Sinnemahoning State Park

Sinnemahoning State Park
Pennsylvania State Park
A view of Sinnemahoning State Park
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Cameron, Potter
Townships	Grove, Wharton
Location
- elevation	961 ft (293 m)
- coordinates	41°26′54″N 78°02′57″W / 41.44833°N 78.04917°W / 41.44833; -78.04917Coordinates: 41°26′54″N 78°02′57″W / 41.44833°N 78.04917°W / 41.44833; -78.04917
Area	1,910 acres (773 ha)
Founded	1962
Management	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
IUCN category	III - Natural Monument
Location of Sinnemahoning State Park in Pennsylvania
Website: Sinnemahoning State Park

Sinnemahoning State Park is a 1,910-acre (773 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Grove Township, Cameron County and Wharton Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is surrounded by Elk State Forest and is mountainous with deep valleys. The park is home to the rarely seen elk and bald eagle. Sinnemahoning State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 872, eight miles (13 km) north of the village of Sinnamahoning. In 1958, the park opened under the direction of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry: it became a Pennsylvania State Park in 1962.

Native Americans began living in the Sinnemahoning State Park area 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. They followed the receding glaciers and found that the area supported a bountiful supply of fish, wildlife, berries and nuts. Archaeologists have found evidence of their presence in the bottomlands of the creeks. The word Sinnemahoning is derived from an American Indian word that means "Rocky Lick". A natural salt lick is said to have been near the mouth of Grove Run.

The native population of Pennsylvania was forced out by disease and the American Revolutionary War. The Sinnemahoning area was left largely unsettled and wild until the late 19th century when the logging boom that spread throughout the mountains of Pennsylvania arrived. Lumberman cleared vast stands of old-growth forest. The logs were floated down Sinnemahoning Creek and its tributaries to the West Branch Susquehanna River and to the Susquehanna Boom at Williamsport. The only thing the lumbermen left behind was the treetops. These tree tops were left to dry. The passing steam locomotives on the railroads would ignite this dry brush causing massive wildfires that swept through the mountains and valleys. The Sinnemahoning Creek area was left to waste. The forests struggled to regrow in the wake of the wildfire. The hills began to erode. The streams were dying and wildlife was scarcely found.