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Whites Creek Valley Natural Area

by Thomas Saunders
Winter Wonderland: Whites Creek is a destination for anglers looking for a fishing experience in a wild setting. The Conservancy’s Whites Creek Valley Natural Area in Somerset County protects the stream’s water quality and provides recreation opportunities. Photos courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
January 16, 2023

South of confluence in southern Somerset County is a beautiful and remote destination known as the Whites Creek Valley Natural Area. The Whites Creek watershed drains part of the southern slope of Mount Davis, and the creek flows northwest to the Casselman River.

Preserved by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the 85-acre parcel is one mile east of the town of Listonburg, along Whites Creek Road. A parking area lies along the road, but other than a path along the creek used by anglers, the property has no trails. But hikers, hunters and naturalists are welcome to explore its simple layout, and the location of the natural area allows for easy stream access.

The land slopes down to the creek, which flows through the lower portion of the property for several hundred feet. Whites Creek is a natural trout-producing stream that is also stocked by the PA Fish and Boat Commission. The land also contains habitat for a variety of birds, including forest interior and riparian birds and neotropical migrants such as Louisiana waterthrush, wood thrush and scarlet tanager, which are dependent on healthy forests. Mature forest habitats cover the slopes above the creek and include a variety of deciduous tree species and eastern hemlock, some of which are more than 100 years old.

The mature forests at Whites Creek Valley Natural Area provide habitat for wildflowers, deep-forest birds and a diversity of other life forms, including fungi. Fungi thrive by consuming fallen trees and provide nutrients to the forest.

For more information or a map about Whites Creek Natural Area, visit WaterLandLife.org/Preserves. For information about the Conservancy visit, WaterLandLife.org or call 412-288-2777.

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Thomas D. Saunders is president and CEO of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the region’s exceptional places.