The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States includes 58 natural areas in its State Forest system. [1] They are managed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The Commonwealth describes a natural area as a location with "scenic, historic, geologic or ecological significance, which will remain in an undisturbed state, with development and maintenance being limited to that required for health and safety. Natural areas are set aside to provide locations for scientific observation of natural systems, to protect examples of typical and unique plant and animal communities, and to protect outstanding examples of natural interest and beauty." [2] Many such areas are only accessible on foot, and several do not have any maintained hiking trails. [1]
This list does not include additional natural areas that are protected within the Pennsylvania State Park system.
Natural area name | State forest | County | Area | Date founded | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alan Seeger Natural Area | Rothrock | Huntingdon | 390 acres (158 ha) | 1921 | Named after the poet who died during World War I. Includes old growth forest remnants. [3] [4] |
Algerine Swamp Natural Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming, Tioga | 84 acres (34 ha) | Includes a glacial bog. [5] [6] | |
Anders Run Natural Area | Cornplanter | Warren | 96 acres (39 ha) | 1987 | Includes a stone house built in 1841. [7] [8] |
Bark Cabin Natural Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 7 acres (3 ha) | Traversed by the Mid State Trail; features old growth hemlocks. [6] [9] | |
Bear Meadows Natural Area | Rothrock | Centre | 890 acres (360 ha) | 1965 | Also a National Natural Landmark. [3] [10] |
Bear Run Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Centre | 32 acres (13 ha) | [11] [12] | |
Beartown Woods Natural Area | Michaux | Franklin | 27 acres (11 ha) | Accessible via the Appalachian Trail. [13] [14] | |
Big Flat Laurel Natural Area | Rothrock | Centre, Huntingdon | 184 acres (74 ha) | [3] [15] | |
Black Ash Swamp Natural Area | Tioga | Tioga | 308 acres (125 ha) | [16] [17] | |
Bruce Lake Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 2,845 acres (1,151 ha) | Includes both a natural glacial lake and a man-made lake. [18] [19] | |
Buckhorn Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 535 acres (217 ha) | Also a designated Reptile and Amphibian Protection Area. [18] [20] | |
Carbaugh Run Natural Area | Michaux | Adams | 780 acres (316 ha) | Also a designated Reptile and Amphibian Protection Area, and founded to protect Native American archeological sites. [13] [21] | |
Charles F. Lewis Natural Area | Gallitzin | Indiana | 384 acres (155 ha) | Named after an area journalist and conservationist. [22] [23] | |
Cranberry Swamp Natural Area | Sproul | Clinton | 144 acres (58 ha) | Encompasses a boreal swamp. [24] [25] | |
David R. Johnson Natural Area | William Penn | Bucks | 56 acres (23 ha) | Named for its former landowner. [26] [27] | |
Detweiler Run Natural Area | Rothrock | Huntingdon | 463 acres (187 ha) | Also a designated Important Bird Area. [3] [28] | |
Devil’s Elbow Natural Area | Loyalsock | Lycoming | 404 acres (163 ha) | Protects a population of pitcher plants. [29] [30] | |
East Branch Swamp Natural Area | Sproul | Clinton | 186 acres (75 ha) | [24] [31] | |
Forrest H. Dutlinger Natural Area | Susquehannock | Clinton | 1,521 acres (616 ha) | Named after an early Commonwealth forester; includes old growth forest remnants. [32] [33] | |
Frank E. Masland Natural Area | Tuscarora | Perry | 1,270 acres (514 ha) | Also a designated Reptile and Amphibian Protection Area. [34] [35] | |
Halfway Run Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Union | 407 acres (165 ha) | [11] [36] | |
Hemlocks Natural Area | Tuscarora | Perry | 120 acres (49 ha) | [34] [37] | |
The Hook Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Union | 5,119 acres (2,072 ha) | Encompasses an entire regional watershed. [11] [38] | |
Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area | Tuscarora | Perry | 10 acres (4 ha) | 1967 | Features a rare box huckleberry colony believed to be more than 1,300 years old. [34] [39] |
Jakey Hollow Natural Area | Weiser | Columbia | 59 acres (24 ha) | 1990 | [40] [41] |
Johnson Run Natural Area | Elk | Cameron | 216 acres (87 ha) | [42] [43] | |
Joyce Kilmer Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Union | 77 acres (31 ha) | 1921 | Named after the poet and naturalist. [11] [44] |
Kettle Creek Gorge Natural Area | Loyalsock | Sullivan | 770 acres (312 ha) | Traversed by the Loyalsock Trail. [29] [45] | |
Lebo Red Pine Natural Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 124 acres (50 ha) | Encompasses an uncommon (for Pennsylvania) unplanted grove of red pines. [6] [46] | |
Little Juniata Natural Area | Rothrock | Huntingdon | 624 acres (253 ha) | [3] [47] | |
Little Mud Pond Swamp Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 182 acres (74 ha) | Encompasses a boreal swamp. [18] [48] | |
Little Tinicum Island Natural Area | William Penn | Delaware | 80 acres (32 ha) | An island in the Delaware River. [26] [49] | |
Lower Jerry Run Natural Area | Elk | Cameron | 892 acres (361 ha) | [42] [50] | |
Marion Brooks Natural Area | Moshannon | Elk | 975 acres (395 ha) | Named after an area conservationist. Includes one of the largest known stands of white birch trees in the eastern United States. [51] [52] | |
Meeting of the Pines Natural Area | Michaux | Franklin | 611 acres (247 ha) | Adjacent to the Penn State Mont Alto campus. [13] [53] | |
Miller Run Natural Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 4,992 acres (2,020 ha) | [6] [54] | |
M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Natural Area | Elk | Cameron | 1,215 acres (492 ha) | 1965 | Features industrial ruins from nuclear research in the 1950s-60s. Partially renamed in the 2010s as a tribute to Maurice K. Goddard. [42] [55] |
Mt. Cydonia Ponds Natural Area | Michaux | Franklin | 183 acres (74 ha) | Encompasses about 60 vernal ponds. [13] [56] | |
Mt. Davis Natural Area | Forbes | Somerset | 581 acres (235 ha) | Includes the highest point in Pennsylvania. [57] [58] | |
Mt. Logan Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Clinton | 512 acres (207 ha) | Also a designated Reptile and Amphibian Protection Area. [11] [59] | |
Pennel Run Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 936 acres (379 ha) | [18] [60] | |
Pine Creek Gorge Natural Area | Tioga | Tioga | 12,163 acres (4,922 ha) | 1968 | Also a National Natural Landmark; largest of the State Forest Natural Areas. Traversed by the West Rim Trail and Pine Creek Rail Trail. [16] [61] |
Pine Lake Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 67 acres (27 ha) | [18] [62] | |
Pine Ridge Natural Area | Buchanan | Bedford | 568 acres (230 ha) | Features reclaimed farms and resettlement lands. [63] [64] | |
Pine Tree Trail Natural Area | Elk | Elk | 276 acres (112 ha) | Named after an interpretative trail featuring educational exhibits. [42] [65] | |
Reynolds Spring Natural Area | Tioga | Lycoming, Tioga | 1,302 acres (527 ha) | [16] [66] | |
Roaring Run Natural Area | Forbes | Westmoreland | 3,500 acres (1,416 ha) | 1975 | [57] [67] |
Rocky Ridge Natural Area | Rothrock | Huntingdon | 150 acres (61 ha) | [3] [68] | |
Rosencrans Bog Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Clinton | 152 acres (62 ha) | [11] [69] | |
Ruth Zimmerman Natural Area | William Penn | Berks | 33 acres (13 ha) | Named after its former landowner; consists of two tracts. [26] [70] | |
Sheets Island Archipelago Natural Area | Weiser | Dauphin | 70 acres (28 ha) | A series of islands in the Susquehanna River. [40] [71] | |
Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Snyder | 500 acres (202 ha) | 1921 | Includes old growth forest that was scheduled to be logged in 1902. [11] [72] |
Spruce Swamp Natural Area | Pinchot | Lackawanna | 87 acres (35 ha) | Includes a glacial bog. [73] [74] | |
Stillwater Natural Area | Delaware | Pike | 1,931 acres (781 ha) | Traversed by the Thunder Swamp Trail. Originated as a sanctuary for Civil War deserters. [18] [75] | |
Sweet Root Natural Area | Buchanan | Bedford | 1,400 acres (567 ha) | 1921 | Includes old-growth hemlocks demonstrating woolly adelgid damage. [63] [76] |
Tall Timbers Natural Area | Bald Eagle | Snyder | 660 acres (267 ha) | [11] [77] | |
Tamarack Run Natural Area | Loyalsock | Sullivan | 234 acres (95 ha) | [29] [78] | |
Tamarack Swamp Natural Area | Sproul | Clinton | 267 acres (108 ha) | 1998 | Includes a boreal bog. [24] [79] |
Torbert Island Natural Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 18 acres (7 ha) | An island in Pine Creek. [6] [80] |
Bald Eagle State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #7. The main office is located in Laurelton in Union County, Pennsylvania. The forest is found in Centre, Clinton, Mifflin, Snyder, and Union Counties. Bald Eagle shares a common border on its western extent with Rothrock State Forest and on its northern extent with Tiadaghton State Forest.
Cornplanter State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #14. The main office is located in North Warren in Warren County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is named for Chief Cornplanter of the Seneca Nation, one of the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Gallitzin State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #6. The main offices are located in Ebensburg in Cambria County, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Loyalsock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. The forest spans across the northern tier's "Endless Mountains" and is a total of 114,552 acres (46,358 ha). The Loyalsock is a “working forest” and is managed for pure water, recreation, plant and animal habitats, sustainable timber, and natural gas.
Buchanan State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #2. The main office is located in McConnellsburg in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The forest also includes tracts in Franklin and Bedford Counties. It is named for James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, the fifteenth President of the United States.
Leonard Harrison State Park is a 585-acre (237 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the east rim of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining Colton Point State Park, its sister park on the west rim of the gorge. Leonard Harrison State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. The park is in Shippen and Delmar Townships, 10 miles (16 km) west of Wellsboro at the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 660.
A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician/technologist, game warden, park ranger, forest watcher, forest guard, forester, gamekeeper, investigator, wildernessofficer, wildlifeofficer, or wildlife trooper.
Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area is a 10-acre (4.0 ha) natural area in Perry County, Pennsylvania, near New Bloomfield, which protects a colony of box huckleberry over 1,000 years old. The smallest Natural Area in Pennsylvania, it is administered as part of Tuscarora State Forest. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in April 1967.
Quehanna Wild Area is a wildlife area within parts of Cameron, Clearfield and Elk counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania; with a total area of 50,000 acres, it covers parts of Elk and Moshannon State Forests. Founded in the 1950s as a nuclear research center, Quehanna has a legacy of radioactive and toxic waste contamination, while also being the largest state forest wild area in Pennsylvania, with herds of elk. The wild area is bisected by the Quehanna Highway and is home to second growth forest with mixed hardwoods and evergreens. Quehanna has two state forest natural areas: the 1,215-acre (492 ha) M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Natural Area, and the 917-acre (371 ha) Marion Brooks Natural Area. The latter has the largest stand of white birch in Pennsylvania and the eastern United States.
The Forrest H. Dutlinger Natural Area is a protected area in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The natural area measures a total of 1,521 acres (616 ha), and includes a tract of old-growth forest measuring 158 acres (64 ha). The area is known for its very large trees. The old-growth forest once lay on the boundary of two lumber companies, but was apparently spared because of a dispute over a surveying error.
Anders Run Natural Area is a 96-acre (39 ha) protected area in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Cornplanter State Forest.
Hammersley Wild Area is a 30,253-acre (12,243 ha) wild area in the Susquehannock State Forest in Potter and Clinton counties in north-central Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the largest area without a road in Pennsylvania and the state's second largest wild area. The wild area is named for Hammersley Fork, a tributary of Kettle Creek, which flows through the area. The wild area includes 10.78 miles (17.35 km) of the Susquehannock Trail System, an 83.4-mile (134.2 km) loop hiking trail almost entirely on state forest land.
Marion Brooks Natural Area is a state forest natural area in Moshannon State Forest in Benezette Township, Elk County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The 917-acre (371 ha) natural area is on the northwest edge of Quehanna Wild Area. It was originally known as Paige Run Natural Area; in 1975 it was renamed in honor of Marion E. Brooks, a local environmentalist. The area was set aside to protect one of the largest known stands of white birch trees in the eastern United States; in this region the tree is fairly close to the southern limit of its native range.
M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Natural Area is a state forest natural area in the Elk State Forest in Gibson Township, Cameron County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The 1,215-acre (492 ha) natural area is in the center of Quehanna Wild Area. It was once home to two jet engine testing cells, when the area was a research facility for Curtiss-Wright Corporation from 1955 to 1960.
Pine Creek Gorge, sometimes called The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is a 47-mile (76 km) gorge carved into the Allegheny Plateau by Pine Creek in north-central Pennsylvania.
Tamarack Swamp Natural Area is a boreal (non-glacial) bog in Sproul State Forest, in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is named for the tamarack tree that is common in the surrounding wetland. The protected natural area consists of 267 acres within the larger Tamarack Swamp complex. Tamarack Swamp is considered an Important Bird Area by Audubon Pennsylvania, and was named as one of the top 100 birding sites in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Algerine Swamp Natural Area is an 84-acre (34 ha) protected area in Lycoming and Tioga Counties, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Tiadaghton State Forest, and has also been named a National Natural Landmark.