Swatara Gap

Swatara Gap
Swatara Gap
	View of Swatara Gap and Swatara Creek from the Waterville Bridge
Elevation	433 ft (132 m)
Traversed by	PA 72, I-81
Range	Blue Mountain
Coordinates	40°28′43″N 76°31′44″W / 40.47861°N 76.52889°W

Swatara Gap is a water gap through Blue Mountain formed by the Swatara Creek in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. PA Route 72 as well as Interstate 81 pass through the gap. The Appalachian Trail passes through the gap over the Waterville Bridge in Swatara State Park.^[2] The area was a fossil collecting site.^[3] "Swatara" comes from a Susquehannock word, Swahadowry or Schaha-dawa, which means "where we feed on eels". Ancient Native Americans built dozens of eel-weirs, V-shaped rock barriers designed to funnel eels to facilitate capture, on the Susquehanna River and its tributaries.^[4]^[5]^: 184

References

Gaps of the Appalachian Mountains
Water gaps	Cumberland Narrows Brocks Gap Delaware Water Gap Gaps of the Allegheny Blair Gap Kittanning Gap Goshen Pass Hillsboro Gap James River Gorge Lehigh Gap Loysburg Gap Mechanicsburg Gap Moccasin Gap The Narrows Potomac Water Gap Reeds Gap Schuylkill Gap Swatara Gap Thoroughfare Gap
Wind gaps	Ashby Gap Buford's Gap Carmans Notch Chester Gap Crampton's Gap Cumberland Gap Deep Notch Diamond Notch Fishers Gap Fox's Gap Jarman Gap Keyes Gap Maggoty Gap Manassas Gap McCormick Gap New Market Gap Pound Gap Rockfish Gap Snickers Gap Swift Run Gap Thornton Gap Turner's Gap Wilson Gap
Passes	Appalachian Gap Balsam Gap Brock Gap Buck Creek Gap Bull Gap Carter Notch Cowee Gap Craven Gap Crawford Notch Deals Gap Dixville Notch Evans Notch Franconia Notch Gillespie Gap Grafton Notch Grandmother Gap Granville Notch Hazen's Notch Hobart Gap Kinsman Notch Lincoln Gap Mahoosuc Notch Middlebury Gap Monterey Pass Newfound Gap Pinkham Notch Sherburne Pass Skinners Gap Smugglers Notch Soco Gap Stony Clove Notch Swannanoa Gap Zealand Notch
Artificial cuts	Clarke's Gap