Public Parks in Pennsylvania Wilds 40
State parks and forests, national recreation areas, wildlife refuges and city parks.
-
Cook Forest State Park
Giant old-growth pines and hemlocks, some centuries old, crowd the Forest Cathedral, with a fire tower for treetop views and lazy canoe trips down the Clarion River.
-
Parker Dam State Park
A classic Depression-era park with a small lake, rustic log cabins and a beach, where trails wind through woods regrowing after a 1985 tornado and lead into the Quehanna wilds.
-
Little Pine State Park
A mountain lake on Little Pine Creek, cradled by steep forested ridges, with a beach, campground and trails climbing to views over the Pine Creek country.
-
Chapman State Park
A small lake dammed on the West Branch of Tionesta Creek, with a sandy beach and campground and the big, quiet woods of the Allegheny National Forest all around.
-
Clear Creek State Park
Rustic log cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps line a clear trout stream that runs down to the Clarion River, a favorite for easy canoe floats, with a small beach and hemlock-shaded trails.
-
Hills Creek State Park
A tranquil lake in rolling farm-and-forest country where loons and ospreys stop over, with a sandy beach, cabins and a campground a short drive from Pine Creek Gorge.
-
Sinnemahoning State Park
Elk graze the meadows and bald eagles nest along the First Fork of Sinnemahoning Creek, which widens into a reservoir framed by steep, wooded mountains.
-
Kettle Creek State Park
In a remote, mountain-walled valley, Kettle Creek widens into a lake behind a flood-control dam, with trout fishing, creekside camping and bridle trails into the surrounding forest.
-
Ole Bull State Park
Norwegian violinist Ole Bull tried to found a colony in this wild Kettle Creek valley in 1852; a trail climbs to the ruins of his hilltop castle above a creekside beach and campground.
-
Lyman Run State Park
A small lake in remote mountain forest, with a beach, campground and trout fishing, and the famously dark skies of Cherry Springs just a short drive up the road.
-
Leonard Harrison State Park
From the east rim of Pine Creek Gorge, overlooks frame the canyon's classic views, and the steep Turkey Path zigzags down past waterfalls to the creek, with a visitor center on top.
-
Bendigo State Park
Picnic tables in the shade line the East Branch of the Clarion River, a trout stream that has bounced back from old mine pollution, with a swimming pool for hot summer days.
-
Elk State Park
Big enough for waterskiing and powerboats of any size, this deep reservoir in rugged northern mountains also draws anglers after trout and other fish.
-
Ravensburg State Park
Boulder-strewn slopes close in tight around a trout stream in this little mountain gorge, with a small campground beside the water and trails climbing through laurel thickets.
-
Simon B. Elliott State Park
A wooded hideaway honoring an early champion of Pennsylvania's forests, with rustic cabins and campsites amid quiet hardwood forest and quick access to the Quehanna backcountry.
-
Sizerville State Park
Tucked in a valley of the Pennsylvania Wilds, a small campground and swimming pool at one end of the Bucktail Path, with mile upon mile of state forest beyond.
-
Cherry Springs State Park
An International Dark Sky Park on a remote mountaintop, where astronomers set up telescopes under some of the darkest skies in the East and the Milky Way blazes overhead on clear, moonless nights.
-
Elk Country Visitor Center
The place to see Pennsylvania's wild elk up close, watching from the trails or through big windows indoors as bulls bugle across the meadows in the fall rut.
-
Susquehanna State Park
A riverfront green on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, home port of the Hiawatha paddlewheel riverboat, which carries sightseers along the old lumber-boom waterfront.
-
Denton Hill State Park
A ski hill in the northern snow belt, where the state is working to bring back downhill skiing, beside the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum and near the dark skies of Cherry Springs.
-
Hyner Run State Park
A swimming pool and campground tucked into a narrow mountain hollow, with the vast Sproul State Forest all around and the winding climb to Hyner View close by.
-
Patterson State Park
Deep in remote mountain forest, this quiet picnic clearing is a jumping-off point for backpackers bound for the 85-mile Susquehannock Trail loop.
-
Allegheny National Forest
Pennsylvania's only national forest, with the long Allegheny Reservoir, the old-growth groves of Hearts Content, overlooks such as Rimrock and many miles of the North Country Trail.
-
Colton Point State Park
On the quieter west rim of Pine Creek Gorge, rustic pavilions built by the CCC sit beside rocky canyon overlooks, and the Turkey Path drops steeply to the creek far below.
-
Kinzua Bridge State Park
The surviving towers of the Kinzua Viaduct, half-toppled by a 2003 tornado, now carry a skywalk with a glass-floored lookout high over the valley, the twisted wreckage still lying below.
-
Prouty Place State Park
A tiny, out-of-the-way clearing by a trout stream, with forest roads and trails fanning out into the deep backcountry of the Susquehannock State Forest.
-
Upper Pine Bottom State Park
Picnic tables beside a trout stream make this shady pull-off a handy trailhead into the steep backcountry of the Tiadaghton State Forest.
-
Clear Creek State Forest
Hilly hardwood forest in tracts along the Clarion and Allegheny rivers, with river overlooks and stretches of long-distance trail for quiet backcountry hiking.
-
Cornplanter State Forest
A compact forest of scattered tracts named for the Seneca leader Cornplanter, with old-growth pines and hemlocks along Anders Run and short, easy trails for hiking and cross-country skiing.
-
Elk State Forest
Deep, wild valleys at the heart of Pennsylvania's elk range, crossed by the Bucktail Path and gravel forest roads where elk often graze in the clearings.
-
Hearts Content Scenic Area
A grove of old-growth white pines and hemlocks, some well over 300 years old, on an easy loop trail through one of the few virgin stands left in the Allegheny forest.
-
Loyalsock State Forest
Wild plateau country cut by Loyalsock Creek, with the rugged Loyalsock Trail, waterfall-filled glens and the High Knob Overlook's view across the Endless Mountains.
-
Moshannon State Forest
Big plateau forest that takes in much of the Quehanna Wild Area, once a Cold War nuclear research site, now crossed by the long Quehanna Trail and home to roaming elk.
-
Sproul State Forest
The largest of Pennsylvania's state forests, a vast, deeply cut plateau along the West Branch of the Susquehanna, with the Chuck Keiper and Donut Hole trails, wild areas and roadless valleys.
-
Susquehannock State Forest
Remote, rolling plateau forest near the New York line, with the 85-mile Susquehannock Trail, the roadless Hammersley Wild Area and night skies dark enough to draw astronomers.
-
Tiadaghton State Forest
Steep, forested mountains along lower Pine Creek, with the Pine Creek Rail Trail on the canyon floor and two famously rugged hiking loops, the Black Forest and Golden Eagle trails.
-
Tioga State Forest
Much of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon lies within this forest, where the 30-mile West Rim Trail follows the gorge's edge and the Pine Creek Rail Trail runs along the creek far below.
-
Kinzua Dam
The big concrete dam holding back the long, winding Allegheny Reservoir, with overlooks, a visitor center and a history that includes the flooding of Seneca Nation land in the 1960s.
-
Bucktail State Park Natural Area
Less a park than a 75-mile drive: the Bucktail Trail follows Sinnemahoning Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna through deep forested valleys, named for a Civil War regiment of backwoods marksmen.
-
Hyner View State Park
A stone-walled overlook perched high above the West Branch of the Susquehanna, with a sweeping view up and down the river valley and a launch ramp used by hang gliders.
![Kettle Creek State Park: Northeast-facing vista (elevation approximately 2080 feet [634 meters]), Clinton County, within Kettle Creek State Park](/assets/photos/kettle-creek-state-park-leidy/1-commons-4795055-960.webp)
