Did you know Pennsylvania almost had a national park?

BENTON, Pa. (WHTM) – Pennsylvania has zero national parks but has multiple national historic sites, national scenic trails, national recreation areas, national memorials, national battlefields, and more.

The National Park Service states that Pennslyvania has 19 “National Parks” but none of the 19 are part of the 63 sites that are “National Parks” like Yellow Stone and the Everglades.

The closest Pennsylvania came to getting a national park was Ricketts Glen State Park.

Ricketts Glen is named after Robert Ricketts who owned over 80,000 acres but his heirs would sell 48,000 acres to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, according to the PA DCNR.

The area that was left was around 12,000 acres.

This 12,000 acres was approved in the 1930s to become a national park site but World War II ruined those plans.

Instead, 12 years later, 1,261 acres of the area would be sold to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This area would become a Pennsylvania state park.

Additional purchases were made to bring Ricketts Glen State Park to its current size which is 13,193 acres and covers portions of Luzerne, Sullivan, and Columbia counties.

According to the National Park Service, the 19 “National Parks” are part of the National Park Service units and include sites that are affiliated with or managed by the National Park Service.

If you are going to visit the almost national park, Ricketts Glen State Park, here are a few things you can do.

Hiking

There are 26 miles of trails at Ricketts Glen State Park and include the following difficulty ratings: easiest, more difficult, and most difficult.

The park has 11 trails including Beach Trail, Bear Walk Trail, Cherry Run Trail, Evergreen Trail, Falls Trail, Highland Trail, Laurel View Trail, Little Cherry Run Trail, Mountain Springs Trail, Old Beaver Dam Road Trail, and Old Bulldozer Road Trail.

For the Ricketts Glen State Park Trail map, click here, and for the Glens Natural Area Trail map, click here.

Swimming

Ricketts Glen State Park is home to a 600-foot beach that is open from May to September from 8 a.m. until sunset.

For more information on swimming at the beach, click here.

Fishing

Fishers at Ricketts Glen will be free to fish on the 245-acre Lake Jean where they will find warmwater panfish and game fish and the PA DCNR states that fishing in the Glens Natural Area is prohibited.

If the lake freezes over, ice fishing is allowed and safety measures can be found here for ice fishers.

Hunting

Hunters will have 10,287 acres open to them during the established seasons and common species found in the area are deer, turkey, grouse, bear, coyote, pheasant, and squirrels. Common furbearers include raccoons, mink, muskrats, beavers, coyotes, and bobcats.

The PA DCNR states that groundhog hunting is prohibited.

For more information about hunting in Ricketts Glen State Park, click here, and for more information about hunting in Pennsylvania, click here.

Camping

Camping at Ricketts Glen State Park includes modern cabins, campsites, and deluxe cottages.

The modern cabins are available all year and include a living area, kitchen and dining area, toilet and shower room, and two to three bedrooms.

The campsites include 120 tent and trailer campsites and are open from April to December. These campsites have hot showers, flush toilets, shaded sites, gravel parking spurs, and sanitary dump stations.

The deluxe cottages are open from April to October and include two rooms, a two-burner electric range and a microwave oven, countertop and cabinets, refrigerator, table and chairs, wooden walls and floors, windows, electric lights and outlets, electric heat, bunk beds, a porch, picnic tables, and fire rings.

For a map of the Ricketts Glen State Park cabins, click here.

To make a reservation at the park, click here.

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