BirdTrout
Hammer Creek, Pennsylvania
17.6 mapped river miles, draining 30 square miles, in the Lower Susquehanna basin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and PA DEP's classification of the water itself.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
This gauge stands in Hammer Creek. Its record is too short for a July mean, so the class below is PA DEP's — but the reading is this water.
Thermal classification
PA DEP's classification of this water, reach by reach. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | PA DEP type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 17.6–9.6 | 7.9 | cold | — |
| RM 7.5–6.0 | 1.6 | warm | — |
| RM 6.0–0.0 | 9.1 | cool | — |
PA DEP has classified 18.6 of the 21 miles NHD carries for this stream — 90% of it. The typed water splits 9.1 mi cool, 7.9 mi cold, 1.6 mi warm. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water PA DEP's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
Questions about this river
- Hammer Creek fishing report — what it reads right now
- How to get to Hammer Creek — access, parking and public land
- Hammer Creek fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
PA DEP classification
PA DEP classifies this water as Cold Water Fishes, Trout Stocking, and Warm Water Fishes. More than one class appears because the classification changes along the river. The thermal bar above shows where. The management tier on those reaches is Cold Water Fishes, Trout Stocking, Warm Water Fishes. This is a designation of the fishery, not the season and creel rules — those change yearly and live with the agency.
Access
3 mapped PA DEP access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Speedwell Forge Lake - May Not Be Usable (RM 6.9), Speedwell Forge Lake - May Not Be Usable (RM 6.7), Speedwell Forge Lake - May Not Be Usable (RM 6.1). 0 walk-in, 3 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
6 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 6,422 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| State Game Land 156 | another state agency | 5,601 |
| Speedwell Forge Lake (Formerly Hammer Creek Dam Site) | another state agency | 245 |
| Speedwell Forge County Park | county land | 411 |
| Speedwell Forge | local holder not recorded | 79 |
| Speedwell Forge | city land | 78 |
| Upper Hopewell Forge Wildlife Sanctuary | land trust or conservancy | 8 |
Species
PA DEP designates this as trout water — Cold Water Fishes, Trout Stocking — without naming the species. No fish survey or stocking record for this water is in the files this site reads.
Tributaries and watershed
2 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Walnut Run 4.8 mi · RM 10.1
- Kettle Run 1.9 mi · RM 9.6
Hammer Creek sits in HUC 8 02050306, the Lower Susquehanna basin, and drains 30 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 37 NHD reaches carry the name for 20.8 miles in total — more than the 17.6 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.