Lehigh River
The Lehigh River is a tributary of the Delaware River located in the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. Part of the Lehigh River and a number of its tributaries are designated Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The river's name "Lehigh" is an anglicisation of the Lenape name for the river, "Lechewuekink", which means "where there are forks". Course. The Lehigh River flows in a highly winding course through valleys between ridges of Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. Its upper course is characterized by numerous whitewater rapids and supports  recreational pursuits, including whitewater rafting, kayaking, and canoeing. Its lower course forms the heart of the Lehigh Valley, a historically important anthracite coal and steel-producing region of Pennsylvania. The river rises in the Poconos region of northeastern Pennsylvania in several ponds in Lehigh Township in Wayne County, approximately southeast of Scranton. The "PA Gazetteer of Streams" shows that the Lehigh River begins as the outflow of Pocono Peak Lake. Flowing south from the south end of the lake (a natural but dammed body of water), the river turns west after a mile and receives water from many lakes and  ponds as it flows past Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania. It flows initially southwest through southern Lackawanna County and then through Francis E. Walter Dam. Near White Haven, it turns south, following a zigzag whitewater course through Lehigh Gorge State Park to Jim Thorpe, then southeast, past Lehighton. Southeast of Lehighton, it passes through Blue Mountain in a narrow opening called the Lehigh Gap. From the Lehigh Gap, the river flows southeast to Allentown, where it is joined by Little Lehigh Creek, then northeast past Bethlehem, where it joins the Delaware River in Easton at Pennsylvania's border with New Jersey. Fishing. The  Lehigh River holds many species of fish, including trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, panfish, carp, catfish, eel, and muskie. Both rainbow trout and brown trout in the 18"-20" range are average while some have been caught into the mid to upper 20" range. Smallmouth bass are large in numbers but are of smaller size with most between 8"-14" with an occasional fish from the 18"-21" range. There is an increasing number of muskie being reported within the 30"-52" range. There are both pure and tiger muskie, the usually sterile, hybrid offspring of the true muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) and the  northern pike (Esox lucius) being caught in the river. Over the years since 2005 various groups such as the Lehigh Coldwater Fishery Alliance and the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission have worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to design annual flow plans from the Frances Walter Dam (F.E.W.) to maximize the cold water discharge through the spring and summer. This has helped enhance the population of coldwater species like brown trout to gain a growing naturally reproducing population within the river below F.E.W. dam all the way to Northampton. Whitewater rafting. The Lehigh River is a whitewater river with Class  I, II, and III rapids. The most popular section of the Lehigh River for whitewater rafting, kayaking, and canoeing is through the Lehigh Gorge State Park. The Lehigh Gorge State Park begins at the Francis E. Walter Dam and ends in Jim Thorpe. Several white water outfitters operate guided white water rafting trips in various sections of the river. The first rafting outfitter on the Lehigh River was Whitewater Challengers, which was founded in 1975. Water releases from the Francis E. Walter Dam provide enough water to make the river deep enough for boating. Three popular boating trips on the  Lehigh River are: