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 Big Pocono State Park - Tannersville, PA Posted by:  Janila
N 41° 02.651 W 075° 22.155
18T E 468966 N 4543728
Big Pocono State Park is located on Camelback Mountain and provides a view of three states - Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Waymark Code: WMZ62T
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 09/15/2018
Views: 0
I am on a quest to visit all 123 Pennsylvania State Parks and to try to walk at least two miles in each park. So, one cold November morning, I made the two hour drive to Big Pocono State Park, winding up Camelback Mountain and arriving at the top in the parking area for Big Pocono before sunrise just as the snow started coming down. Determined to take my walk since I had made the trip, I waited till the sun came out and made my trek along some very lovely trails. This park is known for its rattlesnakes, one of the three venomous snakes in the state of Pennsylvania, the others being the eastern massasauga and copperhead. Fortunately, it was too cold for the rattlesnake to make an appearance but that didn't stop me from watching for them.
So, I completed my self made requirements for a state park visit and came back in the parking area to find it still was flurrying preventing me from enjoying some of the other benefits of visiting this park - the fire tower and viewing the tri-state area as well as the nature museum which was not yet open. It is one of my goals to make a return visit to this park which is another gem in the Pennsylvania state park system.
Park Type: Day Use
Activities:
Hiking, hunting, cross country skiing, biking, picnicking, downhill skiing and wildlife watching.
Park Fees:
0
Background:
From the park's website https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/BigPoconoStatePark/Pages/History.aspx :
Big Pocono State Park is on land which was owned by Henry S. Cattell near the turn of the 20th century. Mr. Cattell, being very fond of the view from the summit of Camelback Mountain and knowing that many others shared his love for the area, constructed a stone cabin on the summit in 1908. The Cattell Cabin was left unlocked for many years to be used as a shelter by anyone who wished.
Since 1921, DCNR's Bureau of Forestry has maintained Big Pocono Fire Tower on the mountain for the purpose of detecting forest fires in the surrounding private and state forest lands. The tower is staffed only during the spring and fall seasons and has been dedicated by the National Fire Tower Association as a historic structure.
In 1928, 12 years after Mr. Cattell’s death, the Pennsylvania Game Commission purchased the area.
In 1950, a portion of the state land on the steep north slope of the mountain was leased to Big Pocono Skiing, Inc., for commercial ski development. Later named Camelback Ski Corporation, the facility has been developed into Camelback Mountain ski resort.
In 1953, a 1,306-acre portion of the state game lands, including the ski area lease, was acquired by the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters (now DCNR) for the purpose of developing a state park at the mountain’s summit.
In 1954, after the construction of restrooms, parking areas, picnic sites, fireplaces, and a scenic drive around the summit, the area was opened to the public as Big Pocono State Park. The Cattell Cabin served for many years as a park office and nature museum.
Date Established?: 1954
Link to Park: [Web Link]
Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed
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