Inland/River Ferries (Besides Great Lakes, Estuaries)

[index]

If this would be more appropriate under bridges, please move it - thanks.


Here in North Carolina, we have three inland ferries - The Elwell, Parker's, and Sans Souci.


Inspired by this thread, there doesn't seem to be one for the general topic.


https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=24097.0

[Brandon]

There's many that cross the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, as well as two that cross the Illinois River and one across the Wisconsin River.  There's also a bunch out west.

Examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimac_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave-In-Rock_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorena%E2%80%93Hickman_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahkiakum_County_ferry

[oscar]

Here in North Carolina, we have three inland ferries - The Elwell, Parker's, and Sans Souci.

Which are where, and on which highways (if any)? I know there are two on NC 306, not sure if they include the three you named.

Puget Sound has lots of ferries, not sure you'd count them as "inland".

There are lots of others, probably too many to be of interest.

For some minor ones out west, there are the two ferries to Ryer Island in the Sacramento River delta (one on CA 84, the other on CA 220), discussed elsewhere on this forum.

[jeffandnicole]

I guess what's an inland ferry vs. another type? 

The Cape May-Lewis Ferry is on the edge of NJ & DE just before you hit the Atlantic Ocean, for example.

[1995hoo]

Is there any sort of minimum distance involved to qualify? I can think of various very short ferry services that seem too trivial, whereas if there were a ferry across something like the Great Salt Lake that might seem more notable.

[paulthemapguy]

I'll add the second ferry I've ever used--The Charlotte-Essex ferry across Lake Champlain, connecting Vermont and New York.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.3034383,-73.3312214,14.04z

The two ferries in Illinois across the Illinois River are both along the lowest section of the river, bordering Calhoun County.  They are the Brussels Ferry, very close to the mouth of the river, and the Kampsville Ferry, carrying IL-108.

[briantroutman]

Are you referring specifically to vehicle ferries or all ferries? Of course there are lots of passenger-only ferries in urban areas (Staten Island-Manhattan, Camden-Philadelphia, Sausalito-San Francisco)–most of which are arguably "inland" , even though they're near the coasts. And on the topic of inland vs non-inland: I assume the only non-inland ferries (of any type) would be those to islands off the coast of the mainland, like Nantucket.

Assuming we're talking about vehicle ferries only, I can think of a few specific examples offhand.

There's a seasonal ferry crossing of the Susquehanna River between Millersburg and US 11-15 on the opposite shore. Given the ferry's location near the terminus of US 209–and also that US 209 ends at PA 147 rather than another US route, I always liked to think of the ferry as being part of US 209, connecting it to 11-15.

I had occasion to ride a vehicular ferry near Houston once when visiting the Monument of San Jacinto. To my surprise it was operated free of charge. In the Northeast, the ride surely would have run at least $5-10.

[Max Rockatansky]

The Real McCoy II on CA 84 and J-Mack on CA 220 in the Sacramento River Delta. 

[froggie]

Here in North Carolina, we have three inland ferries - The Elwell, Parker's, and Sans Souci.

Which are where, and on which highways (if any)? I know there are two on NC 306, not sure if they include the three you named.

All three of the ferries he mentioned are on secondary routes.  Elwell is on the Cape Fear River, upriver of NC 11.  Parker's is on the Meherrin River north of Winton, while Sans Souci is downriver of Windsor (before Albemarle Sound).

There are lots of others, probably too many to be of interest.

Agreed.

I'll add the second ferry I've ever used--The Charlotte-Essex ferry across Lake Champlain, connecting Vermont and New York.

One of four such ferries across Lake Champlain.

[index]

Here in North Carolina, we have three inland ferries - The Elwell, Parker's, and Sans Souci.

Which are where, and on which highways (if any)? I know there are two on NC 306, not sure if they include the three you named.

Puget Sound has lots of ferries, not sure you'd count them as "inland".

There are lots of others, probably too many to be of interest.

For some minor ones out west, there are the two ferries to Ryer Island in the Sacramento River delta (one on CA 84, the other on CA 220), discussed elsewhere on this forum.

For more specific secondary routes, you have these:


The Elwell Ferry carries NC Secondary Road 1730, the Sans Souci carries NC SR 1500, and the Parker's carries 1306. They've got some neat traffic control.


https://www.google.com/maps/@34.4734683,-78.3694724,3a,41.8y,61.16h,83.67t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-asPdLToxN5OgPkhyI5Kjw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-asPdLToxN5OgPkhyI5Kjw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D119.064026%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


https://www.google.com/maps/@34.474957,-78.3683388,3a,37.3y,218.95h,85.38t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0ESYU73t3ft5-iaUh3tqsg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0ESYU73t3ft5-iaUh3tqsg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D68.45751%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9107369,-76.8172563,3a,15y,343.6h,89.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbv4YvrISWXTP7n0v_TPxAw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I guess what's an inland ferry vs. another type? The Cape May-Lewis Ferry is on the edge of NJ & DE just before you hit the Atlantic Ocean, for example.

I suppose, for this, inland will be considered not an estuary in addition. Those are also pretty common locations for ferries, much more so than ferries that are well inland. Under this it appears that the Sans Souci ferry would barely make it. If it's interesting enough, I say go ahead and post it anyway, I don't think it'd hurt.

Is there any sort of minimum distance involved to qualify? I can think of various very short ferry services that seem too trivial, whereas if there were a ferry across something like the Great Salt Lake that might seem more notable.

Any distance would be fine.





My bad on all this, I didn't expect there to be much ambiguity but I suppose my initial post was a bit too vague.

[index]

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9046561,-106.9178978,3a,75y,313.39h,84.69t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSDHpGnZ_rquyOEbKwLwYfQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSDHpGnZ_rquyOEbKwLwYfQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D42.850765%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


Here's another inland ferry, this one is in Saskatchewan.


https://www.google.com/maps/@61.2583961,-117.5282037,3a,39.5y,355h,89.63t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snFpDddOz8aAUdtKRRg8OVg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DnFpDddOz8aAUdtKRRg8OVg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D271.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


And here's a ferry in the Northewest Territories. This one was replaced by the Deh Cho Bridge.

[SectorZ]

The Connecticut River has two ferry crossings in Connecticut, both below Hartford.

[oscar]

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9046561,-106.9178978,3a,75y,313.39h,84.69t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSDHpGnZ_rquyOEbKwLwYfQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSDHpGnZ_rquyOEbKwLwYfQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D42.850765%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here's another inland ferry, this one is in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan has a dozen more ferries, on either the secondary system (600-799) or on northern provincial roads (9xx). Some are replaced by ice bridges in the winter.

https://www.google.com/maps/@61.2583961,-117.5282037,3a,39.5y,355h,89.63t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snFpDddOz8aAUdtKRRg8OVg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DnFpDddOz8aAUdtKRRg8OVg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D271.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

And here's a ferry in the Northewest Territories. This one was replaced by the Deh Cho Bridge.

There are four river ferries, two each on NT 1 and NT 8, that have not been replaced by bridges. They are replaced by ice bridges in the winter, as was the one since replaced by the Deh Cho Bridge. There are usually gaps between the operating seasons of the ferries and the ice bridges, while the river ice solidifies in the autumn and breaks up in the spring.

Yukon Territory has two river ferries, one between YT 2 in Dawson and YT 9 to the U.S. border, the other carrying YT 6 across the river at Ross River. Unlike the ones in NT, Yukon's river ferry crossings close in the winter, with no ice bridge replacements.

[1995hoo]

The Potomac has White's Ferry near Leesburg, Virginia. No doubt it'll be closed again tomorrow due to flooding. The James River in Virginia has two–the Jamestown—Scotland Ferry is well-known, and west of Scottsville there's the little-known Hatton Ferry, which is said to be the last poled ferry remaining in the 48 contiguous states. Virginia also has VDOT-operated ferries on Route 644 in Northumberland County across the Little Wicomico River and on Route 604 in Lancaster County across the Corrotoman River; both of those ferries have only one operator and close for half an hour at midday for their lunch breaks.

Going much further afield, the St. Lawrence River has a ferry near Sorel and another longer one from Rivière-du-Loop to Saint-Siméon. Not too far from the latter, a ferry crosses the mouth of the Saguenay at Tadoussac.

Nova Scotia has at least two cable ferries. One is at LaHave and the other is on Cape Breton Island near Englishtown.


(Edited to fix a misspelling)

[skluth]

There's many that cross the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, as well as two that cross the Illinois River and one across the Wisconsin River.  There's also a bunch out west.

Examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimac_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave-In-Rock_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorena%E2%80%93Hickman_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahkiakum_County_ferry

Plus the Badger, carrying traffic across Lake Michigan.

[US 89]

Utah has the Charles Hall Ferry, which carries UT 276 across Lake Powell (although not officially). It runs in the daytime during summer, and Thursday-Saturday in winter.

This is probably one of the highest-elevation car ferries out there, which varies from 3600 to 3700 feet depending on the height of Lake Powell. I'd be curious if there are any higher-elevation ferries.

[index]

Utah has the Charles Hall Ferry, which carries UT 276 across Lake Powell (although not officially). It runs in the daytime during summer, and Thursday-Saturday in winter.

This is probably one of the highest-elevation car ferries out there, which varies from 3600 to 3700 feet depending on the height of Lake Powell. I'd be curious if there are any higher-elevation ferries.

That's a neat one. I don't believe you typically see ferries in that kind of landscape. UDOT has this short video on it:

This ferry on the Columbia is called the Wahkiakum County Ferry.


https://www.google.com/maps/@46.1538613,-123.3776541,3a,42.6y,149.05h,85.23t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN3QUJekX2SB11oOEfeFWCb97vYL8Rt75SjUVXB!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN3QUJekX2SB11oOEfeFWCb97vYL8Rt75SjUVXB%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya317.1963-ro-0-fo100!7i5760!8i2880


Oop. That was already mentioned...

[GaryV]

OK, you said beside Great Lakes, but how about the connecting waters of the Great Lakes?  There's 3 on the St. Clair River (to Harsen's Island, Algonac to Walpole Island, and Marine City to Sombra).  Also 3 on the St. Marys River (to Sugar, Neebish and Drummond Islands).

In the northern Lower Peninsula, there's a ferry across the southern arm of Lake Charlevoix at Ironton.

In Mammoth Cave National Park, there's a ferry across the Green River.

[ipeters61]

The Connecticut River has two ferry crossings in Connecticut, both below Hartford.

Yup, the Chester/Hadlyme Ferry (CT-148) and Rocky Hill/Glastonbury Ferry (CT-160).

In Delaware, there's a bizarre one, the Woodland Ferry near Laurel (over the Nanticoke River): https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5999712,-75.6559727,16.79z

[TheOneKEA]

There is a ferry on Maryland's Eastern Shore, between the towns of Oxford and Bellevue. The ferry crosses the Tred Avon River.

[MNHighwayMan]

Utah has the Charles Hall Ferry, which carries UT 276 across Lake Powell (although not officially). It runs in the daytime during summer, and Thursday-Saturday in winter.

That's a neat one. I don't believe you typically see ferries in that kind of landscape. UDOT has this short video on it:

Must be recognized in some official capacity if they have a UT-276 sign right on the ramp.

[Paulinator66]

The two ferries in Illinois across the Illinois River are both along the lowest section of the river, bordering Calhoun County.  They are the Brussels Ferry, very close to the mouth of the river, and the Kampsville Ferry, carrying IL-108.

I've been on both of those -- sometimes in the same day -- usually coinciding with a leisurely day trip to Grafton.  Oh, and that reminds me of the Grafton Ferry.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Grafton+Ferry/@38.9577483,-90.4364812,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x2f1eee0cd6f2b69c?ved=2ahUKEwjhzcCGo7HfAhUpzoMKHaNMAPcQ_BIwE3oECAYQCA

[inkyatari]

There's many that cross the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, as well as two that cross the Illinois River and one across the Wisconsin River.  There's also a bunch out west.

Examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimac_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave-In-Rock_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorena%E2%80%93Hickman_Ferry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahkiakum_County_ferry

IMHO, there should be a ferry across the Illinois river between Morris and I-55 for emergency services usage should something hamper the IL-47 and I-55 bridges.  A bridge across there would be preferable, but I don't see that ever happening.

[US 89]

Utah has the Charles Hall Ferry, which carries UT 276 across Lake Powell (although not officially). It runs in the daytime during summer, and Thursday-Saturday in winter.

That's a neat one. I don't believe you typically see ferries in that kind of landscape. UDOT has this short video on it:

Must be recognized in some official capacity if they have a UT-276 sign right on the ramp.

It’s a UDOT-run ferry, but the interesting thing is that the legislative description for SR-276 does not include anything within the boundaries of Glen Canyon Recreation Area, nor does it mention a ferry (see resolution). But looking at the reference, it appears the ferry is included as a 0.000-mile segment of SR-276, though that doesn’t show up in the interactive map.

I’d say the ferry would be required to clinch 276, but some may disagree with that based on the official legislative description.

[kphoger]

Plus the Badger, carrying traffic across Lake Michigan.

[Did not read the thread title]