Hammersley Wild Area
| Hammersley Wild Area | |
| State Forest Wild Area | |
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| Name origin: Hammersley Fork, a tributary of Kettle Creek | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Potter and Clinton |
| Location | Susquehannock State Forest |
| - coordinates | 41°30′47″N 77°52′48″W / 41.51306°N 77.88000°WCoordinates: 41°30′47″N 77°52′48″W / 41.51306°N 77.88000°W |
| Area | 30,253 acres (12,243.0 ha) |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Management | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
| IUCN category | III - Natural Monument |
| Nearest city | Coudersport, Pennsylvania |
 Location of Hammersley Wild Area in Pennsylvania
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Hammersley Wild Area is a 30,253-acre (12,243 ha) wild area in the Susquehannock State Forest in Potter and Clinton counties in north-central Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the largest area without a road in Pennsylvania and the state's second largest wild area (the first being Quehanna Wild Area). The wild area is named for Hammersley Fork, a tributary of Kettle Creek, which flows through the area. The wild area includes 10.78 miles (17.35 km) of the Susquehannock Trail System, an 85-mile (137 km) loop hiking trail almost entirely on state forest land.
The Hammersley Wild Area was last clearcut around 1900 and is a mature second growth forest today. The 1,521 acres (616 ha) Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area is adjacent to the southwest corner of the wild area in Clinton County, and it contains 160 acres (65 ha) of old-growth forest, mostly Eastern Hemlock. The Hammersley Wild Area has been called "one of the state forest system’s jewels" and "a true state treasure" by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society.
The Hammersley Wild Area and Susquehannock State Forest are on the Allegheny Plateau, which was formed, along with the Appalachian Mountains in the Alleghenian orogeny, some 300 million years ago, when Gondwana (specifically what became Africa) and what became North America collided, forming Pangaea. Although the region appears mountainous, these are not true mountains: instead millions of years of erosion have made this a dissected plateau, causing the "mountainous" terrain seen today. The hardest of the ancient rocks are on top of the ridges, while the softer rocks eroded away, forming the valleys.
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