Trailer ramp · Lake Erie · Pennsylvania

Walnut Creek Boat Launch

A public trailer ramp on Lake Erie in Fairview Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Managed by PFBC.

Directions All Erie launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — ramp
Water: Lake Erie
Parking: 10 spaces or more
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: PFBC
Location: Fairview Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 42.0760° N, 80.2408° W

Horsepower: Unlimited Horsepower.

Before you launch

Lake Erie is big water

Erie is the shallowest Great Lake and the quickest to turn. A sustained blow builds a short, breaking sea in a couple of hours, and summer squalls can arrive from the west with little warning. In the western basin, mind the reefs; on the run to the islands, mind how far you are from shelter.

Wind against a shallow basin. Erie stacks up faster and steeper than any lake on the chain — a sustained 20-knot wind over 60 feet of average depth builds a short, breaking four-to-six-foot sea in a couple of hours. Boats swamp here in weather that would be uncomfortable elsewhere.
Unstable ice. Western-basin ice moves. Anglers have been carried off on detached floes and taken off by helicopter more than once, most infamously with over a hundred people at a time.
Fast-moving line squalls in summer, often arriving from the west with little warning behind a hot afternoon.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Erie

Our Erie fishing guides name spots at or near Walnut Creek:

Brown Trout · October through April in the tributaries alongside steelhead; April and May nearshore; July and August deep

Lake Erie Brown Trout: Pennsylvania's Small Stocked Fishery

Walnut Creek, Pennsylvania: One of the Pennsylvania stocking sites, including adult fish, and a heavily fished steelhead creek. The marina at the mouth is also the launch closest to the water where the state record came from.

Steelhead · Late October through April, with the heaviest push after the first cold rains in November and a strong March run

Steelhead Fishing on Lake Erie

Elk Creek and Walnut Creek, Pennsylvania: The two heaviest-stocked streams on the alley and the reason Erie, Pennsylvania fills with anglers in November. Public access is extensive and so are the crowds.

Lake Trout · May and June in 50–60 ft off North East, PA; July through early September in 90–130 ft off Dunkirk and Barcelona

Lake Erie Lake Trout: The Eastern Basin off Dunkirk and Erie

Lake Erie's lake trout are a stocked population rebuilt from zero, and they live almost entirely in the deep, cold eastern basin off New York and Pennsylvania. It is a real summer fishery in 90 to 130 feet off Dunkirk and Barcelona, but it is narrow, and most fish are still caught by walleye trollers running one rod deep.

Muskellunge · September through November, with October the best window

Lake Erie Muskie Fishing: Where to Fish & Fall Tactics

Lake Erie is not a muskie destination and you should not plan a trip around it. Where the fish do concentrate — Presque Isle Bay, the upper Niagara River at Buffalo, and the western basin near the Detroit River mouth — they are genuinely large, and a fall fish there is a real trophy.

Northern Pike · Ice season on Presque Isle Bay; April through early June and September through November in open water

Lake Erie Northern Pike: Presque Isle Bay and the Upper Niagara

Lake Erie is not pike water, and outside a few sheltered, weedy corners you will rarely see one. Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania is the one place on the lake with a dependable pike population; the upper Niagara River is the New York option, and Ohio's pike are scarce.

Smallmouth Bass · Late May through June, and September through early November

Smallmouth Bass Fishing on Lake Erie

Erie grows the heaviest smallmouth in the Great Lakes and the eastern basin from Erie, Pennsylvania to Buffalo is where they live. The western basin islands give you numbers and easier water; the eastern basin gives you five-pound fish over 25 feet of rock.

Walleye Yellow Perch

Erie by season

SpringJig season on the reef complex SummerTroll the open basin, and go east as it warms FallSteelhead Alley and the biggest walleye of the year WinterIce when it comes, tributaries when it doesn't

Next ramp over

Nearest Erie launches

Vista Launch5.9 mi · trailer ramp · PA
Niagara Launch7.4 mi · trailer ramp · PA
Bay Harbor Public Ramp7.9 mi · trailer ramp · PA
Elk Creek8.0 mi · trailer ramp · PA
Chestnut Street Boat Ramp8.3 mi · trailer ramp · PA
West Pier Launch8.4 mi · trailer ramp · PA

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses nearby

Erie Yacht Club Light6.6 mi
Presque Isle Light8.9 mi

On shore nearby

Worth the stop

Presque Isle State Park8.8 mi · park
Erie Land Lighthouse11 mi · lighthouse

Source

Launch facts are from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Fishing and Boating Access, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with PFBC before you tow. Fishing rules are set by thePA Fish & Boat Commission.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

Lake Erie launches Pennsylvania launches Lake Erie field guide Pennsylvania shoreline