White Deer Hole Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed drains parts of ten townships. The creek flows east in a valley of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods.
As of 2006, the creek and its watershed are relatively undeveloped, with 28.4 percent of the watershed given to agriculture and 71.6 percent covered by forest, including part of Tiadaghton State Forest. The western part of White Deer Hole Creek has very high water quality and is the only major creek section in Lycoming County classified as Class A Wild Trout Waters, defined by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as "streams which support a population of naturally produced trout of sufficient size and abundance to support a long-term and rewarding sport fishery." The rest of the creek and its major tributary (Spring Creek) are kept stocked. There are opportunities in the watershed for canoeing, hunting, and camping, and trails for hiking and horseback riding.
Historically, two paths of the native indigenous peoples ran along parts of White Deer Hole Creek. Settlers arrived by 1770, but fled in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. They returned and the creek served as the southern boundary of Lycoming County when it was formed on April 13, 1795. A logging railroad ran along the creek from 1901 to 1904 for timber clearcutting, and small-scale lumbering continues. During World War II a Trinitrotoluene (TNT) plant, which became a federal prison in 1952, was built in the watershed. Most development is in the eastern end of the valley, with two unincorporated villages, a hamlet, and most of the farms (many Amish).
Name Two etymologies have been suggested for White Deer Hole Creek's unusual name. According to Donehoo, it is a translation of the Lenape (or Delaware) Woap-achtu-woalhen (meaning "white-deer digs a hole"). Also see the following, which cites Donehoo: It is Opauchtooalin on the earliest map showing the creek (1755), while a 1759 map has both Opaghtanoten and its translation, "White Flint Creek". By 1770 (when the first settlers arrived) a map has "White Deer hole".
In 1870, 88-year-old John Farley gave a second explanation of the name. His family had settled on the banks of White Deer Hole Creek in 1787, and John's father John built a mill on the creek by 1789. The creek was named because "a white deer is said to have been killed at an early day in a low hole or pond of water that once existed where my father built his mill". The hole was "a large circular basin of low ground of some ten acres [(four ha)] in extent....after my father's mill and dam were built the water of the dam overflowed and covered the most of the hollow basin of ground." The mill was just west of the mouth at the unincorporated village of Allenwood (then called Uniontown), now in Gregg Township in Union County.
The name "White Deer Hole Creek" is unique in the USGS Geographic Names Information System and on its maps of the United States. Although the whole creek is now referred to by this name, in 1870 the name applied only to the section from the confluence with Spring Creek east to its mouth, while the main branch west of Spring Creek was called "South Creek". Meginness used this name in 1892 and it appeared on a 1915 state map of Union County (but not the 1916 Lycoming County map). Note: shows "White Deer Hole Creek" and "South Creek" Note: shows only "White Deer Hole Creek" As of 2022 the name "South Creek" has disappeared, but there is still a "South Creek Road" on the right bank of the creek in Gregg Township from near the mouth of Spring Creek west to the county line.
According to Meginness, the long and wide White Deer Hole Creek valley was just called "White Deer valley" by many in 1892, and this is still common. Note: refers to "White Deer valley" Confusion about the names arises since White Deer Creek is the next creek south of White Deer Hole Creek (they are on opposite sides of South White Deer Ridge).Note: For a document that refers (mistakenly) to both "White Deer Creek valley" and to "White Deer Creek" for White Deer Hole Creek and its valley, see: The Lenape name for White Deer Creek was Woap'-achtu-hanne (translated as "white-deer stream").
Spring Creek is the only named tributary of White Deer Hole Creek. Five unnamed tributaries flow through named features of South White Deer Ridge. Going upstream in order they are: Beartrap Hollow, First Gap, Second Gap, Third Gap, and Fourth Gap.
Course
Lycoming County is about northwest of Philadelphia and east-northeast of Pittsburgh. The source of White Deer Hole Creek is in Crawford Township, just over the Clinton County line. Both it and the western half of the creek are within Tiadaghton State Forest. The creek flows east and soon crosses a natural gas pipeline and the Lycoming County line into Limestone Township.
It soon flows into Washington Township, which has more of White Deer Hole Creek than any other township. It receives unnamed tributaries in the Fourth, Third, Second, and First Gaps of South White Deer Ridge on the south or right bank. The creek leaves Tiadaghton State Forest after the Third Gap (the forest itself continues along the ridge to the river), and stops being "Class A Wild Trout Waters" between the Second and First Gaps. It receives the unnamed tributary in Beartrap Hollow upstream of its mouth, then passes south of the unincorporated village of Elimsport.
White Deer Hole Creek then flows east into Gregg Township in Union County, receiving its major tributary, Spring Creek, on the left bank upstream of its mouth. Spring Creek rises north of Elimsport in Washington Township and flows east-southeast, passing through Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 252 and just south of the Federal Correctional Institute, Allenwood. Note: shows White Deer Hole Creek and almost all streams feeding it.
The creek next flows just south of the hamlet of Spring Garden, then south of the village of Allenwood, where it has its confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River. The direct distance between the source and mouth is only . U.S. Route 15 and the Union County Industrial Railroad run north–south here along the river and cross the creek just before its mouth; however, this track is not in service as of 2022. Note: The list of stations and current map show New Columbia is the northernmost point served, and do not include Allenwood. Pennsylvania Route 44 runs east–west roughly parallel to the creek between Elimsport and Allenwood. Township roads run along the eastern two-thirds of the creek, and smaller, more primitive roads follow it to near its source.
From the mouth of White Deer Hole Creek it is along the West Branch Susquehanna River to its confluence with the Susquehanna River at Northumberland. The elevation at the source is , while the mouth is at an elevation of . The difference in elevation, , divided by the length of the creek of gives the average drop in elevation per unit length of creek or relief ratio of 84.6 feet/mile (16.0 m/km). The meander ratio is 1.14, so the creek's path is not entirely straight in its bed. The meandering increases near the mouth.
For its entire length, White Deer Hole Creek runs along the north side of South White Deer Ridge, an east–west ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. North White Deer Ridge and Bald Eagle Mountain form the northern edge of the creek valley. There are 24 unnamed tributaries on the south side of the creek, all flowing down the side of South White Deer Ridge, while there are only 11 tributaries on the north side, including Spring Creek.
White Deer Creek, the next major creek to the south, flows along the other side of South White Deer Ridge in Union County and is just away (as measured along the West Branch Susquehanna River). The next major creek to the north is Muncy Creek, away along the river, but on the opposite bank. The next creek to the north on the same bank (except for the small Black Run) is Black Hole Creek, on the south side of Bald Eagle Mountain. It has a watershed area of and enters the river away at the borough of Montgomery.
White Deer Hole Creek joins the West Branch Susquehanna River upstream of its mouth.
Geology
White Deer Hole Creek is in a sandstone, limestone, and shale mountain region, entirely in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians. South and North White Deer Ridge and Bald Eagle Mountain are composed of sedimentary Ordovician rock, while the valley rock is Silurian, with a small Devonian region closer to the river, in the north. The watershed has no deposits of coal, nor natural gas or oil fields. The creek is in a narrow mountain valley with steep slopes in its upper reaches. In its middle and lower reaches it has steep mountain slopes to the south, and a wide valley with rolling hills and gentle slopes to the north. The channel pattern is transitional, with a trellised drainage pattern.
From 1961 to 1995, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) operated one stream gauge on White Deer Hole Creek at the Gap Road bridge (upstream of Elimsport), for the uppermost of the watershed. The highest yearly peak discharge measured at this site was per second and the highest yearly peak gauge height was , both on June 22, 1972, during Hurricane Agnes. The lowest yearly peak discharge in this time period was per second and the lowest yearly peak gauge height was , both on November 26, 1986. The USGS also measured discharge at Allenwood, very near the creek's mouth, as part of water quality measurements on seven occasions between 1970 and 1975. The average discharge was per second, and ranged from a high of per second to a low of per second. There are no other known stream gauges on the creek.
Watershed
The White Deer Hole Creek watershed consists of 0.08 percent of the area of Clinton County, 4.40 percent of the area of Lycoming County, and 3.67 percent of the area of Union County. Neighboring watersheds are the West Branch Susquehanna River and its minor tributaries (north and east), White Deer Creek (south), and Fishing Creek (west).
In 2000, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed population was 2,672. In the 1970s, Amish began moving to the Elimsport area from Lancaster County. In 1995 there were over 200 Amish in more than twenty families. In comparison, Washington Township's population was 1,619 in 2010 (and 1769 in 2020). Elimsport has Amish harness, machine repair, and food shops, and a new one-room school was built nearby in 1997.
The watershed area is , with of forest and for agriculture. By area, 1.1 percent of the watershed lies in Clinton County (in Crawford and Greene Townships), 81.6 percent lies in Lycoming County (in Brady, Clinton, Limestone, and Washington Townships), and 17.3 percent lies in Union County (in Gregg, Lewis, West Buffalo, and White Deer Townships).
Spring Creek is the major tributary, draining an area of or 31 percent of the total White Deer Hole Creek watershed. No other tributaries are named and only the area of the tributary in Beartrap Hollow is known, with or 0.63 percent of the total.
Water quality and pollution Clearcutting of forests in the early 20th century and the ordnance plant in the Second World War adversely affected the White Deer Hole Creek watershed's ecology and water quality. Agricultural runoff was and is another potential source of pollution. Gregg Township had no wastewater treatment plant until an 800,000-gallon/day (304 m3/day) plant was built along the river just north of the creek for the federal prison (90 percent) and village of Allenwood (10 percent). The drainage basin has been designated by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as "a high quality watershed" since 2001.