate more than 400 megawatts of electricity.

Despite the physical size of the operation, Meyerotto noted staffing is small, with a single operator working at all times and four members of maintenance personnel.

Seneca Pumped Storage Generating Station Site Manager David Meyerotto speaks about the station’s power transmission process in front of the lines coming from the station.

The levels seen from the ground are only the surface of the operation. An additional three below ground levels are where actual power generation occurs.

Power is generated on a market basis, rather than on a peak usage schedule as it was in the past, according to Meyerotto. However, generation still generally occurs during the day and pumping to the upper reservoir is still usually a nighttime operation.

“Having the plant here in Warren County provides numerous jobs for our area, as well as providing power throughout the region,” Papalia noted. “We look forward to working with them through community partnerships.”

From left, Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry Director of Operations John Papalia, Seneca Pumped Storage Generating Station Plant Administrator Kellie McClement and station Site Manager David Meyerotto in the bay on the ground floor of the station.

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

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The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

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The State Tretyakov Gallery

The State Tretyakov Gallery (usually being called Tretyakovka) is an art gallery in Moscow, specialized in Russian visual arts and it’s one of the world’s biggest collections. The Gallery is named after Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, Moscow merchant and patron of arts, and it’s been bearing his name with proud and gratitude for over a hundred years. In 1856 Tretyakov started his collection by acquiring two works by Russian artists, "Skirmish with Finnish Smugglers" by V.G. Khudyakov and "The Temptation" by N. G. Schilder.

Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th-20th Centuries

Moscow City Center - Tour Duration: 1 hour

The Art Gallery is a section of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. It's rooms  contain the artworks by masters  of the 19th and 20th centuries:  Art of Romanticism, Realism, Academic and Salon Art, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Avant-garde and artistic trends of the 19th century as well as the paintings of Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, Daumier, Courbet, Millet, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, Chagall, Rodin, Maillol, Bourdelle and other masters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

About Me in Short

My name's Arthur Lookyanov, I'm a private tour guide, personal driver and photographer in Moscow, Russia. I work in my business and run my website Moscow-Driver.com from 2002. Read more about me and my services , check out testimonials of my former business and travel clients from all over the World, hit me up on Twitter or other social websites. I hope that you will like my photos as well.

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