Parker Dam State Park

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Parker Dam State Park
Dam at Parker Dam State Park.jpg
The dam at Parker Dam State Park
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Location of Parker Dam State Park in Pennsylvania
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Parker Dam State Park (the United States)
Location Huston, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates 41°12′06″N78°30′31″W / 41.20167°N 78.50861°W / 41.20167; -78.50861
Area968 acres (392 ha)
Elevation1,627 ft (496 m) [1]
Established1936
Governing bodyPennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Website Parker Dam State Park

Parker Dam State Park is a 968-acre (392 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Huston Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is surrounded by Moshannon State Forest. Parker Dam State park is 17 miles (27 km) north of Clearfield on Pennsylvania Route 153 just off exit 111 of Interstate 80. The park was constructed during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps; they built many of the facilities that are in use today at Parker Dam State Park.

Contents

History

The park takes its name from William Parker, who leased lumbering rights from John Otto. Parker built a splash dam on Laurel Run at the site of the present lake. Lumbering began as early as 1794 in Clearfield County, harvesting the white pine and hemlock which covered the mountainsides. The tall white pines fetched a high price in Baltimore for use as masts. Logs were to Baltimore by way of the Susquehanna River. Logging picked up in force during the 1850s when the Susquehanna Boom was built across the West Branch Susquehanna River at Williamsport. The boom stopped the floating logs for sorting and cutting at the sawmills. Later, railroads and roads were built by the lumber companies to harvest and distribute the timber. The railroads replaced the floating of the logs down the creeks and into the West Branch. The lumber boom era was not to last, and soon all the trees were gone. Once the trees disappeared, the people were soon to follow. The lumbermen left behind a barren landscape that was devastated by erosion, flooding and wildfires for twenty years. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the thousands of acres of deforested and burned land. The state began the massive project of reforesting the land. The young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps led the reforestation effort. They also built miles of road, many bridges, cleared streams and built the facilities at Parker Dam State Park. [2]

Ecology

Tannin-dyed wetlands from the Beaver Dam Trail ParkerDamBoardwalk.JPG
Tannin-dyed wetlands from the Beaver Dam Trail

Parker Dam State Park and the surrounding Moshannon State Forest provides a habitat for a wide variety of wild creatures. There are many warblers and ravens to be seen in the dark coniferous forests. The rarely seen ovenbird and American redstart make their home in the deciduous forest. Turkey, beaver, white-tailed deer, coyotes and foxes can be spotted along the ridges, in the hollows and in the fields of the park. Bobcat, porcupine and elk also make their home in the woods of Parker Dam State Park. Elk are rarely seen in Pennsylvania, but there is a large herd that has thrived in the most remote and wooded parts of Clearfield, Cameron, Elk and Clinton counties. [2]

1985 Tornado

Animation of GOES 6 satellite taken May 31st, 1985. The Parker Dam tornado occurred out ahead of the main line that day. The storm can be seen forming around the northern tip of the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and moving eastward across Pennsylvania. VIS SAT 1985 MAY 31 sm.gif
Animation of GOES 6 satellite taken May 31st, 1985. The Parker Dam tornado occurred out ahead of the main line that day. The storm can be seen forming around the northern tip of the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and moving eastward across Pennsylvania.

A tornado [3] struck Clearfield County during the 1985 United States-Canada tornado outbreak that occurred on May 31 of that year and destroyed a great portion of the forest in Parker Dam State Park. The tornado was rated F4 on the Fujita scale with winds in the park of up to 260 M.P.H at the time, however with the newer Enhanced Fujita scale this tornado ranks as an EF5 today. At the time of the tornado, not many people were in the park, although a couple of campers and boy scouts were on hand to tell the story of survival. This tornado escaped the news, due to no loss of life and its location. It was the longest-lived tornado of the outbreak that day in the state, staying on the ground for 69 miles, and stretching across Clearfield, Clinton, and Centre counties, and was one of four F4 tornadoes to touch down in Pennsylvania that day. The state used this as an opportunity to teach about how forests will regrow if left untouched after a tornado. Mud Run Road dissects the tornado damaged area. The land to the west of the road was left untouched and many large and bare tree trunks are left standing. The fallen trees to the east of the road were salvaged for lumber. The forest is regrowing at different rates on either side of the road, providing a study of the effects of man on reforestation. [2]

Recreation

Beach on Parker Lake in the park Phot parkerbeach2.jpg
Beach on Parker Lake in the park

Parker Lake is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) man made lake in Parker Dam State Park created by the damming of Laurel Run. The camping and picnic areas are located on the shores of the lake. There is a sand beach at Parker Lake that is open from 8:00 am until dusk from Memorial Day until the end of September. [2] Beginning in 2008 lifeguards will not be posted at the beach. [4]

Boating on Parker Lake is limited to non powered and electric powered boats. All boats must be properly registered with any state and have a launching or mooring permit from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The lake is a fishing destination for those in search of largemouth bass, sunfish, and brown bullhead. When the lake freezes in winter it is open to ice fishing and ice skating. [2]

Hunting is permitted on about 526 acres (213 ha) of Parker Dam State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, squirrels, turkey, white-tailed deer, and rabbits. The hunting of groundhogs is prohibited. [2]

Parker Dam State Park is the western trailhead of the Quehanna Trail. This trail is about 75 miles (121 km) long and meanders its way through the surrounding state forests. The Quehanna Trail connects with the Susquehannock Trail near Sinnemahoning State Park. Backpackers are not permitted to camp overnight at the park. The trails are open to cross-country skiing during the winter months. [2]

Educational Opportunities

Parker Dam State Park holds education workshops in several different fields of study. Environmental education opportunities are available year-round through hands-on activities, guided walks and evening programs and lectures. The park also holds educational programs for schools and teachers. Visitors can get a hands on opportunity to explore a maple sugaring operation in March and an apple cider demonstration during October. The park also has a display about the life and times of the members of the Civilian Conservation Corps that did so much to help build Parker Dam State Park. [2] [5]

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Parker Dam State Park: [6] [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moshannon State Forest</span> State forest in Pennsylvania, United States

Moshannon State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #9. The main offices are located in the unincorporated village of Penfield in Huston Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk State Forest</span> State forest in Pennsylvania, United States

Elk State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #13. The main offices are located in Emporium in Cameron County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anderson Creek (Pennsylvania)</span> Stream in Pennsylvania, USA

Anderson Creek is a 23.6-mile-long (38.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk State Park</span>

Elk State Park is a 3,192-acre (1,292 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jones Township, Elk County and Sergeant Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. East Branch Clarion River Lake is a man-made lake covering 1,160 acres (470 ha) within the park. The lake and streams in the park are stocked with cold and warm water fish. There are 3,151 acres (1,275 ha) of woods open to hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quehanna Trail</span> Hiking trail in Pennsylvania, United States

The Quehanna Trail is a 73.2-mile (117.8 km) hiking trail in north-central Pennsylvania, forming a loop through Moshannon State Forest and Elk State Forest. For about 34 miles, the trail traverses Quehanna Wild Area, and its main trailhead is at Parker Dam State Park. It also passes through two State Game Lands. There are also three cross-connector trails allowing shorter loop hikes of various lengths. A spur trail leads to the village of Wyside where the hiker can, via some relatively brief road walking, reach the Donut Hole Trail and Bucktail Path. The Quehanna Trail is known for visiting numerous vistas and a wide variety of landscapes, including open meadows that are relatively rare for this region of Pennsylvania, plus steep stream hollows, high plateau-tops, and several different forest ecosystems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kettle Creek State Park</span> State park in Pennsylvania, United States

Kettle Creek State Park is a 1,793-acre (726 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in a valley and is surrounded by mountains and wilderness. It features the Alvin R. Bush Dam built in 1961 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a flood control measure in the West Branch Susquehanna River basin. Many of the recreational facilities at the park were built during the Great Depression by the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Kettle Creek State Park is seven miles (10 km) north of Westport and Pennsylvania Route 120. It is largely surrounded by Sproul State Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Moshannon State Park</span> State park in Pennsylvania, United States

Black Moshannon State Park is a 3,480-acre (1,410 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Rush Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It surrounds Black Moshannon Lake, formed by a dam on Black Moshannon Creek, which has given its name to the lake and park. The park is just west of the Allegheny Front, 9 miles (14 km) east of Philipsburg on Pennsylvania Route 504, and is largely surrounded by Moshannon State Forest. A bog in the park provides a habitat for diverse wildlife not common in other areas of the state, such as carnivorous plants, orchids, and species normally found farther north. As home to the "largest reconstituted bog in Pennsylvania", it was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for its "25 Must-see Pennsylvania State Parks" list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whipple Dam State Park</span> State park in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

Whipple Dam State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 256 acres (104 ha) in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Whipple Lake is a man-made lake on 22 acres (8.9 ha) that was originally built during the height of the lumber era that swept through Pennsylvania in the late 19th and early 20th century to supply power for a sawmill. Whipple Dam State Park is 12 miles (19 km) south of State College, just east of Pennsylvania Route 26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sizerville State Park</span> State park near Emporium, Pennsylvania

Sizerville State Park is a 386-acre (156 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Portage Township, Cameron County and Portage Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is nearly surrounded by Elk State Forest making it part of one of the largest blocks of state-owned land in Pennsylvania. Sizerville State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 155, six miles (10 km) north of the borough of Emporium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bald Eagle State Park</span> State park in Pennsylvania, United States

Bald Eagle State Park is a 5,900-acre (2,388 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Howard, Liberty, and Marion townships in Centre County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park includes the Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir, formed by damming Bald Eagle Creek and other smaller streams and covering 1,730 acres (700 ha). Bald Eagle State Park is at the meeting point of two distinct geologic features. The Allegheny Plateau is to the north and the Ridge and Valley area of Pennsylvania is to the south. The park is in the Bald Eagle Valley off Pennsylvania Route 150 in Howard, between Milesburg and Lock Haven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinnemahoning State Park</span> State park in Cameron and Potter counties, Pennsylvania

Sinnemahoning State Park is a 1,910-acre (773 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Grove Township, Cameron County and Wharton Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park is surrounded by Elk State Forest and is mountainous with deep valleys. The park is home to the rarely seen elk and bald eagle. Sinnemahoning State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 872, eight miles (13 km) north of the village of Sinnamahoning. In 1958, the park opened under the direction of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry: it became a Pennsylvania State Park in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyman Run State Park</span> State park in Pennsylvania, United States

Lyman Run State Park is a 595-acre (241 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Ulysses and West Branch Townships in Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Lyman Run Lake is a 45-acre (18 ha) man-made lake within the park, surrounded by a northern hardwood forest of mainly maple and cherry trees. Lyman Run State Park is 7 miles (11 km) west of Galeton and 15 miles (24 km) east of Coudersport, and is nearly completely surrounded by the Susquehannock State Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucktail State Park Natural Area</span>

Bucktail State Park Natural Area is a 16,433-acre (6,650 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Cameron and Clinton Counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park follows Pennsylvania Route 120 for 75 miles (121 km) between Emporium and Lock Haven. Bucktail State Park Natural Area park runs along Sinnemahoning Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River and also passes through Renovo. The park is named for the Civil War Pennsylvania Bucktails Regiment and is primarily dedicated to wildlife viewing, especially elk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bendigo State Park</span> State park in Elk County, Pennsylvania

Bendigo State Park is a 100.26-acre (40.57 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jones Township, Elk County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in a valley on the East Branch Clarion River. 20 acres (8.1 ha) of the park are developed. The other 80 acres (32 ha) are undeveloped woodlands of beech, birch, cherry and maple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon B. Elliott State Park</span> State park in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

Simon B. Elliott State Park is a 318-acre (129 ha) Pennsylvania state park located in Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is surrounded by Moshannon State Forest. The park is entirely wooded with second growth forests of mixed oak species, including northern red oak, chestnut oak, shagbark hickory, red maple, and tulip poplar, and northern hard woods, including sugar maple, black cherry, aspen, birch, hemlock, and ash. S. B. Elliott State park is 9 miles (14 km) north of Clearfield on Pennsylvania Route 153 just off exit 111 of Interstate 80.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn-Roosevelt State Park</span> Park in Centre County, Pennsylvania

Penn-Roosevelt State Park is a 41 acres (17 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Harris Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is surrounded by Rothrock State Forest. Penn-Roosevelt State Park is 6 miles (9.7 km) from U.S. Route 322 on either Crowfield Road or Stone Creek Road.

Laurel Run is a 16.5-mile-long (26.6 km) tributary of the Bennett Branch Sinnemahoning Creek in Clearfield and Elk counties, Pennsylvania in the United States. Via the Bennett Branch, Sinnemahoning Creek, and the West Branch Susquehanna River, it is part of the Susquehanna River watershed flowing to Chesapeake Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quehanna Wild Area</span> State-owned wildlife area in Pennsylvania, US

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Creek Gorge</span> A gorge carved by Pine creek in Pennsylvania, United States

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.

The Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 34 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Clearfield County in Pennsylvania in the United States providing hunting, bird watching, and other activities.

References

  1. "Parker Dam State Park". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey. August 2, 1979. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Parker Dam State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2006.
  3. "Moshannon State Forest, PA".
  4. "Pa. state parks going without life guards at beaches in 2008". Times Leader. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  5. "Parker Dam to offer maple sugaring program in March". The Progress. February 23, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  6. "Find a Park by Region (interactive map)". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  7. Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  8. "2007 General Highway Map Clearfield County Pennsylvania" (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Retrieved July 27, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]Note: shows Parker Dam State Park