The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States includes 18 wild 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 wild area as "land where development or disturbance of permanent nature will be prohibited, thereby preserving the wild character of the area" and "an extensive area which the general public will be permitted to see, use and enjoy for such activities as hiking, hunting, fishing, and the pursuit of peace and solitude."[2]
Wild area name | State forest | County | Area | Date founded |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Algerine Wild Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 4,177 acres (1,690 ha) | Traversed by the Black Forest Trail.[3][4] | |
Asaph Wild Area | Tioga | Tioga | 2,070 acres (838 ha) | [5] | |
Burns Run Wild Area | Sproul | Clinton | 2,408 acres (974 ha)[6] | Traversed by the Chuck Keiper Trail.[7][8][9][10] | |
Clear Shade Wild Area | Gallitzin | Somerset | 2,791 acres (1,129 ha) | Traversed by the John P. Saylor Trail.[11][12] | |
Hammersley Wild Area | Susquehannock | Clinton, Potter | 30,253 acres (12,243 ha) | 2004 | Largest area without a road in Pennsylvania.[13][14] |
James C. Nelson Wild Area | Tuscarora | Juniata, Perry | 5,345 acres (2,163 ha) | Forest last cut between 1902 and 1917.[15] | |
Kettle Creek Wild Area | Loyalsock | Sullivan | 2,600 acres (1,100 ha)[16] | [17][18][19] | |
Martin Hill Wild Area | Buchanan | Bedford | 11,676 acres (4,725 ha) | [20] | |
McIntyre Wild Area | Loyalsock | Lycoming | 7,500 acres (3,035 ha) | Includes remnants of a ghost town.[19][21] | |
Penns Creek Wild Area | Bald Eagle | Mifflin, Union | 6,200 acres (2,509 ha) | 2016 | [22] |
Quebec Run Wild Area | Forbes | Fayette | 7,441 acres (3,011 ha) | 2004 | [23] |
Quehanna Wild Area | Elk and Moshannon | Cameron, Clearfield, Elk | 50,000 acres (20,234 ha) | 1966 | Largest Wild Area in Pennsylvania.[24][25][26] |
Russell P. Letterman Wild Area | Sproul | Clinton | 4,715 acres (1,908 ha)[6] | Traversed by the Chuck Keiper Trail.[8][9][10] | |
Square Timber Wild Area | Elk | Cameron | 8,461 acres (3,424 ha) | [26] | |
Stairway Wild Area | Delaware | Pike | 2,882 acres (1,166 ha) | [27][28] | |
Thickhead Mountain Wild Area | Rothrock | Centre, Huntingdon | 4,886 acres (1,977 ha) | [29][30] | |
Trough Creek Wild Area | Rothrock | Huntingdon | 1,703 acres (689 ha) | [30] | |
Wolf Run Wild Area | Tiadaghton | Lycoming | 6,900 acres (2,792 ha) | Traversed by the Golden Eagle Trail.[3][4] |