Moshannon State Forest

About Moshannon State Forest

More and more people use the Moshannon State Forest as a recreational area, and in recent years interest in what only a large forest area has to offer has skyrocketed.

The number of motorized recreational activities in the Moshannon State Forest area has increased over the years, but the overall population of the forest area and its recreational areas is stable and increasing every year.

The vast tracts of land that make up the Moshannon State Forest were once owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources. This map was created with the help of the State Forest Service and Pennsylvania State Parks. Further information on the forest area and its leisure activities is available at the District Office. These measures will require the construction of new or upgraded roads, as well as the installation of lighting and other infrastructure.

The first purchase on September 28, 1898 was a state tax of $65.45, paid by 65% and 45%, respectively. The tracts were added because they complied with current purchase guidelines, with a total purchase price of $1,000 per acre, or $3,500 per year.

In the earliest recorded forests of the region, pine and hemlock populations inhabited shady slopes and moist plateaus. Many areas covered 1,000 acres, or about 1.5 square miles, and many acres of grassland.

The best white pines in the USA grew in stalls that sometimes reached up to 100,000 feet per hectare. Conrad Weiser wrote in 1737 that the forests were so dense that even on clear days there was no place the size of a hand where the sun would penetrate.

Between 1860 and 1921, new wood was cut from old growing pines and a variety of other tree species such as elms, birches, oaks and pines.

The forests that developed during this period of overforestation and forest fires were mainly oaks and chestnuts. The humus (organic matter) that nature had created over the centuries was destroyed by the felling and subsequent forest fires, many of which were caused by man. To remind us of the devastation caused by these fires, the open areas are covered with brackish water, ferns, herbs and berries that grew on the huge stumps of former forests. There are reminders of the old days before overtaking and the remains of old trees such as elms, birches, oaks and pines.

In 1925, the chestnut plague swept the region and the nursery was founded in what is now the Forestry District Office. Today's deciduous forest, now oak, recalls the devastation caused by the fires and bears witness to the power of nature.

Most of the pine plantations in Moshannon are part of a larger network of pine nurseries throughout the state, some dating back to the early 20th century. We are no longer used as a nursery, but we have left a legacy in the forest. We were founded in 1925 to supply pine seedlings for reforestation, and we date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s to establish the first pine plantation ever.