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Best places for power boating in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.
rkinross
Member Posts: 176 ✭✭
I have been a sailor for most of my life and have just purchased a 15ft Rinker open bow runabout. I like to vacation in Deep Creek MD and have rented powerboats from Bills Marine many times while renting houses along the lake. I took the plunge this year and bought a power boat because I thought using the boat at night would be a plus for fishing and evening cruises around the lake. The rest of the time while not on vacation I plan to put in on the three rivers mostly at the South Side launch ramp under the Birmingham Bridge in Riverfront Park. Another place I know about is right below the Emsworth Dam on the Ohio river. Other areas I am aware of for power boating in the area are the Yough Lake and Conneaut Lake. Lake Erie is far enough (2hours in each direction) that it makes day trips out of the question for me. Most of the other PA lakes have the 20hp or less restriction. I am interested to hear from other members about their favorite places to use their boats. Also if you have comments about where to avoid I would be interested in hearing about that as well.
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Go Steelers!!!
Dave
2002 Captiva 212, 5.0 220 hp, Alpha 1, 1.62 gears
Moon Township, PA - boating in the Ohio River
After using my boat all summer I have a few findings to share on the forum for Pittsburgh boaters.
I found a really nice ramp provided by the Fish and Game Commission on the Beaver River. It is right next to the New Brighton Marina. To get there from Rt 65 north just turn left at Penn Ave Ext. This is just before the main street through the town of New Brighton and right after passing Monroe Muffler and Brake. There is a huge grass field located very near the ramp for parking.
I also drove down to Tappan Lake Park in Ohio to check out their campground and boating facilities. The campground is a very nice, large facility and it seems to be most popular with the RV campers. They are expanding the campground and have just completed a beautiful facility for showers that includes a laundry for campers staying longer than a few days. The paved launch ramp is right in the campground. It has enough room to launch at least 2 boats at a time and it has docks right next to the ramp so you can tie up after launching. There is also a harbor in the campground and for $1 a day you can tie up and leave the boat in the water. There is also a sandy beach area within walking distance of the campground. The lake itself is very large, covers 2,350 acres of water and 5,000 acres of surrounding land, and is part of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The lake has a 399 horsepower limit for boats. The park ranger I spoke with was very friendly and helpful and the campsites are reasonable priced at $25 a day. There are some rules about alcohol use in the campground but unlike PA it is not completely banned. From Pittsburgh, I took US Route 22 almost the entire way. The road is very good - mostly 4 lane smooth black top all the way down to Cadiz Ohio, then Rt250 to Tappan Lake.