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Map of state parks of Pennsylvania
(Each dot is linked to the corresponding park article) |
There are 120 state parks in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, as of 2012.[1] The Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), is the governing body for all these parks, and directly operates 112 of them. The remaining eight are operated in cooperation with other public and private organizations.[a]
The first Pennsylvania state park, at Valley Forge, opened in 1893 and was given to the National Park Service (NPS) for America's bicentennial in 1976. There are a total of eighteen former Pennsylvania state parks: four former parks have been transferred to the NPS, five to the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, two to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one to both the Corps and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, five to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, and one has ceased to exist. Nine current and two former state parks have had major name changes or have been known under alternate names.
The list gives an overview of Pennsylvania state parks and a brief history of their development since the first park opened in 1893. State parks range in size from 3 acres (1.2 ha) to 21,122 acres (8,548 ha), with nearly one percent (0.96%) of Pennsylvania's land as state park land. According to Dan Cupper (1993), "Pennsylvania is the thirty-third largest state, but only Alaska and California have more park land".
Current parks
Current Pennsylvania state parks
| Park name |
County or counties |
Area in acres (ha) |
Date
founded |
Stream(s) and / or lake(s) |
Remarks |
Image |
| Allegheny Islands State Park |
Allegheny County |
&1000000000000004300000043 acres
(17 ha) |
1980 |
Allegheny River |
Three islands near Pittsburgh with no facilities, no plans for future development |
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| Archbald Pothole State Park |
Lackawanna County |
&10000000000000150000000150 acres (61 ha) |
1964 |
None |
One of world's largest potholes, 38 ft (12 m) deep, largest diameter 42 feet (13 m) by 24 feet (7 m) |
|
| Bald Eagle State Park |
Centre County |
&100000000000059000000005,900 acres (2,388 ha) |
1971 |
Bald Eagle Creek, Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir |
1,730 acre (700 ha) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir named for Medal of Honor recipient |
|
| Beltzville State Park |
Carbon County |
&100000000000029730000002,973 acres (1,203 ha) |
1972 |
Pohopoco Creek, Beltzville Lake |
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake is 949 acres (384 ha) with 19.8 miles (31.9 km) of shoreline. |
|
| Bendigo State Park |
Elk County |
&10000000000000100000000100 acres (40 ha) |
1959 |
East Branch Clarion River |
Only 20 acres (8.1 ha) developed, name a corruption of Abednego |
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