Octoraro Creek - Octoraro Creek in Maryland

Octoraro Creek in Maryland

In Maryland, Octoraro Creek winds generally southwest through a steep valley. The creek loops under the high tension lines from the Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant on their way toward Philadelphia and passes by the site of a removed dam. The creek crosses under U.S. Route 1 on that road's way from Philadelphia to the Conowingo Dam bridge and Baltimore. The creek then passes the washed-out Porters Bridge at Richardsmere and passes one final time under the high tension lines. At Rowlandsville, the creek passes under Doctor Jack Road and two abandoned railroad bridges on a defunct spur. The Octoraro passes under the active Norfolk Southern Railway bridge and MD Route 222 (formerly U.S. Route 222) before it reaches the Susquehanna River, below the Conowingo Dam. When the hydroelectric plant is not generating, along with a low tide (the Susquehanna experiences tides below the dam), the creek turns parallel to the river for a few hundred yards before joining. The six foot rise in water when the hydroelectric plant is operating inundates this parallel stretch and can cause the Octoraro to reverse flow as far as the 222 bridge.