Тохикон өзені: тарихы мен табиғаты

Tohickon Creek is a 29.5 mile (47 km) 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.

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. 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.

The Tohickon Creek is 29.5 mile (47 km) long, located entirely within Bucks County, is part of the Delaware River watershed, and drains of 112 square miles (290 km2). 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.

Tohickon Creek is the longest waterway located entirely in Bucks County. 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 200 feet (61 m) 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.

Crossing NBI Number Length Lanes Spans Material/Design Built Reconstructed LatitudeLongitudeRocky Valley Road Povenski Road Hickon Road East Cherry Road743721Concrete slab1966 40°28'44.2"N75°21'13.18"WCalifornia Road742521Prestressed concrete box beam or girders Multiple1970 40°28'30"N75°20'54"WEast Pumping Station Road757822Prestressed concrete box beam or girders Multiple1982 40°27'49"N75°20'26.8"WPennsylvania Route 212 (Richlandtown Pike)693722Steel Stringer/multi beam or girder1964 40°26'53.5"N75°19'45.95"WErie Road757622Steel stringer/multi beam or girder1932 40°26'40.5"N75°19'11.2"WWest Thatcher Road741322Steel stringer/multi beam or girder1973 40°26'25.7"N75°18'40.4"WRichlandtown Road741621Steel stringer/multi beam or girder1974200440°26'56"N75°17'20.16"WCovered Bridge Road (Sheard's Mill Covered Bridge)747011Covered bridge1873197140°27'17.5"N75°16'44.06"WPennsylvania Route 563 (Mountain View Drive)705423Prestressed concrete stringer/multi beam or girder1972 40°26'8.2"N75°15'54.13"WSouth Park Road746923Prestressed concrete stringer/nulti beam or girder1976 40°28'3.5"N75°10'47.93"WCreamery Road Farm School Road Pennsylvania Route 113 (Bedminster Road) Pennsylvania Route 611 (Easton Road) Randts Mill Road Dark Hollow Road4270022Prestressed concrete continuous box beam or girders single or spread2004 40°26'18"N75°7'30"WStover Park Road Pennsylvania Route 32 (River Road)680722Concrete Arch deck1922 40°25'22.2"N75°3'59"W