Wilderness - Wild Trout - Wild Water
Ben's Creek is located near Portage. The stream can be reached from Route 53 by taking Benscreek Road to Strawberry Road, a dirt road, where the stream is then attainable. The access to the stream is limited to this small dirt road, and due to the various chained locked fences blocking access to motor vehicles, walking or the riding of quads is most opportune. The stream is very difficult to fish in some places due to the amount of mountain laurel and other plant life that interferences with casting and due to its small size. Therefore, this would not be considered a stream capable of holding many fish. The upper portion is not stocked due to the healthy population of wild brook trout. The vegetation surrounding the stream is lush and ground is damp in some places. Rattlesnakes and copperheads inhabit the area as well as poison oak and poison ivy, so hip boots are a must especially is the spring and summer months.
Ben's Creek was nominated for wilderness trout water rating in the upper section but was denied. It will be nominated again for consideration. The stream's water quality declined between a Fish Commission survey in 1979 and the latest survey in July of 1995. Although the water quality has dropped for various reasons, the wild trout population has actually prospered.
Fish - Ben's Creek contains brown, brook and rainbow trout focusing more on the brown and brook trout populations. The brook and brown trout are stocked in-season while also being stocked out-of-season. The stream also holds some holdover trout and wild brook trout but most of the population comes from stocked fish.