Laurel Mountain State Park

About Laurel Mountain State Park

Laurel Mountain State Park offers a family-oriented ski resort and rolling countryside in the Ligonier Valley. The slopes and trails offer opportunities for skiers and snowboarders of all levels, and the huts are a cozy place to eat and enjoy the view.

The Linner Laufwald forest is located in the heart of the Laubeerberge, and the mountainous land extends from 1300 to 2800 feet above sea level. Laurel Mountain, which opened in 1939, was one of the first ski resorts in Pennsylvania. Seven Springs currently operates a ski resort in Springs on Laurel Mountain.

Most of the land was purchased for $42,662 by the Byers - Allen Lumber Company and the entire area was cleared to acquire Linner Laufwald. When the Commonwealth acquired this land in 1909, it was a depopulated forest area acquired for its natural beauty. Today, it is hard to imagine what the country looked like in 1908 or 1909, and people question the wisdom of buying up so much fallow land.

The jungle turned into an area of forests and wildlife, saw blades were sold as wood, small logs were used as props in the nearby coal mines, and the jungle turned into a jungle without forest and animals.

Hemlock bark, a source of tannin, was bundled and shipped to tanneries, and many serious fires were caused because the railways brought wood and other products to the market.

In the first report, in September 1909, the forester John R. Williams wrote: "It must be said that three to five fifths of the reserve has been burned since the beginning of deforestation." The fires caused great damage to the young plants and, in some cases, to the entire reserve.

The place was only covered with ferns and blackberry bushes, only in some places there were a small number of trees and a few small trees.

The scars of an earlier fire are still visible after years of forest renaturation. In 1910, the newly formed Pennsylvania Game Commission cooperated with the then Department of Forestry to replenish the deer population. White-truant deer were imported from New York and Michigan to be released into Pennsylvania. The current herd of deer is from the first released herd in the early 20th century, a few years after the opening of Laurel Mountain State Park.

The Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad, which served the area, is still in use today. The main route runs from Rector to Somerset along the western edge of Laurel Mountain State Park on the west side of the park and through the forest.

A stretch along the Fisherman's Path you will find traces of an old railway bed, and the tracks have been changed to change tracks.

Formerly owned and managed by General Richard K. Mellon, it has been known as the "Ski Capital of Pennsylvania" since it opened as a private Rolling Rock resort in 1939 by the Mellon family, the largest private ski resort in the United States. Thousands of Pittsburgh-area skiers have lined the road since it opened in 1939, and thousands more since then.

General Mellon leased a piece of land and its improvements to the Commonwealth in September 1963, and the land was handed over to them in the summer of 1964.

Linn Run State Park offers cabins, picnics, hiking, fishing and hunting. For information on nearby attractions, please contact the Laurel Highlands Vacation Bureau.

The Laurel Highlands Vacation Bureau and Laurel Mountain State Park also offer organized group camps and environmental education programs. The environmental education program also offers a variety of activities for children and adults, such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, camping and hiking.

The scenic picnic area is operated by the State Park Service and the 6-hectare site offers picnic tables, gazebos and water toilets. Kooser State Park is one of the most popular picnic spots in the state of New Jersey. The area was located at an altitude of 2739 feet above sea level and is several degrees cooler than the surrounding city.

There are also hiking parking spaces in the area and the Laurel Peak is a souvenir area for hikers.

Take garbage from the parking lot of Laurel Mountain State Park into the creek and dispose of it in the parking lot at Laurel Lake.

Highlands that run from Ohiopyle, PA, to the Conemaugh River in Johnstown via Ohipyle Road and then to Laurel Mountain State Park. To reach the park, go up US 30, turn right onto Laurel Lake Road, then drive two miles and see the sign for Springs of Laurel Mountain. Forbes State Forest is over 50,000 acres and includes State Park and several other state parks in the area.