Elk State Park ~ Weird Vibes

[@billhoehn2493]

Thank You for highlighting Elk County. The original purpose of this reservoir was to aid several industries with maintaining water flow in the Clarion River. Since the original construction, a hydro electric generating station has been constructed near Clarion, PA just to the south of I-80 and that requires a steady release. The last benefiting industry is the transportation industry, such as barge traffic on the lower Allegheny and the Ohio River. This reservoir typically reaches Winter pool in January, with the goal of reducing the Spring run-off, keeping major flooding to a minimum.

[@SharonPadget]

Two more to go. Get the party hats ready. 🎉

[@unyieldingcreek1]

That view in the beginning of the video was spectacular, I bet it is even better when the lake is full. Y’all’s lakes look they do around here. Everything is so dry, lake levels and creeks are so low it’s bad.

[@troyfeldbauer6105]

You were practically standing in the old town of Instanter. If the water was lower, you would have seen some of the foundations. The docks were there prior to the dam repairs. People could rent a spot for a dock and keep their boat there for the summer. Great video by the way. Looking forward to the next one!

[@debbiehills2928]

❤very cool to see what lies on the bottom of the lake!❤😊

[@tammydobson3174]

Very pretty place!

[@Erin78G]

That was an interesting place to explore!

[@lindamccaughey6669]

If you don’t get a lot of rain that does happen. It looks a pretty place. Those trees were a picture, so stunning. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

[@markm6488]

The bird you saw was a Grey stump lake loon. 🤣🤣

[@jackraab3818]

Talk about a dry dock wow

[@debbiehills2928]

❤happy birthday cliff on Monday Nov. 4th!!!❤😊❤

[@nancymann5351]

@@debbiehills2928 ya beat me to it. Lol

[@dayhikedave]

😮 very strange.👍

[@helenbonanno4804]

Love Elk County!!!!!

[@envetscuba]

Seems the dam has had some problems. The dam was first built in 1952, but in 1957 a school-bus-sized void was discovered in the earthen dam. Some repairs took place in the years that followed, but the most recent construction projects at East Branch began in 2014. In May 2021 it was to reopened after more than a decade with lowered water levels. It appears that they were doing repairs to the control tower bridge when this video was made and the water levels were drawn down for those repairs.

[@ruthgoebel723]

Middle Creek lake is also low. Sometimes they do a draw-down in the winter so any major spring rains can be controlled. Not to mention it has been extremely dry in our area.

[@SharonPadget]

That shore looks like a good place for mudlarking.

[@alexandria8255]

what a puzzling place...nice views tho. God Bless

[@Evie-bf2um]

Here in Indiana some lakes have a winter & summer pool. Lowered in winter to control flooding in Spring. We are in drought conditions here so it could just be that too.

[@bertkelly7650]

Most drawn down lakes are for dam maintenance. Gifford Pinchot lake was like that for 2 years. Possum lake also.

[@franciss.3298]

We were there five or six years ago and it was drained to refurbish the dam. Everything was basically closed then including the army corps campground.

[@bridgeburner265]

Great crossings bridge under youghiogheny river lake is fully visible now, connellsville pa on Fayette and somerset County border.

[@lazzyfare4721]

I don't know when you made this video but as of Nov. 1, 2024 "Pennsylvania Declares Drought Conditions in 35 Counties" and while Elk County isn't named it's possible that this lake gets some of it's water from surrounding counties that are experiencing the drought conditions.

[@Richard87H]

Woodcock dam looked like that earlier this summer. Tamarack lake was drained for a few years as well both in crawford county.

[@nancymann5351]

I kinda like when the lakes are lower...its fun to see whats underneath. That picnic area in the park,although small,was nice. I was hoping you'd go up the decent looking steps and see what those signs said. How in the world would you get a boat down yo those last docks? Canoe and kayak? You'd have to carry them. Maybe someday in the summer you can go back and see what it looks like. Enjoying this trip very much. Be safe❤❤❤❤❤

[@James-p8u]

I think you should join him on a trip, bet that would be fun 😊

[@nancymann5351]

@@James-p8u Id love to.

[@goldenmom2056]

@@nancymann5351 water is high from spring until mid summer. Then you can launch your boat in and out at the breast of the dam It’s beautiful now that repairs are finished I love instanter

[@tubeyas57]

I've heard that the Fish Commission used to stock lake trout in that lake. It doesn't look like there are any lake trout in there now.

[@norm9517]

I think it might be lower because of the drought we are in, I've noticed in the last couple of weeks Marsh Creek Lake near me is a lot lower, plus they do lower the lake levels during the winter months. So combine the two and you have a lake lower than usual

[@donnasilver940]

Nice area

[@703am]

I think lack of rain has a lot to do with low water levels, I was at Ohio Pyle last week and the falls /river are low, still running but low for sure

[@MM-zs7fn]

Lots of lakes lower the levels in winter to do dock and ramp maintenence. Probably much prettier in summer. They may have had boat up primitive campsites.

[@matthewadams2691]

There was a trail section of the park that you can walk along the east branch lake that I was on a few months ago. I even got a map for the army core of engineers while I was there. I wonder why it was closed 🤔 it's a really nice trail with condos up top.

[@DougYeager-i8b]

Come to Florida. We have areas under water because of the recent Hurricanes. You can see the difference between the two States

[@cheriemakowski9606]

We were here in June of this year, the water was a lot higher

[@Erin78G]

That’s big rock at the end seemed oddly out of place!

[@anthracitemafiaoffroad]

Time to do all the PA State Parks again, this time in 5k 😂😂😂😂

[@jackraab3818]

Definitely need rain

[@goldenmom2056]

Normal fall water level at Instanter

[@helenbonanno4804]

Have you ever visited the Austin Dam?

[@HD4lyfe]

He has! If you go back through his videos, he did a good one about it. Worth scrolling through to find :)

[@helenbonanno4804]

@ thank you so much, I will be scrolling

[@HD4lyfe]

@@helenbonanno4804 Glad I could help 🙂

[@mgratk]

So it seems, from the local newspaper, those private docks are quite hard to get. You have to get a permit from the state, and they have a waiting list. Also, they have minimum and maximum sizes allowed 10x6 feet minimum, and max was something like 10x15. You CANNOT launch watercraft from most of the docks, nor can you swim. You can only swim in designated areas. The state gets way too up in people's business.

[@LumberjackPa]

We were at Blue Marsh on Friday, and the lake level was way down. My understanding is that the Army Corps of Engineers do this to dredge the lake for the watersports crowd. Thanks for sharing!

[@olivei2484]

They dump our lakes for the winter rains, sometimes for repairs.

[@roberteshaw9520]

Very scenic.I like it better with less water.Reminds me of a circa 1968 sci fi . movie setting. It'll look even better as the trees continue to lose their leaves.Area needs more crows.

[@teresap.5991]

That place looks squatchy if you know what I mean. Look at all the broken off trees and logs piled around the tree. I betcha they scared away so many campers they stopped it. If you know you know...

[@Surge_LaChance]

Wrong. It's clearly the work of a Nazgul.

[@1GirlieGirl]

Hopefully someday you can go back and maybe figure out what in the world happened there. The multiple docks is really strange, maybe the water level used to be much higher. And the stone path...maybe there were homes up that hill, or a boatman's shack or something. Now I'm going to look up the history of Elk State Park.

[@michaelrothrock8196]

The Dam had a bus sized hole that was seeping water since 1957. The repair took 7 years and the water has been low for 10 years or more. It’s set to reopen in May

[@saratoga123321]

Ugh…just so everyone knows, just because the rivers are down doesn’t mean the aquifers are down. They have almost nothing to do with one another. Transient bodies of water do not contribute to groundwater.

[@saratoga123321]

Within the last 5 years we have had 2-3 real deal middle of summer droughts and never once did an aquifer dry up and I watched wells for PA American and PADEP

[@BigDuke-md8ec]

Lake levels are low because we haven’t had steady rain in awhile … come on now

[@karlsteingall6832]

Duh

[@1GirlieGirl]

I've had a crush on this man for so long lol...I found channel sticker #22 and the biggest thrill of my life was when he said my name 🥰

[@wades4253]

Are you one of the Debbies?

[@pawsac2759]

“Weird Vibes” should be the name of this channel.

[@birdman6499]

Seemed like a pretty strange place.

[@Jim-z8j]

Terracotta pipe was manufactured a short distance away in Clermont.