Accessible Nature Outings
Blackleggs Creek Memorial Park
In southern Indiana County, the rustic, four-acre Blackleggs Creek Memorial Park consists of a simple walking path, a covered pavilion and a few scattered camping areas. This modest community park has become a center for local nature lovers of all ages.
Dedicated in 2009, the park features the first abandoned mine drainage (AMD) treatment system for the Blackleggs Creek watershed – a passive system known as Kolb that removes iron from the water, relying on gravity, time and nature. With a picturesque fountain at its center, the Kolb area attracts butterflies and other wetland insects. A healthy tree canopy covering the park draws a variety of birds, and wildflowers grow amply.
Trout fishing has become an annual tradition at Blackleggs Creek Memorial Park.
“The idea of the Memorial Park grew from the fact that year after year since the treatment system was installed, the stream has been stocked with trout by the watershed association, and the banks of Blackleggs Creek as it flows past Kolb have been visited by people young and old, all looking for an enjoyable moment of fishing and the outdoors,” said WPC Watershed Scientist Alysha Trexler.
“I have spent many hours along the banks of Blackleggs Creek, both during work hours, where I’ve helped install the in-stream habitat structures, and during personal time, when I go fishing with my family. This is the place where my husband and I have spent the last six years of the opening day of trout season helping nieces, nephews and now my own son learn how to fish and appreciate nature.”
The park also serves an example of how people and groups can make a difference by working together. The Blackleggs Creek Watershed Association, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Boat Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and other groups were involved in the creation of both the treatment system and the surrounding park.
Directions: Blackleggs Creek Memorial
Park is located in Young Township,
roughly three miles northeast of the town
of Clarksburg, at the intersection of
Shrockman and Cribbs Road. To get
there, take State Route 286 to Park
Road (SR 3025), follow for one mile and
then veer left onto Blackleggs Road (SR
3027). Drive for a mile and a half and
them turn right onto Shrockman Road
(T336) and follow to the end.
GPS coordinates: -79.33959 40.58088