Fall Brook (Lackawanna River tributary) facts for kids

Fall Brook is a small river, also called a tributary, that flows into the Lackawanna River in Pennsylvania. It runs through parts of Susquehanna County and Lackawanna County. The brook is about 7.9 miles (12.7 km) long. It flows through towns like Clifford Township, Fell Township, Carbondale Township, and Carbondale.

The area of land that drains into Fall Brook, called its watershed, is about 12.4 square miles (32 km²). This makes it one of the biggest tributaries of the Lackawanna River. Even though it's not officially listed as a "polluted" stream, sometimes parts of it lose water. Fall Brook starts on a high area called the Allegheny Plateau. It also flows through a narrow valley called the Fall Brook Gap and over the Fall Brook Falls, which are 60 feet (18 m) tall! This brook is located in Pennsylvania's Coal Region, an area known for coal mining.

The upper parts of the Fall Brook watershed are mostly covered in forests. But closer to where it ends, some land has been changed by human activity. Fall Brook Lake is one of the lakes in this watershed. In the 1800s, many sawmills were built along the stream. Later, in the 1900s, several bridges were built over it. Some parts of the stream have been changed by projects like straightening the channel or adding rocks to prevent erosion. Fall Brook is a special place for fish. It's known as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery, meaning it's cool enough for certain fish, and some fish travel through it. Wild trout even reproduce naturally in its waters!

Where Fall Brook Flows

Fall Brook starts in a wetland (a marshy area) near Birchtown in Clifford Township, Susquehanna County. It flows generally south.

The stream then crosses a road called Pennsylvania Route 247. It continues flowing south, receiving water from a smaller stream (an unnamed tributary) on its right side. After this, Fall Brook leaves Susquehanna County.

Journey Through Lackawanna County

Once it leaves Susquehanna County, Fall Brook enters Fell Township in Lackawanna County. It keeps flowing south, passing through another wetland. Along the way, it gets water from several more unnamed tributaries: three from its left side and one from its right.

The brook then turns southeast for a short distance before turning south again. After flowing for more than a mile, it turns southeast briefly and gets another unnamed tributary from its right. Then it turns east-northeast, flowing next to Pennsylvania Route 106 for a while.

Fall Brook then turns east-southeast and enters a water gap (a narrow valley cut by a river) and flows through Fall Brook Lake. After some distance, it starts to wind its way south through this water gap, crossing Pennsylvania Route 106 several times. At the end of the water gap, it flows south and briefly passes through Carbondale Township before entering the city of Carbondale. A bit further downstream, the stream turns south-southeast, then south-southwest, receiving another unnamed tributary from the right. Finally, Fall Brook turns south and joins the Lackawanna River.

Fall Brook meets the Lackawanna River about 28.30 miles (45.54 km) upstream from where the Lackawanna River itself ends.

Smaller Streams Joining Fall Brook

Fall Brook doesn't have any officially named smaller streams that flow into it. However, there are several unofficial names for these smaller streams. Some of these include "Mountain Mud Pond Run," "Sandy Banks Run," "Finch Hill Run," and "Crystal Lake Creek."

Water Quality and Flow

Fall Brook is not listed as a "polluted" stream. However, it sometimes loses water because it flows over old underground mine pools in Carbondale. This water loss happens because of past deep mining and surface mining in the area. During dry summer months, some parts of the stream can even dry up completely. In the early 1990s, the lower parts of the stream were affected by acid mine drainage, which is polluted water from mines. At that time, the water's pH (a measure of how acidic or basic it is) was around 6.9, which is close to neutral.

When there's a lot of rain, the amount of water flowing out of Fall Brook can be very high. For example, there's a 10 percent chance that the water flow could reach 1,210 cubic feet (34 m³) per second. There's a 1 percent chance it could reach 2,880 cubic feet (82 m³) per second.

A long time ago, in the early 1900s, dirty water from a coal mine called Murrins Colliery was released into Fall Brook. But even then, most of the stream was quite clear. The city of Carbondale has a special permit to release stormwater (rainwater runoff) into Fall Brook.

Land and Rocks Around Fall Brook

The land around the mouth of Fall Brook is about 1,024 feet (312 m) above sea level. Where the stream begins, its source, the elevation is higher, between 1,720 and 1,740 feet (520 and 530 m) above sea level.

Fall Brook starts on the Allegheny Plateau, a high, flat area. It then flows through a water gap called the Fall Brook Gap. This gap cuts through a mountain known as West Mountain. The Fall Brook Falls are located in this gap in Carbondale Township. These falls are the tallest waterfall in the entire Lackawanna River watershed, dropping 60 feet (18 m)! There's also a special open area called the Fall Brook Glade in the stream's watershed in Fell Township.

In some places, Fall Brook flows through an artificial channel that has been lined with large rocks called riprap to prevent erosion. The stream enters areas with coal-bearing rocks at the Fall Brook Falls. This area is part of the anthracite Coal Region, where a hard type of coal is found. The bottom of the stream is mostly made up of large rocks and sediment (dirt and small pieces of rock) left over from old mining operations.

The Fall Brook Watershed

The watershed of Fall Brook, which is all the land that drains water into the brook, covers an area of 12.4 square miles (32 km²). The mouth of the stream is on maps for the Carbondale area, while its source is on maps for Clifford.

Fall Brook is the fifth-largest stream that flows into the Lackawanna River, not counting its two main branches (East and West). Most of the watershed is in Fell Township and Greenfield Township in Lackawanna County. Smaller parts are in Carbondale Township, the city of Carbondale, and Clifford Township in Susquehanna County.

The upper parts of the Fall Brook watershed are mostly forested. However, there are also open fields, dairy farms, homes, and golf courses in this area. The Fall Brook Reservoir is located in the middle part of the watershed, near Pennsylvania Route 106. This reservoir is owned by Pennsylvania American Water. Before it was built, the lake was planned to be about 62 acres (25 ha) in size. In its lower parts, the stream flows through land that has been heavily changed by strip mining, where coal was dug up from the surface.

History of Fall Brook

Fall Brook was officially added to the Geographic Names Information System (a list of place names) on August 2, 1979.

The very first graveyard in the Fell Township area was built near Fall Brook. Also, the first sawmill in Fell Township was built on Fall Brook in 1824 by George Reynolds. This mill was later destroyed by a flood but was rebuilt. Several other sawmills were built along the stream, but they were all destroyed in 1862 when a dam broke. The Sunrise Colliery, a coal mine, used to operate near Fall Brook and drained its water into the stream.

Over the years, many bridges have been built over Fall Brook. For example, a bridge carrying T570B was built in 1956 in Fell Township. Several other bridges, including those for Pennsylvania Route 106 and State Route 1009, were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A bridge carrying State Route 6006 was built in Carbondale in 1984.

In 1965, the United States Bureau of Mines worked on straightening about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Fall Brook in Carbondale. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fall Brook and one of its smaller streams were moved to help with a project related to the Carbondale mine fire. In the 1980s, a part of the stream near the Carbondale High School had large rocks added to its banks to stop erosion. In the early 2000s, there was a plan by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to help with the water loss issues in the stream.

Life in Fall Brook

The Fall Brook watershed is special because it's a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. This means it's a good place for fish that like cold water, and it's a path for fish that travel. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the stream from its beginning all the way down to Fall Brook Lake, which is about 4.33 miles (6.97 km) long. However, in a survey done in 1992, no fish were found in the stream, even though the conditions seemed right for them.

There's a growing riparian buffer (a strip of plants along the stream) on Fall Brook in Carbondale. However, because of the soil, there aren't any large trees in this buffer.

Fun Things to Do

In the early 2000s, a plan for the Lackawanna River watershed suggested building a greenway (a path for walking or biking) or a connecting trail along Fall Brook. This trail would be called the Fallbrook Trail. A greenway along the stream could connect Carbondale to the Merli-Sarnoski Park and possibly even to the watershed of Tunkhannock Creek.

If you like fishing, the trout fishing season for Fall Brook in Susquehanna County opened on April 18 in 2015.