Take a virtual trip through the Allegheny River watershed. Hike alone, with a group, by canoe, or even go downtown to Warren.
Belle Riviere is the original name given to the Allegheny River by the French mapmakers from whom Europeans found out about much of the interior of North America.
The French translated the name directly from the native American language which called it "O-hi-y-o." The waters extend to the north in Salamanca, New York, to the east at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and to the south at Pittsburgh, where they join the Monongahela River to form the present-day Ohio River.
In its January 11, 1960 issue Time magazine had this to say about the origin of the term Belle Riviere: In its virgin splendor, the Ohio River awed the French explorer, La Salle, and all who came after him. The French called it La Belle Riviere, meaning, as Poet Carl Sandburg explained, "a woman easy to look at." Raft-riding settlers from the colonies called it "Ohio," after the Iroquois word for "thing of beauty."
The National Park Service also comments on the use of the name: Named "La Belle Riviere" by French explorers, this 87 miles of the Allegheny flows through areas of narrow forest valleys, wilderness islands, and broad, rural landscapes rich with the early history and culture of the region. Good public access and few hazards make this an ideal river for novice and family canoeing. Fishing for muskie, walleye, rainbow trout, and smallmouth bass is popular.
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