Greenwood Furnace State Park - Huntingdon, Pennsylvania - State/Provincial Parks on Waymarking.com

Information excerpted from DCNR Website website as well as the Greenwood Furnace State park, the related Wikipedia Page

Nestled in the mountains of northeastern Huntingdon County, historic Greenwood Furnace State Park offers a unique recreational experience. The park is on the western edge of an area of Central Pennsylvania known as the Seven Mountains. It is an area of rugged beauty, abundant wildlife, breathtaking vistas and peaceful solitude.

The park covers 423 acres, including a six-acre lake, and is surrounded by an 80,000-acre block of Rothrock State Forest. The park office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday year-round, and daily during the summer season.

A walk through historic Greenwood Furnace evokes images of the community that flourished here from 1834 to 1904. Greenwood Furnace was a busy industrial complex, with all the noise and dirt of a 19th century ironmaking community. The village throbbed with life: the roaring of furnace stacks, the shouts of the workmen, the hissing of the steam engine, the creaking of wagons loaded with charcoal, and the cast house whistle signaling another pour of molten iron. The furnaces were hot (3,000 degrees Fahrenheit) and cast clouds of smoke and cinders into the air, which rained down on grass, people, livestock and buildings, rendering everything sooty and gray. At night, the fire’s red glow lit the sky, probably allowing residents to walk about without lanterns. Greenwood Furnace was a village built around an inferno.

RECREATION
Greenwood Furnace State Park provides a look into historic industrial past of north Huntingdon county as well as recreational opportunities similar that of other Pennsylvania State Parks. A walking tour passes through the remains of Greenwood Furnace, providing park visitors with a lesson about the history of the town that once surrounded the ironworks. A working blacksmith shop has historical demonstrations of the craft of blacksmithing.

Greenwood Lake
Greenwood Lake was first built to provide water for a gristmill. It stands today as a reminder of the small town that once thrived there. The lake is used for recreational fishing, ice fishing, and swimming.

Picnics
Greenwood Furnace State Park has a centrally located picnic area in a spruce and pine grove. There are several picnic tables and seven pavilions that can be rented up to eleven months in advance. The picnic area has easy access to a playground, a horseshoe pit, volleyball courts, a snack bar and a softball field.

Camping
There is a 51 site campground at Greenwood Furnace State Park. It opens at the beginning of trout season in mid-April and closes with the conclusion of deer season in late December. Forty-six of the camp sites have an electric hook-up. A showerhouse with flush toilets and laundry tubs is nearby.

Hunting
There are about 320 acres of woods open to hunting at Greenwood Furnace State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, squirrels, White-tailed deer, and turkeys. The hunting of groundhogs is prohibited. Hunters may access the adjoining Rothrock State Forest by using the parking lots at Greenwood Furnace State Park and hiking in on the trails.

Trails
The trails of Greenwood Furnace State Park explore the forests in the park and venture out into Rothrock State Forest. They also pass by the historical remains of Greenwood Furnace Iron Works. The trails are open to hiking, cross-country skiing, and in some locations recreational snowmobiling.

Greenwood Furnace State Park is also a trail head for two much longer backpacking trails that pass through the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Mid State Trail is a 522.6-kilometre (324.7 mi) trail that runs from the Maryland state line to the New York state line near Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania and connects to the park via the Greenwood Spur. The Standing Stone Trail is a 72-mile (116 km) backpacking trail that connects the park to the Tuscarora Trail, which in turn connects with the Appalachian Trail