Cherry Springs State Park is an 82-acre Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having some of the darkest night skies on the east coast of the U.S.
About Cherry Springs State Park in brief
Cherry Springs State Park is an 82-acre Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having some of the darkest night skies on the east coast of the U.S. The first settlers were Paleo-Indian nomadic hunters known from their stone tools. Archeological evidence shows that humans have lived in what is now Pennsylvania since at least 10,000 BC. The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the SusQuehannocks, followed by the Seneca nation, who hunted there. The French and Indian War led to migration of many Native Americans westward to the Ohio River basin after the Revolutionary War, including the Lenape and Shawnee. The Seneca allowed very few travelers to pass through the area and kept non-native settlement to a minimum. By 1675, the Five Nations of the Iroquois had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes. After the departure of the Susquesha, the lands were under the nominal control of the Iroquois, who lived in long houses and had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers. Their nearest villages were 51 miles northeast at modern Painted Post, and 43 miles to the southeast at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. On June 11, 2007, the International Dark-Sky Association named it the second \”International Dark Sky Park\” under optimum conditions the Milky Way casts a discernible shadow.
The adjoining Cherry Springs Airport, built in 1935, was closed and its land was added to the park in 2006, to expand its stargazing area. Cherry Springs also offers rustic camping, picnic facilities, and trails for mountain biking, hiking, and snowmobiling. The surrounding state forest and park are home to a variety of flora and fauna. Another name for the tribe is \”Susquehanna\”, and both the river and the state forest which almost completely surrounds the park are named for them. The nearest villages to the area of Cherry Springs are 51 miles north of the park, and 51 miles south of Lock Haven. The nearest village to the east is Lock Haven is 51 miles southwest of the state park. The closest village to the east of the Pennsylvania state forest is 43 miles southeast of the State Park, and it is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania State Route 44 and Pennsylvania State Road 44. The state forest was established in 1901, and contains second growth woodlands. The Civilian Conservation Corps built much of Cherry Spring State Park during the Great Depression, including a picnic pavilion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An annual Woodsmen’s Show has been held in the park each August since 1952. It is named Pennsylvania’s first dark sky park by the DCNR in 2000, and hosts two star parties a year, which attract hundreds of astronomers.
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This page is based on the article Cherry Springs State Park published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 15, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
