Pennsylvania’s state parks are expecting a busier year with the anniversary of our nation and improvements have been made or are in the works across the Commonwealth.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources operates 125 state parks across the Keystone State and this summer is something special.
The year “2026 is a big year for us in the Commonwealth and the nation celebrating our 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” John Hallas, state parks director, said.
“Pennsylvania state parks specifically, we are prepared and geared for the additional visitation this celebratory year will bring, as well as the special events that are happening.
“In preparation for that, we’ve prepared with specific park programming through our interpretive staff out on the parks across the state. As well, we’ve prepared for that additional visitation that we’ll see particularly through large special events, be it the America250PA concert series at Point State Park happening at the end of June, all the way through the Christmas Day Crossing at Washington Crossing State Park.”
Events happening across Pennsylvania can be found online at the DCNR’s calendar of events page.
In addition, there’s one new opportunity that’s continuing through March 2028.
“We have a special program that covers 25 parks, that’s the GeoTrail,” he said.
The 25 parks have geocaches for people to find along trail routes.
“It’s really exciting for folks to get out and engage,” he said. “We’ve heard stories of people who are engaging with the GeoTrail that weren’t regular state park users before. This GeoTrail has given them the opportunity and stimulated them to go out and explore their state parks in Pennsylvania.”
The DCNR’s website highlights the 25 parks across the state that have the geocaches on their trails.
Adding Laurel Caverns
The state parks program has received a new property this year.
In April, the DCNR dedicated Laurel Caverns in Fayette County as its 125th state park. It’s the first underground state park in the Keystone State.
“We’re very excited to have Laurel Caverns as part of our portfolio of state parks and the Commonwealth to steward into perpetuity, to provide public access, educational opportunities and to adventure. It’s an exciting place to understand our geo heritage and participate in recreation,” Hallas said.
There are four miles of limestone caves that are available for exploration, including guided tours.
The state received the Laurel Caverns property as a donation by David and Lillian Cale. The DCNR is now working on a master plan for the 435-acre complex.
“We will be making future improvements to the park amenities as well as programming and public service at Laurel Caverns and many state parks,” Hallas said.
Caring for an underground facility has its unique challenges.
“Managing, maintaining and providing safe public access to a cave system is something we’ve never done in Pennsylvania state parks, but others have in park systems before,” he said.
In preparation of taking over the property, the leadership team visited Mammoth Cave, a National Park Service site in Kentucky.
They “received the full download on everything from cave rescue to infrastructure and how to maintain safe public access,” he said.
One of the improvements that will be made will involve having more lighting on the pathways.
The DCNR’s staff is also focused on the cave resource in managing the habitat and airflow. The cave is closed during the winter months as bats use it to hibernate.
Park improvements for 2026
Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County has received a variety of improvements to help people enjoy the dark skies for stargazing.
“We did a significant project on the main astronomy field and the public viewing area across the street,” Hallas said.
The work included new entrances and comfort facility improvements.
“Those improvements were a decade in the making from planning to execution. We welcome people at Cherry Springs from all over the nation and internationally,” he said. “It’s one of the best dark sky viewing areas on the entire East Coast.”
There are infrastructure improvements that have happened across the state with maintaining campgrounds, but several state parks have larger projects that are soon getting underway.
“Looking forward, we have some very large complex campground projects that are on the horizon in 2027 at Gifford Pinchot State Park (York County), Lackawanna State Park (Lackawanna County), Ricketts Glen State Park (Columbia, Luzerne and Sullivan counties) and Cook Forest State Park (Clarion and Jefferson counties),” he said. “Those are major shower house and comfort facility replacements across the entirety of all those campgrounds. Most of those projects would be multi-year projects coming up, but they’re starting in ’27.”
To improve the facilities there will be coordinated down times for portions of the campgrounds.
“We’re trying to look at options where we can have partial closures. It may not be possible in all of those parks to have a partial closure because of the layout of the campground and the scope of the construction. But that’s our goal, is to be as least impactful to our customers and visitors to those campgrounds as possible,” Hallas said.
“It’s a short-term disruption for the long-term improvements that we’re getting through these projects,” he said.
The funding was a critical step in the process, and he credits Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration for providing the resources.
The work is being done to systems that are at the end of their serviceability and natural lifespan.
“It’s not just about the creature comforts, it’s about public safety and access,” he said.
Swimming in state parks
One of the challenges state parks have each year is finding enough lifeguards for the swimming pools.
“The lifeguard situation this year is better than it’s ever been. From our concession pools that are out in our eastern parks, to the Lake Erie shoreline of Presque Isle, and our surf park,” he said. “Other than a few things that we’re still working on, it’s looking like we’re bringing the overwhelming majority of our pools back on line and our life guarding situation, be it at our the waterfronts or pools, is not impacting operations this year,” he said.
The pool at Lackawanna State Park and the splash playground is one of the pools that has been closed but is opening again this year and he pointed out the pool and splash playground at Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County is open.
“Ryerson is a work in progress for us, and we’re committed to making it an extraordinary park,” he said.
The dam was breached 21 years ago, and the campground was improved and the pool was opened six years ago. In 2027, a stream restoration project is planned for the north fork of Dunkard Fork and the creation of new recreational amenities.
“We have plans for an off-stream fishing pond at that park as well as a major trail system that will navigate the entire resource. But the pool there was a major capital improvement,” he said.
Waterfront beaches are open to swimming but there are only lifeguards at Presque Isle and Pine Grove Furnace state parks.
Staying overnight at a state park
Campgrounds across the state continue to have high numbers of visitors since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“We’re still above our reservations for overnight as well as visitation above our pre-COVID numbers,” he said. “We’re maintaining a high demand for our facilities.”
People can reserve campsites 11 months in advance. “We have over 6,300 campsites in state parks and over 400 roofed overnight options,” he said.
People are encouraged to book their reservations as early as possible, but if someone makes a spontaneous trip, there are oftentimes opportunities, especially at parks that don’t receive heavy visitation.
“I always encourage people to maybe try something new and explore a new state park that they haven’t been to before because there may be openings or availability and opportunities at that park, both from the programming side to the overnight. The outdoor recreation experiences may be very much to their liking,” he said.
When it comes to accessing state parks, Hallas points out, “Pennsylvania State Parks are still free with no admission fees and we are certainly the minority in the nation, in American state parks that provide no entrance fees to gain access,” he said. “That’s important particularly in recent years and this year, where affordability is still very much on everyone’s minds and the price of travel seems to only increase, our state parks are an amazing option.
“It’s still a great affordable family vacation option,” Hallas said.
There are fees to reserve campsites, but those prices have remained steady.
“We haven’t increased prices significantly or made any price increases based upon the recent economic trends both in the state and across the nation,” Hallas said. “We keep our prices based upon a market analysis that we do to keep it affordable for our visitors.”
There are about 110 to 120 concessionaires at state parks that offer food, whitewater rafting and rentals for boats, kayaks, bicycles and winter skiing.
One change Hallas has been seeing with concessionaires involves food trucks, especially at Presque Isle in Erie.
“We’re modifying our infrastructure in those parks to provide that electrical hookup service for that food truck to come in and base,” he said.
It’s a mobile version over having a fixed building.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get away from that completely, but the food truck option and creating dedicated space for them with infrastructure in our parks is something we’ve been moving toward,” Hallas said.
