Hiking, fishing, history: 8 places to explore in 2023 in Pennsylvania's great outdoors

Brian Whipkey
·8 min read

January is a time for setting goals and trying new things. So why not start planning some outdoor adventures across Pennsylvania this year?

There are endless opportunities to explore public lands. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources alone manages 124 state parks.

There’s probably a park or two close to you to that's easy to visit throughout the year. However, you really need to see for yourself that not all state parks and wilderness areas are the same.

Here are eight outdoor spots worth your time to explore. And even if you’ve been to one of these locations before, they are worth an additional trip.

From left, Gloria Fedorka, Indian Head, Felipe Nieves, Indian Head, and Ashley Rugg, Rockwood, stand Tuesday, April 20, 2021, with their dogs Smallz and Blue at the path above Cucumber Falls in Ohiopyle State park.
From left, Gloria Fedorka, Indian Head, Felipe Nieves, Indian Head, and Ashley Rugg, Rockwood, stand Tuesday, April 20, 2021, with their dogs Smallz and Blue at the path above Cucumber Falls in Ohiopyle State park.

Ohiopyle State Park

Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County is one of those places that seems to have it all.

More than one million people annually visit this state park that offers whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River, biking on part of the Great Allegheny Passage and camping in a mountainous area complete with waterfalls and slides.

It’s one of the those places where you can spend more than a day exploring the park and nearby attractions. It’s located relatively close to Fallingwater, a home designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright where a stream actually flows through the house. The other place you should see in this area is the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County. The site remembers the 40 heroes who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Fog highlights the view of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in Colton Point State Park Aug. 18, 2021, in Tioga County,
Fog highlights the view of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in Colton Point State Park Aug. 18, 2021, in Tioga County,

Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

There’s no grander natural area in Pennsylvania than the Grand Canyon in Wellsboro, Tioga County. It’s so large, the Pine Creek Gorge has two state parks. Leonard Harrison State Park is on one side of the gorge and Colton Point State Park flows along the other side. Both offer spectacular views. I was there during a rainstorm and the mist lingering in the air created its own artistic highlights of the forested area.

The depth of the gorge is about 800 feet and both parks have the spectacular scenic overlooks that are easily accessible from the roadways. The views of treelines are endless as the canyon area is located in about 160,000 acres of Tioga State Forest.

Unlike the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Pennsylvania’s version is forested with trees, rivers and trails. The Pine Creek Rail Trail that winds through the gorge has earned national commendations over the years.

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Swimmers and sunbathers visit Beach 6 on July 22, 2021, at Presque Isle State Park in Millcreek Township.
Swimmers and sunbathers visit Beach 6 on July 22, 2021, at Presque Isle State Park in Millcreek Township.

Presque Isle State Park

If you want a freshwater ocean experience, you need to travel to Presque Isle State Park in Erie. Located along Lake Erie, it allows you to experience much of what the ocean has to offer without having to suffer saltwater in your eyes. Around 4 million visitors arrive each year, making Presque Isle Pennsylvania's most visited state park.

The park is a 3,200-acre sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie and provides beautiful sunsets as well as seasonal recreation including swimming, boating, birding, fishing, hiking, cycling and in-line skating. The lake and Presque Isle Bay are world-renowned fisheries for walleye, perch, smallmouth bass and lake trout. The nearby tributaries welcome runs of large steelhead trout fall through late winter that attract anglers from around the world.

Kinzua Bridge in McKean County once functioned as a railroad viaduct at 2,053 feet long and 301 feet high. When a tornado destroyed a majority of the bridge in 2003, together with statewide and local efforts, it was reinvented into a pedestrian walkway in 2011. People now travel from around the nation to take a walk along the bridge, which stretches 600 feet out and overlooks the state park.

Kinzua Bridge State Park

If you're assembling a bucket list for Pennsylvania sight-seeing, Kinzua Bridge State Park should be on it.

Located near Mount Jewett, in McKean County, the 339-acre park is centered around a 301-foot-high railroad bridge that spanned 2,053-feet-long gorge. Part of the structure was destroyed in 2003 by a tornado.

What makes the park worth your time is that the remaining structure was made into a pedestrian walkway about 12 years ago. Visitors can spend time on about 600 feet of the bridge to view miles of the Kinzua Gorge or peek down through the glass platform at the end of the structure.

Take your fishing rod along; Kinzua Creek provides good fishing for native brook trout.

Ricketts Glen State Park

If you like hiking and waterfalls, you should plan a trip to Ricketts Glen State Park.

The DCNR describes it as “one of the most scenic areas in Pennsylvania.” The trails and 22 named waterfalls are located in 13,193 acres of public land located in Luzon, Sullivan and Columbia counties.

When conditions permit in the winter, some adventurous people climb the ice that forms along some of the falls. If you are planning a trip over winter, check with the park to see which areas are open. Parts of the park are only open in the winter to experienced ice climbers and hikers.

The park is a great year-round destination as you can hike along trails that take you to serene areas including the 94-foot Canoga Falls and old-growth forest areas.

It’s home to the Glens Natural Area, which is a National Natural Landmark.

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Two bull elk graze Nov. 2, 2021, at the Elk Country Visitors Center in Benezette. Hunters are not permitted to hunt elk in the Benezette area, where they are more accustomed to humans.
Two bull elk graze Nov. 2, 2021, at the Elk Country Visitors Center in Benezette. Hunters are not permitted to hunt elk in the Benezette area, where they are more accustomed to humans.

Elk Country

Have you ever seen an elk in real life?

In northcentral Pennsylvania, there about 1,300 to 1,400 elk freely roaming through a 10-county region known as the Pennsylvania Wilds. Centered in Elk County is the Keystone Elk Country Alliance Visitor Center in Benezette. The center provides the history as well as latest information about these magnificent creatures.

While driving through the area, it’s common to see elk feeding in fields or standing near roadways.

The most popular time to see the elk is in September and October, when these massive aniamls are going through their breeding season. However, as the center’s staff will tell you, the elk are there throughout the year for people to view and enjoy. In the spring you can see the fawns, in the summer you can see the velvety antlers growing on the bulls, and in the winter you can see herds feeding in fields. The best times to view elk are usually early mornings and toward dark, but you never know when you might happen to see an 800-pound bull making its way through this rural part of the state.

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There is a place for boats of all sizes on Raystown Lake in Huntingdon County.
There is a place for boats of all sizes on Raystown Lake in Huntingdon County.

Raystown Lake

If you like water, you need to spend time this summer at Raystown Lake in Huntingdon County.

Raystown is an 8,300-acre reservoir in Huntingdon County that is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is the largest lake located entirely within Pennsylvania, and it's a hot recreation spot. More than 1.5 million people visited the waterway this past year.

It’s the lake that fits everyone’s preferences. You can see everything from small kayaks to luxury yachts. It’s truly an anglers' paradise with more variety of fish species than you’ll find almost anywhere else in the state and it’s located in an area where much of the land is undeveloped.  In the peaceful surroundings you can catch everything from bluegills and bass to large lake trout, muskellunge and striped bass.

With ongoing efforts to preserve the shoreline from erosion and to improve the aquatic habitat, the National Fish Habitat Partnership named it one of 10 Waters to Watch for 2022.

Natural skyscrapers:Discover some of the tallest trees in the northeast in Cook Forest State Park

Dale Luthringer, Cook Forest State Park environmental education specialist, admires the tall trees in the park.
Dale Luthringer, Cook Forest State Park environmental education specialist, admires the tall trees in the park.

Cook Forest State Park

Did you ever wonder what Pennsylvania might have looked like before the early settlers arrived?

At one time the state was a wilderness area with massive trees. However, the call for lumber led to the deforestation of much of the commonwealth. Fortunately, some of the state was protected, and you can still see old-growth timber stands in a few areas. One of the largest is Cook Forest State Park in Clarion, Forest and Jefferson counties.

The 8,500-acre property will help you see wilderness in its undisturbed state. There are trees that stand more than 150 feet tall.

I took a tour of the area about two years ago with Dale Luthringer, the park’s environmental education specialist. “For conifers, Cook Forest is the place to go,” he said. There are 30 white pine trees that are at least 160 feet tall and about 80 that are 150 feet tall. The tallest tree is a 171-foot white pine that is also the tallest tree in Pennsylvania. To put that in perspective, that one tree rivals the height of a 16-story building. “There is no other site (in the state) that comes close to the white pines,” Lurthringer said.

The Forest Cathedral of towering white pines and hemlocks is a National Natural Landmark where you can get a feel of how the environment looked before the area was settled.

You can also spend time on and along the Clarion River. If you want to step back in time, this is the place you should take your family this year.

I hope these recommendations help you find a new place to explore this year. When planning your trips, make sure to leave some extra time as you are bound to find other state parks and additional attractions to round out your experience.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Eight places to explore in 2023 in PA's great outdoors