What are the more kid-friendly places to boat with kids on the rivers? My wife won't set a toe into the rivers due to perceived uncleanliness, real or imagined, but I've seen some photos on the forum that appear to be islands with sandy shores. If it looks adventurous enough, I could probably tempt my kids into the water. My wife, not so much. That's why they make washdown hoses. Is the chance of impaling a foot on a sharp piece of metal common, or rare? Do you freguently run into sharp debris when walking through a few feet of water? Anyone have advice about where to go?
We trailer our 25 ft. cruiser around western Pa, WV, and Ohio, so I can tell you about the lakes.
Anyone interested in a cruisers with kids social club?
Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, United States, 105597162807351, Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania
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my husband and i both grew up on the river and let me tell you, it was the BEST childhood! we primarily were on the allegheny and continue to be there now. as far as islands are concerned, 13 and 14 mile island in harmar below lock 3 is nice, jack's island above lock 4 in natrona, and best of all, murphy's island between lock 5 and 6 in the area of freeport/schenley or thereabout. the mon river is beautiful and the pool around millsboro and 10 mile creek is the best. obviously the farther away from the city you get, the cleaner the water is. a good indicator of that is all the natural vegetation (seaweed) growing in the water. the rivers are at their cleanest that i can remember. as far as walking around, it's always best to have water shoes on to protect your feet and i'd be lying if i said that there isn't glass and sharp objects around. basically, just use common sense and all will be well. the memories you'll make on the river with your kids will last a lifetime and they (as well as you) will never forget it!
Thanks for the info. Since I trailer, I imagine I can find a deep water ramp in some of those pools. Where's the clearest water on the rivers? My wife will want to start there first. Maybe I can wean her along...
I don't have a Cruiser, can I still post here? Trailer up to East Brady. You'll find the river is clean up there. It's not a huge pool, and it doesn't have the multitude of places to stop that the Pittsburgh pool does. But, it is clean. It's the section of river I grew up on. From the launch, you can't go too far up river before it gets shallow. But you can head down river about 9 miles to the lock. Red Bank is just before the lock. It's a creek that empties into the river. You can go pretty far back. It's clean and crystal clear. There's even a rope swing back there. On the weekends, it can be crowded with boats anchored, beached and rafted. Most folks stick to the no wake rule in Red Bank though. Through the week it's empty. It's also a great place to anchor and spend the night on the boat. The nice thing about Brady is it's out in the boonies. There's plenty of places where there are no boats and docks. You can go as fast as you want and tube or whatever.
If you lock through, the next pool is smaller, but pretty secluded. Mostly private camp sites, I don't think there is a public launch on that pool. But it's been years since I've been there. So it may be different now.
Kittanning and Ford City are also nice. Still far enough away from the city to be clean, but you're getting into civilization a bit so there are places you can dock and grab a bite to eat. But I haven't been there for quite a while, so I can't give you specifics.
My wife won't go in the river in the Pittsburgh pool either. She couldn't believe the appearance after being so used to boating at Brady and on Erie. If you need more info on Brady, let me know. It's pretty local to me and I know the area pretty well.
The next lock down from Brady is Templeton. It is about a seven mile stretch. Also pretty clean as it only has water from the lock above until you get to mahoning creek inlet. It has a power plant which dumps water into the river on the lower section. It also has gas on the water most of the time (they pull the docks, so it may be sketchy after Labor day when most people stop using it).
Public launch is available in Templeton. Big parking lot (25 or so trailers) and typical weekend (non-holiday) there is 5 at most. Very nice camps/houses built on the water.
Fairly easy to get to. We take 28 to 28/66 (north of Kittanning) and make left (at top of a hill before a gas station on left) and follow down to town. There, you will pass a church on the right and stay straight toward the river, then it turns to launch. Has a dock and cement ramp.
Using googlemaps, I put in 100 first st, templeton, pa and you will see Y by first st.
Want to learn how to lock thru, highly recommend using Brady, Templeton (Lock 9). They have the ropes on the wall already and extremely friendly lock masters. (I always offer a beverage. Most will take just a water or pop).
Have to watch the time because the locks aren't open 24 hrs. Till 8:30 or so and only open around noon on Sunday.
You don't have to worry about the wife not going in Pittsburgh pool. I don't want to. EEEEWWWW. (Used to seeing toes in the water, not just to the hip).
But what can you do. Any watersports I do on that pool is Alleghany River. Ohio, you can actually taste the chemicals in the water in Monaca section.
Now that you mention it, we did notice it seemed a lot worse after the west end bridge. Everywhere else the water was just sort of dirty, with a slick on the top. After the west ed bridge, there was big hunks of stuff floating. We saw a few good sized logs and one chunk of 4x4 post about 6 feet long. Also lots of bottles and trash.
Templeton, thats it. I couldn't think of the name of the next pool down from Brady. Only been there a few times years ago.
Cruisers with Kids
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Trailer up to East Brady. You'll find the river is clean up there. It's not a huge pool, and it doesn't have the multitude of places to stop that the Pittsburgh pool does. But, it is clean. It's the section of river I grew up on. From the launch, you can't go too far up river before it gets shallow. But you can head down river about 9 miles to the lock. Red Bank is just before the lock. It's a creek that empties into the river. You can go pretty far back. It's clean and crystal clear. There's even a rope swing back there. On the weekends, it can be crowded with boats anchored, beached and rafted. Most folks stick to the no wake rule in Red Bank though. Through the week it's empty. It's also a great place to anchor and spend the night on the boat. The nice thing about Brady is it's out in the boonies. There's plenty of places where there are no boats and docks. You can go as fast as you want and tube or whatever. 
