Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Public fishing rights parking, State Highway 98 NYSDEC · Town of Arcade | Access / boat ramp | 42.54805, -78.40081 | State-owned public-fishing-rights lot on NY 98 above Arcade, line-km 1.1, 0.03 km off the water. DEC publishes the location and no name; the road is from a reverse geocode. |
| 2 | Public fishing rights parking, Hurdville Road NYSDEC · Arcade | Access / boat ramp | 42.53640, -78.45767 | PFR lot on Hurdville Road, line-km 7.9, 0.07 km off the water. Upper-creek trout and smallmouth water, well above the steelhead barrier. |
| 3 | Public fishing rights parking, State Highway 16 NYSDEC · Town of Sardinia | Access / boat ramp | 42.53468, -78.47824 | PFR lot where NY 16 / NY 39 crosses the creek at line-km 10.0, 0.10 km off the water; the highway bridge is at the same point and is folded in here. |
| 4 | Cattaraugus Creek Fishing Access Parking NYSDEC · Springville-Sardinia Hwy (NY 39) | Access / boat ramp | 42.51637, -78.55235 | The one access on this creek that OSM names outright, and a DEC public-fishing-rights lot at the same spot (0.18 km apart, folded). Line-km 19.1. |
| 5 | South Vaughan Street bridge (NY 240) NY 240 · Springville | Bridge crossing | 42.49538, -78.64095 | NY 240 crossing at line-km 29.7, 0.01 km off the line. Shipped because it is the only landmark in the 10.6 km between the NY 39 access and Springville village. |
| 6 | Mill Street bridge Springville | Bridge crossing | 42.48042, -78.68339 | Last village crossing above the dam, line-km 35.2, 0.02 km off the line. |
| 7 | Scoby Dam (Springville Dam) Line-km 38.3 · portage / hard barrier | Dam / hazard | 42.48102, -78.70022 | The barrier. DEC calls it Springville Dam and makes it the upstream limit of the seasonal reach (up from the Aldrich Street Extension Bridge, Gowanda) and of the 34-mile steelhead section. OSM names the same structure Scoby Dam. |
| 8 | Scoby Dam Park Erie County · parking at the dam | Park / conservation area | 42.48221, -78.69976 | County park land at the dam, line-km 38.4. A municipal public-fishing parking lot sits 0.2 km downstream on Scoby Hill Road and is folded in here. DEC lists 0.5 mi of county park land at the dam. |
| 9 | Hammond Hill Road bridge Town of Concord | Bridge crossing | 42.47387, -78.74476 | Line-km 44.4, 0.08 km off the line, and the only mapped feature of any kind in the 16 km between the dam and the North Otto Road access as the creek enters the gorge. |
| 10 | North Otto Road Access NYSDEC · North Otto Road bridge | Access / boat ramp | 42.45638, -78.81198 | OSM carries this as both Cattaraugus Creek Waterway Access and North Otto Road Access and DEC's PFR layer has a lot at the same point (all three within 0.10 km, folded). Line-km 54.6, at the road bridge. |
| 11 | Public fishing rights parking, Valentine Flats Road NYSDEC · Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area | Access / boat ramp | 42.44368, -78.90393 | PFR lot on Valentine Flats Road at line-km 65.4, 0.28 km off the water - the usual way into the Zoar Valley gorge reach, which DEC gives as 6 mi of state land. Steep, unmaintained descent; DEC posts a warning sign nearby. |
| 12 | Gateway Park Village of Gowanda | Park / conservation area | 42.45656, -78.92475 | Village park on the left bank at line-km 69.3, 0.16 km off the water, at the head of the Gowanda reach. |
| 13 | USGS 04213500 - Cattaraugus Creek at Gowanda Real-time stage and discharge | USGS gauge | 42.46344, -78.93453 | The gauge every flow call on this creek is made against; it sits at line-km 70.4, 0.12 km off the chained line, and OSM maps a monitoring station at the same coordinate. |
| 14 | Gowanda Veterans Memorial Bridge (US 62 / NY 39) Gowanda · main crossing | Bridge crossing | 42.46339, -78.93479 | The main road crossing in Gowanda, line-km 70.4, beside the USGS gauge. |
| 15 | Creekside Park Village of Gowanda | Park / conservation area | 42.46657, -78.93681 | Village park on the water at line-km 70.7, 0.04 km off the line. |
| 16 | Aldrich Street Extension Bridge - seasonal reach limit Downstream limit · Gowanda | Regulation section limit | 42.46832, -78.94161 | DEC's seasonal reach runs from this bridge upstream to Springville Dam. OSM names the span Aldrich Street; it is the only Aldrich Street crossing of the creek in Gowanda, at line-km 71.2, 0.03 km off the line. |
| 17 | New York State Thruway bridge (I-90) Line-km 92.7 | Bridge crossing | 42.56282, -79.09404 | The only mapped crossing in the 21 km below Gowanda, through the Seneca Nation Cattaraugus Territory. A landmark, not an access - see the Seneca licence note. |
| 18 | Main Road bridge (US 20 / NY 5) Irving | Bridge crossing | 42.56795, -79.10439 | Last road crossing above tidewater, line-km 94.6, 0.05 km off the line. Two carriageway segments 50 m apart, one crossing. |
| 19 | Hanover Boat Launch Town of Hanover · line-km 96.8 | Access / boat ramp | 42.56436, -79.12874 | Ramp on the lower creek 1.3 km above the mouth; OSM carries a named node and an unnamed slipway way 0.05 km apart, folded here. |
| 20 | Sunset Bay State Marine Park Boat Launch Sunset Bay · line-km 97.5 | Access / boat ramp | 42.56778, -79.13508 | The launch at the mouth, 0.07 km off the line - the access steelhead anglers use to reach the lower creek and the lake shoreline. |
| 21 | Sunset Bay State Marine Park Marina and park at the mouth | Park / conservation area | 42.56749, -79.13500 | Park and marina where Cattaraugus Creek enters Lake Erie, line-km 97.5. |
Gauge: USGS 04213500 — Cattaraugus Creek at Gowanda, NY. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Brown Trout, Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Steelhead
Regulations: dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/freshwater-fishing/regulations
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
Gowanda town access near the gauge - the standard reference point and popular upstream access.
Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area - gorge access upstream of Gowanda with steep trails.
Scoby Dam Park near Springville - upper access at the top of the steelhead run.
Versailles access on the lower creek - reach requiring a Seneca Nation license.
Irving and the Route 5 crossing - lower creek access near the Lake Erie mouth.
Cattaraugus Creek Boat Launch at the harbor - lake access and the bottom of the run.
Point Peter Road and Forty Road pull-offs - informal middle creek access points.
Spring: a strong late steelhead push through March and April as the creek drops and warms.
Summer: steelhead gone, the creek low and clear, and a quiet, uncrowded smallmouth fishery in its place.
Fall: the run builds from October with autumn rain, bringing steelhead plus coho and chinook.
Winter: peak numbers of holdover steelhead with cold, low, clear water and slow technical presentations.