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MOHAWK - Discovering the Valley of the Crystals Copyright 2003Chapter 11 - The River
Discovery - Mohawk River - Top to Bottom
Miles and Miles of Places to Enjoy the Outdoors
On each discovery trip we carried fishing rods, cameras and notebooks to record the geologicial, historical, biological and recreational attributes of the river. Therefore, this chapter is rife with information about gorges, waterfalls, bridges, dams, historic sites, trees, flowers, fish, wildlife, and places to fish, hunt, hike, boat, kayak and canoe.Dates, Times and Weather Conditions
I've noted the date, times and weather for each outing because these factors often determine water levels and temperature, fish and wildlife activity, and types of vegetation along the river. For the most part I use departure, arrival and travel times rather than distance, because distance is irrelevant considering the terrain, water level and condition of the streambed. Climbing a waterfall, and walking a stream criss-crossed with downed trees takes a lot longer than walking the same distance on a flat streambed. Likewise, canoeing a section of stillwater takes a lot longer than floating a fast flowing section of the river. (See Mileage Charts below for distance on the river and canal)Tools of the Trade
On most sections of the river I wore hip boots while wading the river and in the canoe. However, during the warmer months I switched to sneakers or wading shoes. On a couple of sections I used a 10-foot Lost Pond kevlar canoe that weighs 19 pounds with its double ended paddle, however, most of the river was explored in a 16 1/2-foot Mad River kevlar canoe that weighs 56 pounds. Generally, I carried three cameras: two 35 mm Nikons; one loaded with slide film, the other with print film. The third was a digital camera that I used primarily to provide update photos for Webpages. The cameras, plus lunch, notebooks, rain gear, first aid kit, fly repellent, sun screen and fishing lures were carried in a daypack. In the canoe, I put the daypack in a packbasket to keep it off the bottom of the canoe. I used an ultralight spinning outfit while wading, and also carried a light spinning outfit while canoeing. Lures included spoons, spinners, plugs and jigs.Walk Upstream - Canoe Downstream
Although each section of the Mohawk River is referenced looking downstream, most of the sections that we explored on foot were traveled upstream. For instance, the section from the Lansing Kill to North Western was actually walked from North Western to the Lansing Kill. When travel was by canoe we followed the downstream current flow.
| Source To Route 26 Three Strikes and You're Out |
| Route 26 to West Leyden Pond Final Leg of a 22-Mile Adventure |
| West Leyden Pond The Pond - That Made Delta Lake Famous. |
| West Leyden to East Ava Road Hotter Than Expected |
| East Ava Road to West Branch The Gorge - Wild and Beautiful |
| West Branch to Lansing Kill The Canyon |
| Lansing Kill to North Western Windows to Natural and Human History |
| North Western to Wells Creek On Again Off Again Adventure |
| Wells Creek to Westernville Final Leg - 22-Mile Adventure |
| Westernville to Delta Dam (Delta Lake) The Most Productive Fishery in the Mohawk Valley |
| Delta Dam to Ridge Mills (Rome) Discovery: Tail-Water Fish & Wildlife |
| Ridge Mills to Pinti Field (Rome) Discovery: A Race To Revere |
| Pinti Field to Canal Dam & Landing Adventure in Downtown Rome -- Who'd A Thunk? |
| Lower Landing to Crossover Dam The Lost River |
| Crossover Dam to Oriskany Animals and Artifacts Along the Old Mohawk |
| Oriskany to Whitesboro There Are Always Surprises |
| Whitesboro to Utica Not Always Fun and Games |
| Utica to Schuyler Utica's Secret Wildlife Sanctuary |
| Schuyler to Frankfort Utterly Amazing! |
| Frankfort to Herkimer Treasures Along the Mohawk |
| Herkimer to Lock 18 A Central New York Treasure |
| Lock 18 to Little Falls to Herkimer Home The Longest Day |
| Little Falls - No Man's Land Exploring No Man's Land Part 1 & 2 |
| Herkimer Home to Lock 16 Heaven On Earth |
| Lock 16 to Lock 15 (Fort Plain ) Tip-A-Canoe & Fort Klock Too |
| Fort Plain to Canajoharie Winter Run on the Historic Mohawk |
| Lock 14 (Canojoharie) to Lock 13 (Randall ) Echoes of History |
| Randall to Fonda-Fultonville The Roosevelt Run |
| Fultonville To Schoharie Crossing Mother Nature is Full of Surprises |
| Fort Hunter to Amsterdam Doorsteps to History |
| Lock 11 to Lock 10 (Cranesville) Amsterdam - Where History Abounds |
| Lock 10 to Lock 9 (Rotterdam Junction) Legends, Monuments and Monsters |
| Lock 9 to Lock 8 (Scotia) Never a Good Time to Get Hit in the Head |
| Lock 8 (Scotia) To Aqueduct Where History And Wild Things Reign |
| Aqueduct to I-87 Last Hoorah - Day Two |
| I-87 to Crescent Dam Crescent Lake |
| Crescent Dam to Cohoes Falls Bass Holes & Pot Holes of Cohoes No Man's Land |
| Cohoes Falls & Gorge Cohoes Falls and Gorge |
| Cohoes To Hudson River Around and Around We Go |
See Also:Discovery: Bird's-Eye View - Part One
Discovery: Springs, Gorges, Canyons and Fish on the Upper Mohawk
How Far Is It From Here to There?
Confusion reigns when it comes to discussing the length of the Mohawk River. Part of the confusion lies with the fact that quite often the mileage noted from the City of Rome to the Hudson River is actually the mileage on the Barge (Erie) Canal and not that of the Mohawk River. As would be expected the distance on the canal is considerably shorter than that of a winding river. For example the distance from Rome to Nine Mile Creek by the river is 8.8 miles or to the early boaters, nine miles, so they named it Nine Mile Creek. On the canal that distance is cut to 6.4 miles.
The river and canal follow different paths from Rome to Frankfort. The distance to Frankfort Harbor on the river is 31.7 miles, by canal 23.4 miles. There are other areas where the river and canal follow different paths, most notably near the mouth of West Canada Creek, East Canada Creek, and at Cohoes.
Fortunately, I had the good fortune to create my previous book and this book during the computer age. I've used different versions of Maptech programs that not only provide topographical maps on a CD, they provide a feature that allows me to follow every bend in the river and then get a distance measurement. It took some time, hours and hours actually, but after running the program three times, I've produced the following charts of the Mohawk River from its source on Mohawk Hill to the City of Rome, from Rome to Little Falls and from Little Falls to the Hudson River. I've also included a mileage chart of the Barge (Erie) Canal from Rome to Waterford for comparison.
The length of the river is: 35 miles to Rome, 79 miles to Little Falls and 161 miles to the Hudson River. I've walked and/or canoed the entire river. On the Mohawk River charts I've noted the dates these areas were explored.
I'm still trying to master the art of web page construction, so please bear with me as I learn to create web pages that appear the same on all browsers and all size monitors. If that's possible.
Incidentally, you can use these mileage charts in conjunction with Mohawk Maps.
As always, corrections, suggestions and other comments are appreciated.
From Source-Spring on Mohawk Hill
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To Route 26 1.55 miles |
April 26, 2000
April 27, 2001 May 8, 2001 |
To West Leyden Cemetery 3.33 miles |
May 15, 2001 |
To West Leyden Pond 4.30 miles |
May 15, 2001 |
To West Leyden (Dam/Route 26) 4.77 miles |
Oct 17, 2000 |
To East Ava Road 8.00 miles |
May 2, 2001 |
To Mouth of West Branch 12.10 miles |
June 30, 2000
July 11 & 25, 2000 |
To Canyon Power Lines 15.00 miles |
Oct 1, 2000 |
To Mouth of LansingKill (Hillside) 18.33 miles |
Sept 9, 2000 |
To North Western Village 20.00 miles |
Sept 26, 2000 |
To Mouth of Wells Creek 21.20 miles |
Sept 28, 2000 |
To Westernville / Lake Delta 22.80 miles |
Oct 13, 2000 |
To Delta Dam 28.40 miles |
May 18, 2001
June 5, 2001 |
To Rome Fish Hatchery 29.28 miles |
June 13, 2001 |
To Ridge Mills 31.20 miles |
June 13, 2001 |
To Floyd Ave (Rome) 32.84 miles |
June 19, 2001 |
To Pinti Field (Rome) 33.66 miles |
June 19, 2001 |
To Dominic St (Rome) 34.33 miles |
June 6, 2001 |
To Dam & Canal (Rome) 34.88 miles |
June 6, 2001 |
Total 35.0 miles |
From Rome (Canal Dam)
To Lost River Section 0.8 miles |
May 25, 2000 |
To First Cross Over Dam 4.4 miles |
May 25, 2000 |
To Nine Mile Creek 8.8 miles |
May 2, 2000 |
To Oriskany Creek 10.6 miles |
May 2, 2000 |
To Route 291 Whitesboro 13.1 miles |
June 19,2000 |
To Sauquoit Creek 16.0 miles |
June 26, 2000 |
To Utica Marsh 19.4 miles |
June 26,2000 |
To Utica Harbor 20.4 miles |
June 26, 2000 |
To Genesee Street (Utica) 21.1 miles |
June 26, 2000 |
To Utica Dam 21.7 miles |
July 26, 2000 |
To Starch Factory Creek 23.4 miles |
July 26, 2000 |
To Schuyler Cross Over Dam 24.8 miles |
July 26, 2000 |
To Dyke Rd Bridge (Schuyler) 25.0 miles |
July 26, 2000 |
To Frankfort Harbor Dam 31.7 miles |
Oct 12, 2000 |
To Steele Creek (Ilion) 33.8 miles |
Apr 30, 2001 |
To Fulmer Creek (Mohawk) 35.5 miles |
Apr 30,2001 |
To Herkimer (Route 28 and Dam) 36.4 miles |
Apr 30,2001 |
To West Canada Creek 38.1 miles |
June 18, 2001 |
To Lock 18 (Jacksonburg) 41.2 miles |
June 18, 2001 |
To Little Falls Dam 44.3 miles |
July 2, 2001 |
Total from Rome 44 miles |
|
Total from source 79 miles |
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|
|
To Moss Island 1.0 miles |
July 2, 2001 |
To Lock 17 1.3 miles |
July 2, 2001 |
| To General Herkimer Home 3.0 miles | July 2, 2001 |
To Five Mile Dam 5.0 miles |
July 27, 2001 |
To East Canada Creek 7.3 miles |
May 9, 2000
July 27, 2001 |
To Lock 16 9.5 miles |
May 9, 2000
July 27, 2001 |
To St. Johnsville 11.0 miles |
Dec 1, 2001 |
To Caroga Creek 14.1 miles |
Dec 1, 2001 |
To Lock 15 16.2 miles |
Dec 1, 2001 |
To Otsquago Creek (Fort Plain) 16.6 miles |
Mar 9, 2002 |
To Lock 14 (Canajoharie) 19.6 miles |
Mar 9, 2002 |
To Canajoharie Cr.(Canajoharie) 20.0 miles |
Dec 4, 2001 |
To Flat Creek (Sprakers) 23.3 miles |
Dec 4, 2001 |
To Little Nose 24.8 miles |
Dec 4, 2001 |
To Big Nose 25.2 miles |
Dec 4, 2001 |
To Lock 13 27.3 miles |
Dec 4, 2001 |
To Cayadutta Creek (Fonda) 31.4 miles |
May 23, 2002, |
To Auries Creek (Auriesville) 35.0 miles |
June 1, 2002 |
To Schoharie Creek (Fort Hunter) 36.7 miles |
June 1, 2002 |
To Lock 12 37.0 miles |
July 18, 2002 |
To Kayuderosseras Creek 40.0 miles |
July 18, 2002 |
To Lock 11 (Amsterdam) 41.3 miles |
July 18, 2002 |
To Chuctanunda 41.5 miles |
August 13, 2002 |
To Lock 10 45.7 miles |
August 13, 2002 |
To Sandsea Kill (Pattersonville) 49.6 miles |
August 20. 2002 |
To Lock 9 51.7 miles |
August 20. 2002 |
To Lock 8 56.7 miles |
August 28. 2002 |
To First of Isles of the Iroquois 56.9 miles |
October 2, 2002 |
To Western Gateway Bridge 59.0 miles |
October 2, 2002 |
To Riverside Park (Schnectady) 59.6 miles |
October 2, 2002 |
To Aqueduct 63. 6 miles |
October 2, 2002 |
To Lock 7 and Goat Island 67.6 miles |
October 3, 2002 |
To Niska Island 68.9 miles |
October 3, 2002 |
To State Game Management Area 70.5 miles |
October 3, 2002 |
To Dunsbach Ferry & I-87 74.0 miles |
October 3, 2002 |
To Halfmoon Beach 74.5 miles |
September 6, 2002 |
To Crescent Dam 78.0 miles |
September 6, 2002 |
To Cohoes Dam 78.7 miles |
August 6, 2002 |
To Cohoes Falls (Cohoes) 79.5 miles |
July 22, 2002 |
To Peebles Island State Park 80.8 miles |
August 5, 2002 |
To Hudson River at Waterford 81.7 miles |
August 5, 2002
Sept 25, 2002 |
Total from LittleFalls 82 miles |
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Total from Rome 126 miles |
|
Total From Source 161 miles |
BARGE (ERIE) CANAL MILEAGE CHART
From Rome Canal Dam
To Ninemile Creek 6.4 miles |
To Lock 20 9.8 miles |
To Utica Harbor entrance 13.4 miles |
To Genesee St. 14.0 miles |
To Lock 19 and Sterling Creek 20.0 miles |
To Frankfort Harbor 23.4 miles |
To Ilion Marina 26.0 miles |
To Herkimer Dam & Gate 27.8 miles |
To Lock 18 32.0 miles |
To Lock 17 (Little Falls) 36.0 miles |
To Nowadaga Creek 40.0 miles |
To Lock 16 44.0 miles |
To St. Johnsville 44.5 miles |
| To Lock 15 50.7 miles |
To Fort Plain & Nelliston 51.0 miles |
| To Lock 14 54.0 miles |
To Canajoharie 54.4 miles |
To Big Nose 59.8 miles |
| To Lock 13 61.8 miles |
To Fonda & Fultonville 66.5 miles |
To Schoharie Creek 71.2 miles |
To Lock 12 (Fort Hunter) 71.5 miles |
To Lock 11 75.8 miles |
To Amsterdam 77.0 miles |
To Lock 10 80.0 miles |
To Lock 9 86.0 miles |
To Scotia & Schnectady 93.5 miles |
To Lock 7 102.0 miles |
To Lock 6 113.0 miles |
To Lock 5 113.4 miles |
To Lock 4 113.7 miles |
To Lock 3 114.2 miles |
To Lock 2 114.7 miles |
To HudsonRiver 115.0 miles |
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