Destress Outdoors

Ohio River

Wellsburg, WV (Mile 74) to Stuebenville, OH (Mile 68)

September 2021

NOTE: This section isn't the best for all paddlers. There's barge activity on both sides of the water between miles 71 and 70, providing for somewhat challenging navigation.

The ramp in Wellsburg, West Virginia is located at a spot they call the Wellsburg Wharf at the end of 12th Street. It's alternatively known as Pier 12 as per the charts and that had me wondering what the difference between a wharf and a pier actually was! Turns out, a wharf runs parallel to a body of water whereas a pier runs perpendicular to it. By that definition there was no pier here. I did see wharves on both sides of the ramp as per the second photo below, but no boats were present.

The old wharf (toward on the upriver side of the ramp) was built in 1836 and it's a historical landmark, yet I didn't see any obvious signs of it remaining. Perhaps that was because of some construction work that was being done when I arrived, but there were apparently some old cobblestones I missed. You can see them in some older photos online, however. The Crooked Dock (a bar and restaurant on Facebook) is here too next to the ramp. The ramp is lighted and well paved but there were no facilities.

Across the river you'll have already noticed that a mountain has been starkly cut to make room for Ohio Route 7 and, at the top, it looks like there could be a mining operation. I can't find a name if there is, however. The Taylor Nicole of Imperial River Transport passed me here. Apparently their web link is a work in progress, and prior to this year I hadn't seen Imperial much. That's changed this year. I've seen them more than once.

Wellsburg will continue on your right side as you begin to head upriver and you'll note what looks like a school and a town park up there as you go. Some residences follow, many of which have watercraft docked. Then, at mile 72.5, you'll notice a white building at the point of a metal embankment and a little boat dock. This is the location of Merco Marine, a manufacturer of floating boat docks. Meanwhile, on the other side there's a very large Norfolk Southern railroad operation just receded from shore. This appears to be their Mingo Junction Terminal.

The bridge you see in the distance I'll describe shortly, but just prior to reaching it you'll see that two side streams enter the river directly across from each other at mile 71.5. Interestingly enough, both are named Cross Creek! Perhaps it's Cross Creek because this stream and the Ohio River cross each other? I don't know, but I was pleasantly surprised at how clear the water was when I got toward the end of both Cross Creeks. I'll start on the West Virginia side and then describe Ohio...

The slack water in West Virginia's Cross Creek ran 2/3 of a mile. You won't be able to paddle all the way back to it, but in researching it now I find that there's an incredible archaeological site called Meadowcroft Village which is said to be the site of the oldest know human habitation in North America! It's only about 20 minutes from Wellsburg and it would certainly be something to see! Below are some photos of the creek...

The photo below was taken back at the mouth looking upriver on the Ohio. As you can see, it's about to get quite busy (more on the bridge in a bit)!

First, Ohio's version of Cross Creek... I was able to get back a little further on this side - about a mile. There's actually a public ramp back here (the Mingo Junction ramp about 1/2 mile in) but otherwise this creek runs through one incredibly busy industrial area! I could hear sounds of industry the entire way, to include the aforementioned rail yard but also to include a water treatment facility, an auto wrecking operation and a large steel operation (JSW Steel, the bulk of which will be upcoming on the Ohio River). Below are some scenes from this stream. You'll just be able to get under the white pipe going over the water in the second photo. :)

I mentioned how clear these streams are once you got a ways back into them. Check out the fish circle below! I've seen minnows do this, but these were pretty large fish! The second photo below was taken at the end of navigability looking back downstream at a bridge for Ohio Route 7 along with an interesting old railroad bridge.

Back to that bridge on the Ohio River... As per online sources, it was originally known as the Wabash Railroad Bridge to be later owned by the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Today it looks to be under the ownership of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (or W&LE). It's a nice looking span. W&LE apparently began operations way back in 1871 and they even ran passenger trains until 1940. Today they're one of the largest regional railroads in the country, running on 840 miles of track.

As mentioned, once you pass the bridge at mile 71 you'll want to start being extremely careful. You see, the steel plant up there on your left side has operations (or operations that support it) running for the next two full miles. Not only that, but these operations span both sides of the water with the busiest point being right here. First, the plant itself... It's run by JSW Steel now, but it used to called Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel. As per the web link, JSW bought the facility in 2018 after it had been idle for 10 years and brought it back to life. Below are a couple shots of it as you paddle upriver...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the river at this same point, there were a ton of barges being moved around - upriver, downriver and sideways - at the site that the charts indicate as being Johnson Towing. I see nothing about Johnson online, but the push boat that was working here - the George J Harrison of Bellaire Harbor Services - was really getting a workout. There's an excellent article about Bellaire here which explains that the company bought Ohio River Salvage in 2005. You'll see Ohio River Salvage locations still on the navigation charts, but most must be Bellaire locations now. Perhaps they bought Johnson Towing as well?

For the next mile it'll be pretty quiet on the Ohio side with a mountain creeping in toward you, leaving pretty much just a railroad track and Ohio Route 7. On the other side, however, there remains a lot going on. I completely missed Mahan or Allegheny Run as it came in somewhere amid the community of Follansbee West Virginia, but after that you'll have business after business. What's really interseting is that according to this article much of the area between river miles 71 and 69 is in the midst of substantial change. It's soon to become the Port of West Virginia to be run by a company called Empire Diversified Energy.

As of this writing, however, the first businees you see (the one with the very long building with two white towers) is the Trimodal Terminal. It looks like trains run all the way through this builing. Behind it lies an operation that has changed hands a few times. The charts show it as Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, but that operation was purchased by AK Steel, and then AK's entire operation was bought by Cleveland Cliffs. This is what they call their Mountain State Carbon opertaion. You'll be able to see much more of it further upriver and I'll describe it shortly. That's the George J Harrison again below...

A Koppers, Inc. facility follows this, although this particular Koppers location has been sold in 2021 to a subsidiary of the company that is going to operate the new port. Koppers is a Pittsburgh based company that's been around since 1988. They provide carbon materials and chemicals for the steel industry, but they also provide wood preservation chemicals and chemically treated wood structures which are desirable in railroad ties and telephone poles.

Next comes the aforementioned Mountain State Carbon before you reach the upcoming bridge. Run by Cleveland Cliffs, Mountain Stare provides carbon for steel production. Carbon comes from coal, and I didn't realize it until now, but according to the web link steel is made by mixing carbon and iron at high temperatures. Mountain State has been in operation over 100 years.

I ended up turning back once I'd reached the rail bridge on the very cusp of Steubenville, Ohio. This bridge was originally known as the LaBelle Iron Works Bridge, named for a company of the same name which is no longer in operation. It was later known as the Wheeling/Pittsburgh Steel Bridge, but I assume it's now the property of JSW Steel since, as mentioned above, they bought Wheeling/Pittsburgh. At any rate, it's a nice looking and well built span. Check out the link for a better photo than I can provide. Historicbridges.org really does a nice job. As for me, I'll save Steubenville for another time and see if I can find a nice ramp down there.

DIRECTIONS:

The ramp I used is at the end of 12th Street in Wellsburg, West Virginia. The Crooked Dock Bar and Restaurant is right beside it. If you type: "Wellsburg Wharf" into Google Maps you can get the best directions.