Glad it helped! I've done a bunch of overnight trips on the Allegheny River so if have any questions on where to camp let me know. Enjoy your bachelor party adventure!
It's the most recent river of the year. I've done a bunch of trips down the river so if you need any tips on where to river camp or info on sections for your own trip let me know
Subbed! Great job on the video editing, especially the timestamps. It's funny, when you Google boat ramps, the pics are usually of everything at the ramps except the ramp. Lol
Thanks, really appreciate the sub! Yeah, we watch a ton of UA-cam videos when planning trips, it's so nice with timestamps to jump to spots you need info on. Haha yes! the google pics are always of the parking lot or random pics of the river, never the ramp. I'll have a video of the Yough boat ramps later this summer and looking to do other PA rivers in the future to help with planning trips.
I am planning a solo canoe/fishing/camping trip for April and would like to find a location to start and finish that follows a bike trail. Hoping to drop off the bike down stream, canoe, fish and camp for a day or three, then ride the bike back to the RV to pick up my canoe and things. Any ideas please?
Hi there! Sure, we can offer some suggestions. We’ve paddled this section of the river many times and we biked the trail last April as a separate trip. The Samul Justus Bike Trail/ Allegheny River trail goes from Oil City down to Parker. We're going to bike the trail between Parker and Emlenton this summer so can't give tips on that section of the river yet. For a 3-4-day journey: Start Point - Franklin End Point - Emlenton *About 35 river miles *About 28 bike trail miles Suggested Itinerary for a 3-day/two-night paddle: 1. Drop Bike in Emlenton. The bike path is a few hundred yards away from the boat launch. (Dotter Car Top Access is another option for an end point here. It's 3 miles before Emlenton, but the launch is down a gravel road.) 2. Drive to Franklin and park in the Samuel L. Justice Recreational Building Parking Lot area. You can put-in at the non-motorized kayak launch from here. Camping Night 1 - a few options depending on how far you want to paddle… A. Two Mile Run Campsite - about 1.5 miles from the put-in mentioned above. River Left. Here you will find two lean-tos and plenty tent spots along the bike trail. B. Or paddle about 6 miles from the put-in just before the Belmar Bridge to the left is Sandy Creek. We saw campers along the right bank of the creek but haven’t camped here so we can’t offer any details on it. C. Or paddle about 7 miles from the put-in and you can camp on the islands (this is about a mile past the Belmar Bridge). Camping Night 2 - mileage is noted as miles from Belmar bridge as point of reference -- A. Paddle 9 miles from Belmar Bridge to Danners Campground in the Clear Creek State Forest. The sites are located on river right. We love camping here. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table and are free to use. B. Paddle 9 miles from Belmar Bridge to Marlowe's Scenic River campground. This is a private campground, not sure what nightly cost to camp is. Day 3 - Paddle to end point. This is usually a long day for us at 20 miles with some dead water spots and can be windy. River usually runs fast in April but in the summer we have hit several low water levels. 6. Bike the 28 miles on the Allegheny River Trail back to your car, its mostly paved except for 1 gravel road section. If you have the time, stop at the Emlenton Brew Haus for their food/beer. It’s fantastic. This bike trail took us about 3 hours at a leisurely pace. It’s mostly well maintained but can have some bumps and has a section where you must bike off trail as the trail is closed. The Freedom Falls near the Kennerdale Tunnel are beautiful. Other thoughts: If you wanted to add a 3rd night and 4th day you can stay in the lean-to across from All Saints Camp, that would leave you with 5 miles to paddle on your last day to Emlenton. If you want to add more miles - start at the Oil City Marina (note that overnight parking is not permitted but plenty of on-street parking is available in the area. The bike trail from here is called The Samuel L. Justice Trail. Day Trip Options with bike trail: Start at Oil City Marina, End at Franklin. Leave your bike at the Samuel Justus Recreation Center in Franklin and drive to Oil City marina to start. There's no overnight parking in Oil City Marina unless you pay for one of the campsites next to the marina. It's 7 miles down to Franklin, there's some primitive campsites about 6 miles in, a mile from Franklin on the bike trail side of river. Start at Franklin, end at Fisherman's Cove Leave your bike at Fisherman's Cove. This is down a 3-mile gravel road and drive to Samuel Justus Recreation Center in Franklin. Do one of the camping options for Night 1 listed above.
I'm planning my bachelor party canoe trip, this really helped
Glad it helped! I've done a bunch of overnight trips on the Allegheny River so if have any questions on where to camp let me know. Enjoy your bachelor party adventure!
This is on my bucket list , thanx.
It's the most recent river of the year. I've done a bunch of trips down the river so if you need any tips on where to river camp or info on sections for your own trip let me know
Subbed! Great job on the video editing, especially the timestamps. It's funny, when you Google boat ramps, the pics are usually of everything at the ramps except the ramp. Lol
Thanks, really appreciate the sub! Yeah, we watch a ton of UA-cam videos when planning trips, it's so nice with timestamps to jump to spots you need info on. Haha yes! the google pics are always of the parking lot or random pics of the river, never the ramp. I'll have a video of the Yough boat ramps later this summer and looking to do other PA rivers in the future to help with planning trips.
Great Vid! Thx!
I am planning a solo canoe/fishing/camping trip for April and would like to find a location to start and finish that follows a bike trail. Hoping to drop off the bike down stream, canoe, fish and camp for a day or three, then ride the bike back to the RV to pick up my canoe and things. Any ideas please?
Hi there! Sure, we can offer some suggestions. We’ve paddled this section of the river many times and we biked the trail last April as a separate trip.
The Samul Justus Bike Trail/ Allegheny River trail goes from Oil City down to Parker.
We're going to bike the trail between Parker and Emlenton this summer so can't give tips on that section of the river yet.
For a 3-4-day journey:
Start Point - Franklin
End Point - Emlenton
*About 35 river miles
*About 28 bike trail miles
Suggested Itinerary for a 3-day/two-night paddle:
1. Drop Bike in Emlenton. The bike path is a few hundred yards away from the boat launch.
(Dotter Car Top Access is another option for an end point here. It's 3 miles before Emlenton, but the launch is down a gravel road.)
2. Drive to Franklin and park in the Samuel L. Justice Recreational Building Parking Lot area. You can put-in at the non-motorized kayak launch from here.
Camping Night 1 - a few options depending on how far you want to paddle…
A. Two Mile Run Campsite - about 1.5 miles from the put-in mentioned above. River Left. Here you will find two lean-tos and plenty tent spots along the bike trail.
B. Or paddle about 6 miles from the put-in just before the Belmar Bridge to the left is Sandy Creek. We saw campers along the right bank of the creek but haven’t camped here so we can’t offer any details on it.
C. Or paddle about 7 miles from the put-in and you can camp on the islands (this is about a mile past the Belmar Bridge).
Camping Night 2 - mileage is noted as miles from Belmar bridge as point of reference --
A. Paddle 9 miles from Belmar Bridge to Danners Campground in the Clear Creek State Forest. The sites are located on river right. We love camping here. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table and are free to use.
B. Paddle 9 miles from Belmar Bridge to Marlowe's Scenic River campground. This is a private campground, not sure what nightly cost to camp is.
Day 3 - Paddle to end point. This is usually a long day for us at 20 miles with some dead water spots and can be windy. River usually runs fast in April but in the summer we have hit several low water levels.
6. Bike the 28 miles on the Allegheny River Trail back to your car, its mostly paved except for 1 gravel road section. If you have the time, stop at the Emlenton Brew Haus for their food/beer. It’s fantastic. This bike trail took us about 3 hours at a leisurely pace. It’s mostly well maintained but can have some bumps and has a section where you must bike off trail as the trail is closed. The Freedom Falls near the Kennerdale Tunnel are beautiful.
Other thoughts:
If you wanted to add a 3rd night and 4th day you can stay in the lean-to across from All Saints Camp, that would leave you with 5 miles to paddle on your last day to Emlenton.
If you want to add more miles - start at the Oil City Marina (note that overnight parking is not permitted but plenty of on-street parking is available in the area. The bike trail from here is called The Samuel L. Justice Trail.
Day Trip Options with bike trail:
Start at Oil City Marina, End at Franklin.
Leave your bike at the Samuel Justus Recreation Center in Franklin and drive to Oil City marina to start.
There's no overnight parking in Oil City Marina unless you pay for one of the campsites next to the marina.
It's 7 miles down to Franklin, there's some primitive campsites about 6 miles in, a mile from Franklin on the bike trail side of river.
Start at Franklin, end at Fisherman's Cove
Leave your bike at Fisherman's Cove. This is down a 3-mile gravel road and drive to Samuel Justus Recreation Center in Franklin.
Do one of the camping options for Night 1 listed above.
I would have enjoyed the video much more if you would’ve done that way boat from launch to launch and enjoy the beautiful scenery
Eyes hate dams
Lol they definitely don’t.
You love bathrooms
Haha I really do 🤣