Gifford Pinchot State Park

Gifford Pinchot State Park
Pennsylvania State Park
Natural Monument (IUCN III)
The picnic area in Gifford Pinchot State Park
Named for: Gifford Pinchot
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	York
Township	Warrington
Location	^[1]
- coordinates	40°04′18″N 76°53′18″W / 40.07167°N 76.88833°W / 40.07167; -76.88833Coordinates: 40°04′18″N 76°53′18″W / 40.07167°N 76.88833°W / 40.07167; -76.88833
- elevation	492 ft (150.0 m) ^[1]
Area	2,238 acres (906 ha)
Founded	1961
Managed by	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Location of Gifford Pinchot State Park in Pennsylvania
Website : Gifford Pinchot State Park

Gifford Pinchot State Park is a 2,238-acre (906 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Warrington Township, York County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park contains wooded hillsides, reverting farm fields, and 340-acre (140 ha) Pinchot Lake.^[2] It is near York and Harrisburg in the south-central part of the state.

The park is named after former Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot was governor from 1923-1927 and 1931-1935. Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state bears his name as well. The park was dedicated in 1961 by Governor David L. Lawrence.^[3]

Recreation

Trails

There are more than 18 miles (29 km) of marked, maintained trails within the Gifford Pinchot State Park. Most of them interconnect. The trails are classified in one of three categories, easy, moderate, and difficult.^[3]

Easy trails^[3]

Alpine Trail: 0.5 miles (800 m), a wide gravel path known for its wildflowers. This trail begins on the east side of Conewago Day Use Area.
Gravel Trail: 1.2 miles (1.9 km), this wide trail follows an old woods road and has a gravel surface.
Oak Trail: 0.4 miles (640 m), a short trail that connects the campground with the interpretive center at the western end of the Conewago Day Use Area.
Old Farm Trail: 1 mile (1.6 km), follows an old farm road to the top of Straight Hill. Connects Lakeside, Oak, and Ridge Trails.

Moderate trails^[3]

Midland Trail: 0.5 miles (800 m), a trail with dirt and rock surfaces and steeper slopes, runs through most mature forest in the park.
Fern Trail: 0.5 miles (800 m), another trail with rock and dirt surfaces as well as steeper slopes, runs through same mature forest as Midland.
Quaker Race Trail: 1.7 miles (2.7 km), best reached through Quaker Race Day Use Area This trail has a dirt or rocky surfaces, uneven terrain and one steep hill.
Ridge Trail: 1.2 miles (1.9 km), the trail wanders through old overgrown pasture, then climbs into a maturing oak and hickory forest along the top of Straight Hill. It has a dirt and rock surface. Butterflies are abundant along this trail.

Difficult trails^[3]

Beaver Creek Trail: 1.5 miles (2.4 km), a trail that goes through wooded terrain. Sections of the trail can also be rocky or muddy when wet. Many habitats, including wetlands, can be seen in this undeveloped section of the park.
Lakeside Trail: 8.5 miles (13.7 km), longest trail in the park. The walk is about six hours and some of the remote sections of the trail are narrow and have uneven footing.
Pinchot Trail: 1.4 miles (2.3 km), rocky and/or wet surfaces. The habitat is mostly maturing oak and hickory forest. A number of old stone walls provide reminders of long abandoned efforts at farming.
Mason-Dixon Trail: 200 miles (320 km), this trail passes through Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania

Water Activities

Sailing on Pinchot Lake

The 340-acre (140 ha) Pinchot Lake provides opportunities for boating. It has 24-hour launch areas and 286 shore moorings and canoe racks that can be rented from April 1 to November 1, the boat rental also rents electric motors and trolling engines for boats. Boats using the lake, with a motor must display a boat registration from any state. Non-powered boats must display one of the following: boat registration from any state,launching permit or mooring permit from Pennsylvania State Parks that are available at most state park offices, launch use permit from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.^[3]

Pinchot Lake holds largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, muskellunge, catfish, carp, walleye, crappie and sunfish. It is a Pennsylvania Big Bass Lake and thus, special regulations cover minimum size and creel limits for all species of bass. During the winter months, when conditions permit, ice fishing is allowed on the lake. Ice fishermen mostly catch largemouth bass and the occasional walleye, muskellunge, crappie or sunfish.^[3]

The park also boasts a large beach in the Quaker Race Day Use Area. It is open from mid-May to mid-September. Beginning in 2008 lifeguards will not be posted at the beach.^[4] During the winter, when conditions permit, ice skating and ice boating are allowed on Pinchot Lake, as well.^[3]

Hunting

Around 1,780 acres (720 ha) are open to hunting, trapping and the training of dogs from fall archery season through the end of the traditional winter seasons at Gifford Pinchot State Park. The most common game species are White-tailed deer, rabbit, waterfowl and squirrel. Hunting is restricted to bows and arrows only until the traditional small game season begins, then muzzleloaders and shotguns are allowed. Handguns and center fire rifles are never allowed in the park. Hunting is prohibited during the spring and summer and dog training can go on in designated hunting areas from Labor Day until March 31.^[3]

Picnicking

On the west side of the lake is Quaker Race Day Use Area and on the east side Conewago Day Use Area. They both contain charcoal grills, picnic table, parking lots, restrooms, horseshoe pits and drinking water. Quaker Race area has a volleyball court and Conewago, a softball field. Picnic pavilions may be reserved up to 11 months in advance for a fee.^[3]

Horseback riding

There are no horse rentals but there is a northeast section of the park set aside for horseback riding. There are several miles of interconnecting, mowed trails that wind through reverting farm fields, pine plantations and deciduous woodlands.^[3]

Disc Golf

The focus of Pinchot Disc Golf is to provide an opportunity for the public to learn about Disc Golf and encourage the public to become regular participants in Disc Golf as a wholesome, outdoor, low-impact, and fun exercise!^[3]

Boulder Woods: The Boulder Woods recreational course is perfect for those who want to develop their Disc Golf skills or to compete in Amateur Disc Golf events. The 18-hole Boulder Woods Recreational Disc Golf Course is located in the Conewago Day Use Area, off Alpine Road, at Gifford Pinchot State Park.^[3]

Quaker's Challenge: A new, 18-hole championship length, Disc Golf course is currently under construction on the west side of the lake in the Quaker Race Day Use Area with an expected completion date of Fall 2007, however, the course is currently playable as of August 2007. The championship course will be a great option for those seeking longer and more challenging Disc Golf holes.^[3]

Both courses are open to the public and are free to play. Score cards and course maps are available on-site.^[3]

Geology

Diabase boulders are common around the park

Closeup of Diabase from the park

Most of the park is underlain by Triassic diabase, an igneous rock, and the many large, rounded boulders within the park are made of this material. Approximately 180 million years ago, the diabase intruded into older Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Gettysburg Formation, consisting of red sandstone and shale. Along the contacts of the diabase and sedimentary rocks, the molten diabase heated the sedimentary rocks to metamorphic rocks.^[5]^[6]

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Gifford Pinchot State Park:^[7]^[8]^[9]

Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area (Dauphin County)
Codorus State Park (York County)
Joseph E. Ibberson Conservation Area (Dauphin County)
Kings Gap Environmental Education and Training Center (Cumberland County)
Memorial Lake State Park (Lebanon County)
Pine Grove Furnace State Park (Cumberland County)
Samuel S. Lewis State Park (York County)

References

1 2 "Gifford Pinchot State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 2, 1979. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
↑ "Pinchot Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 30, 1990. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Gifford Pinchot State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
↑ "Pa. state parks going without life guards at beaches in 2008". The Times Leader. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
↑ Hoskins, D. M. Pennsylvania Trail of Geology: Gifford Pinchot State Park. Park Guide 10. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
↑ Wood, C. R., 1980, Groundwater resources of the Gettysburg and Hammer Creek Formations, southeastern Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Water Resource Report 49, 87 p. (web release).
↑ 2007 General Highway Map York County Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Retrieved 2007-07-28. Note: shows Gifford Pinchot State Park
↑ Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
↑ "Find a Park by Region (interactive map)". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved November 18, 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gifford Pinchot State Park.

"Gifford Pinchot State Park official map" (PDF). (609 KB)

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP

National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko

National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP

National Trails	Appalachian Trail

Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Blue Marsh National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Middle Delaware National Scenic River Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

National Forests	Allegheny

USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers

National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands

State

State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station S. B. Elliott Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek

State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Pinchot Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn (Wild areas)

Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek

Other

Other	Anders Run Natural Area Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area Johnson Run Natural Area Stone Valley Recreation Area Trexler Nature Preserve Wykoff Run Natural Area

Hiking trails	Appalachian Baker Black Forest Central Mountains Shared Use Darlington Eastern Continental Five Star Glacier Ridge Great Eastern Greene River Horse-Shoe Indian Creek Valley Loyalsock Mid State Standing Stone Mason-Dixon North Country Ohio River Old Loggers Path Pinchot Potomac Heritage Quehanna Rachel Carson Sheepskin Susquehannock Thunder Swamp Tuscarora Valley Forge Historical West Rim Wissahickon Youghiogheny River

Rail trails	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Beaver River East Coast Greenway Five Star Ghost Town Great Allegheny Passage Great Shamokin Path Greene River Indian Creek Valley Lebanon Valley Lehigh Gorge Liberty Bell Lower Montour Ohio River Palmer Bikeway Panhandle Perkiomen Pine Creek Plainfield Township Schuylkill River Sheepskin Struble Susquehanna Warrior Switchback Three Rivers Heritage York Country Heritage Youghiogheny River

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

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