Loyalhanna Creek

Loyalhanna Creek
Loyalhanna Lake and Dam on Loyalhanna Creek in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania looking upriver toward the west-northwest
Country	United States
Basin features
Main source	40°07′45″N 79°20′20″W / 40.1292397°N 79.3389231°W / 40.1292397; -79.3389231
River mouth	827 ft (252 m) 40°29′07″N 79°27′16″W / 40.4853442°N 79.4544855°W / 40.4853442; -79.4544855Coordinates: 40°29′07″N 79°27′16″W / 40.4853442°N 79.4544855°W / 40.4853442; -79.4544855
River system	Allegheny River

Loyalhanna Creek is a 50-mile (80 km) long tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The stream is a popular destination for canoeing and recreational trout fishing.

The creek derives its name from the eighteenth-century village of Layalhanning, an important Delaware Indian crossroads settlement located at the site where Fort Ligonier was built, in present Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The village was settled shortly after the Delaware left the Susquehanna River area in 1727. Layalhanning means "the middle stream" in the Delaware language— "lawel" or "lawell" (middle); "hanna" (a river or stream); "ing" (at the place of).

Loyalhanna rises from Laurel Ridge in southern Westmoreland County, north of Donegal and flows NNE, along the southeastern side of Chestnut Ridge. Approximately 5 mi (8 km) northwest of Ligonier it turns northwest, cutting through Chestnut Ridge and passing through Latrobe. From Latrobe, it flows NNW, passing through Loyalhanna Lake reservoir and joins with the Conemaugh River to form the Kiskiminetas River at Saltsburg. The creek lies about midway between the Juniata River to the east and the Ohio River to the west, and about halfway between the Conemaugh River to the north and the Youghiogheny River to the south.