Two Lane Adventures: May 25th, 2021 … Summer of Fun continues!

Today was "my day" we headed to a place we have driven close by, but never visited. Well, its time to check it out and add it to our #TwoLaneAdventures ! The Pine Creek Gorge, commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is surrounded by approximately 165,000 acres of the Tioga State Forest. The PA Grand Canyon begins south of Ansonia along US Route 6 and continues for approximately 47 miles. The maximum depth of the canyon is 1,450 feet at Waterville, near the southern end. At Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks, the depth is more than 800 feet. These overlooks offer the most spectacular views.

Pine Creek Gorge received national acclaim in 1968 when the National Park Service designated a 12-mile section as a National Natural Landmark. Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks are on opposite sides of Pine Creek Gorge. The scenic vistas offer spectacular views into the glacially-carved canyon. The scenery is superb now, but I bet in the fall the large abundance of hardwood trees displays beautiful autumn shades of yellow, orange, red and purple, with the pockets of evergreen trees providing a dash of green.

We drove through Wellsboro on our way to see the Grand Canyon. We found this historic place. The Carleton Nursing Home is the former home of Leonard Harrison, banker and businessman, who donated 121 acres of land bordering Pine Creek, known as “The Lookout,” to the commonwealth in 1922. This area is now known as Leonard Harrison State Park.

We headed to Leonard Harrison State Park first. It is on the east rim of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, the 585-acre Leonard Harrison State Park has the most famous scenic views of the canyon. Leonard Harrison State Park honors Leonard Harrison (1850-1929) of Wellsboro. Mr. Harrison was a civic-minded businessman and banker who contributed his time, energy and finances to the betterment of his home community.

Leonard Harrison State Park originally consisted of 121 acres and was called “The Lookout.” Mr. Harrison owned and developed the area as a public picnic ground. He gave the area to the Commonwealth in 1922. The park was further developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the mid-1930s. A bronze monument to their achievement is on the overlook. Additional lands were added in the park in the late 1940s.

We took a hike down the Turkey Path, it’s a mile to the gorge bottom. It was pretty on the way down and the crisp air, made it the perfect day to make this hike.

Unfortunately, the path turned into a muddy mess that neither of us wanted to venture through, so we missed the bottom pf the gorge. We turned around and headed back to the top. It kind of reminded me of hiking down to Crater Lake. It’s a mile down, but three-miles up!

We headed around the end of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and made our way to the west rim, at Colton Point State Park. The view was just as breathtaking and we say the look-out we were at on the east rim. We also saw the highest viewpoint of the Grand Canyon pf Pennsylvania, it is a tall tower. We drove to the base of it and noticed it was $5 each to climb it. Only payable by credit card. A young couple was heading down and we asked if it was worth it. She said NO and he said at the top one of the board was so weak, it really sank in and scared him to death. So, we passed and caulked it up to another tourist trap.

Colton Point was named in the late 1800s for Henry Colton, a lumberman who supervised harvesting trees in the area. Logs were floated down Pine Creek to sawmills in Williamsport. The park was established from state forest lands purchased in the early 1900s. Colton Point State Park was developed by the boys of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp S-91-PA Watrous, from 1933 to 1936. The park opened to the public in 1936. The CCC contributions are still visible today through the five stone and timber pavilions in the park. In 1988, the CCC-built facilities were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tioga State Forest surrounds the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The name Tioga, an Indian word meaning the meeting of two rivers, is the name of a tribe of Seneca Indians who once inhabited the area. The Tioga State Forest, consisting of 160,000 acres of state forest land in Bradford and Tioga Counties, was named after this tribe of Indians. The purpose of the original acquisition of state forest land was to protect the headwaters of Pine Creek. The first purchase was in June 1900 when 900 acres along Cedar Run were acquired from FE Watrous. Acquisition was continued through the years. The last large tract of 13,828 acres was transferred from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1955 and is knows as Resettlement Lands. It is located on Armenia Mountain in the headwaters of the Tioga River.

The majority of the tracts of land which today make up the Tioga State Forest were originally held by large lumber companies and land holding companies. A major development on the forest came in 1933 with the establishment of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps at the Darling Run, Elk Run, Leetonia and Dixie Run. Work activities included construction and maintenance of roads, trails and bridges. The original mapping and timber typing began during this period. Timber stand improvement practices also began at this time. The CCC also developed picnic areas and scenic vistas. An interesting activity that took place on the Tioga State Forest was the operation of birch stills. These Stills which operated during the 1940s, processed bark from birch trees to produce birch oil. The only remnant of this industry is a still located at Morris. It has not been operated since 1972.