French Creek Outdoor Learning Center (Avtex superfund site)

The French Creek Outdoor Learning Center (FCOLC) encompasses the west bank of French Creek where it passes by the old Avtex plant.  It is a secluded area because the FCOLC appears to be permanently closed due to budget cuts.  The FCOLC itself is a couple trailers located at the NE corner of the parking lot surrounding the Avtex buildings.  However, the gate has always been locked when I have been there.  There is only one way in: through the Lincoln Avenue Sports Complex. 

The Lincoln Avenue Sports Complex is located on the outskirts of Meadville in Vernon Township.  To get there from Meadville, take Spring Street west across French Creek and turn right on Lincoln Avenue.  Drive through the Fifth Ward and when you get to the end of the road, turn right on Rogers Ferry Rd.  Immediately turn left and you will be in the parking lot where there is ample parking.

Refer to the map below for this stage of the hike.  There are several ways to go, but the most scenic is to go northeast from the parking lot and hike along French Creek past the swimming hole, through some beaver territory, to the viewpoint, and then on to "More Hiking."  As of July 2013 there is a "no swimming" sign posted on a power pole on the trail to the swimming hole.  If you are in a rush there is an obviously shorter route that will get you through this section faster.  These trails were improved in 2010 with crushed rock and are suitable for strollers.  The swimming area is popular in the summer. 

Continuing north, we move on to the second map.  Here is where you will notice a locked gate (the gate is indicated by the yellow dot in the lower right hand corner) with a building beyond it.  This is the abandoned wastewater treatment plant.  If you are limber enough you can slip under the gate or climb over.  However, if you don't feel like getting through this gate, you can just walk right in to the Crawford County Industrial Park via the main entrance on Dunham Rd and make your way over to the treatment plant without having to jump any gates.  The treatment plant is quite exciting so it will have to be the subject of another post.

Leaving the gate behind, the trail changes from a gravel path to an old dirt road.  It can be rather overgrown in places in the summer because it is no longer maintained.  I've tried to show the approximate location of the trails but there are also other trails besides what is shown.  In various places you will see remnants from when this was part of the Avtex site.  It was designated a superfund site a couple decades ago and was cleaned up and now nature is reclaiming it.  There are still some well heads, drainage channels, and small buildings scattered about.  The fly ash hill is pretty boring; I just marked it so you know what you are getting into if you hike that way.  I recommend hiking to the "Creek Access" point.  Also, on the northernmost trail there is some nice scenery and an oxbow lake where the trail dead ends at a fence at the property line.  When you have seen enough, the only way out of here is to either jump the fence into the industrial park or hike back out through Lincoln Park. 

Here is the official map which is posted near the FCOLC trailers.  Good luck trying to find all those little trails that branch off.  They are long overgrown since FCOLC probably has not seen school kids for a couple years. 

Mead Avenue Bridge

Check this one out before it is relegated to the dust bin of history, which could be as soon as this summer!  This bridge was built in 1871 and it is showing its age.  If you look down there are steel girders that are rusted through.  There are boards missing on the sidewalks and the handrail is halfway down to the creek in some places.

On the upstream side there is a good view of the confluence of Cussewago Creek and French Creek and also the abandoned railroad bridge for the spur line that used to go to Avtex.  

The Mead Avenue Bridge Project website will tell you a lot about this bridge, including the plans for it's demolition and replacement.  For now it is a nice car-free way to enjoy a view of French Creek.

 On the bridge:

The view from the Bicentennial Park boat launch:

 Looking upstream:

Twisted metal:

Crawford County Industrial Park (Avtex)

The former Avtex site is huge and has many interesting features.  Now known as the Crawford County Industrial Park, it is home to numerous manufacturers and businesses.  http://www.epacc.net/facilities/crawford-park.html

There are still some old vacant buildings and abandoned equipment.  There is an abandoned wastewater treatment plant, an old switching locomotive, and some buildings to explore.  Sadly, the railroad tracks to this industrial park were removed in 2012.  Some of the pictures are from before the tracks were removed.  There are still fragments of track left in some places.

The switch engine:

Interesting architecture around an old loading dock:

Part of the abandoned wastewater treatment plant:

Mill Run Tunnels

The tunnels which carry Mill Run under downtown Meadville make for quite an adventure.  The first tunnel begins near the hospital.  The last tunnel (if you don't count the Route 19 bridge) terminates between Arch Street and the old City Hall building.

I traversed the tunnels as a volunteer on the French Creek Cleanup Day.  The team that I was on was assigned to clean Mill Run between the hospital and French Creek.  Only one teammate and I walked the tunnels between Park Ave and Arch St however, because the of the fast water that day.  It had rained during the night and was drizzling that day and Mill Run was flowing brown and swiftly.  We saw evidence that waters had touched or gotten close to the ceiling of the tunnel in some places as recently as the last few years because there were small branches and other debris stuck to pipes that went along the ceiling.  This time it was only a couple feet deep at most but there were also parts where the water was moving very quickly over a smooth concrete floor and we had to keep crossing back and forth to avoid deep eddies or raging torrents in certain places.  I would recommend a dry week as the optimal time for the tunnel walk.  

The tunnels were interesting because in many places you could see the bottoms of the buildings such as wood joists, water pipes, and electrical wires.  There is a house on the east side of Main Street where the front porch sits above the creek.  It is truly an underground tour of downtown Meadville. 

Liberty Street to Park Ave:

The best place to start if you want to go downstream is on the south side of the Meadville Medical Center.  There is a nice park that the hospital built with a pedestrian bridge, a brick pathway, and a nice grassy slope down to the creek.  The creek goes through two large parallel metal tubes which take you under the hospital's maintenance building.  Then you will be in a deep daylight section in the parking lot of the old Quick Fill station.  There is a path that will allow you to get in or out here but it can be a little bit overgrown depending on the season.  Continue down the tunnel under Liberty Street. 

Once you go under Liberty Street, you will be beneath the Walgreens parking lot and then Walgreens itself.  When you next emerge, you will be between Walgreens and a used appliance store on Garden Street.  There is no access in or out here, just some sunlight.  Continue down the tunnel under North Street. 

Once you get under North Street, you will pass beneath some businesses and homes and you will be able to see the sky in some places.  In particular, you will notice a high ceiling with some shafts of light visible just before you go under Main Street.  This is the front porch of a house on the east side of Main Street.  Next, go under Main Street in a new tunnel section which was constructed in 2010. 

After passing under Main Street, you will go under the library garden and then out into daylight.  There is easy access over some grass to W Steers Street.  This is one of the longest daylight sections.  After you pass under the intersection of Cottage and Walnut there is a narrow and rocky daylight section that goes between people's backyards.  It can be overgrown with brush at times.  Mickey's Fire House marks the end of this daylight section as the tunnels begin again. 

Park Ave to Market Street:

Starting from Mickey's is where the tunnels really get exciting.  This next tunnel runs all the way to Market Alley where there is a pedestrian bridge.  Access in or out is difficult at Market Alley.  Continuing down the tunnel it gets even better though.  Here you can see some old sections of the tunnel and interesting parts of Meadville's past.  There is a short waterfall which was very unnerving for me because the water was deep after it.  I think I would have turned around except for the fact that my partner was trudging right along in front of me and we needed to stay together.  Somewhere in this section is where the old French Creek Feeder Canal crossed Mill Run.  When you come out, you will be in Mill Run Pocket Park behind Voodoo Brewery.  You can get out of the creek here if you can find your way through the tall plants here. 

Mulberry Street to Arch Street:

From Mill Run Pocket Park where we left off it is a quick jaunt under the parking structure to a shaft of daylight along the sidewalk of Water Street.  Access in or out would be difficult here.  One final tunnel will take you under Water Street, under the Big Lots parking lot, and then under Arch Street.  When you emerge you will be right next to the old Meadville City Hall and adjacent to a monument to a native American (I forgot his name).  

I hope that people can become more aware of these tunnels under Meadville because they adversely impact the water quality of Mill Run and subsequently French Creek.  If people knew that Mill Run was right under Meadville and that the storm drains dump directly into it, maybe they would be more careful not to pollute it with chemicals and runoff from city streets. 

Crawford County GIS

Last year Crawford County finally introduced a free online GIS website.  I applaud whoever it was at the county who got this project put through.  Go to http://crawfordcountypa.net/gis and try it for yourself.

If you want to see lot lines, you have to check the box on the left menu for "Tax Parcels Group".  Once you have this enabled, you can zoom in to your area of interest and then switch to the "i" tool (Map Identify) which is available in the upper left corner in order to view the information for any parcel. 

This is a great way to find out who owns land in order to be able to avoid trespassing.  Surprisingly, there are quite a few city, state, and township owned parcels that I was not aware of.  There are areas of Meadville where there used to be buildings where there is just forest now, like Cussewago Island.  In these areas, there are still street right of ways although you wouldn't know it if you were standing there!