Cherry Springs State Park
| Cherry Springs State Park | |
| Pennsylvania State Park | |
 The sky at Cherry Springs State Park, the second International Dark Sky Park and the first in the eastern US, is so dark that the Milky Way casts a visible shadow.
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| Named for: A large stand of cherry trees in the park | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Potter |
| Township | West Branch |
| Elevation | 2,300 ft (701.0 m) |
| Coordinates | 41°39′46″N 77°49′23″W / 41.66278°N 77.82306°WCoordinates: 41°39′46″N 77°49′23″W / 41.66278°N 77.82306°W |
| Area | 82 acres (33 ha) |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Management | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
| Visitation | 52,229 |
| IUCN category | V - Protected Landscape/Seascape |
| Added to NRHP: | May 11, 1987 |
| NRHP Reference #: | 87000052 |
 Location of Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania
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| Website: Cherry Springs State Park | |
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Cherry Springs Picnic Pavilion
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| Location | 8 mi. N of Carter Camp off PA 44, West Branch Township, Pennsylvania |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1933 |
| MPS | Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Architecture in Pennsylvania State Parks: 1933–1942, TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 87000052 |
| Added to NRHP | May 11, 1987 |
Cherry Springs State Park is a 82-acre (33 ha)Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. Cherry Springs, named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in the park, is atop the dissected Allegheny Plateau at an elevation of 2,300 feet (701 m). It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having "some of the darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the area were the Susquehannocks, followed by the Seneca nation, who hunted there. The first settlement within the park was a log tavern built in 1818 along a trail; the trail became a turnpike by 1834 and a hotel replaced the tavern in 1874, then burned in 1897. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the old-growth forests were clearcut; the state forest was established in 1901 and contains second growth woodlands. "Cherry Springs Scenic Drive" was established in 1922, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built much of Cherry Springs State Park during the Great Depression, including a picnic pavilion listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). An annual "Woodsmen's Show" has been held in the park each August since 1952.
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