Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13 are

Pennsylvania State Game Lands The Pennsylvania State Game Lands (SGL) are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hun ...

in Columbia County and Sullivan County, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. They have an area of 49,529 acres. The game lands are mountainous and contain streams such as West Branch Fishing Creek and its tributaries. The main game animals in the area include bear, deer, grouse, turkey, and waterfowl. The game lands are adjacent to Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 57.

Geography

State Route 2003 in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13 consists of a single parcel located at and have an area of 49,529 acres. It and the adjacent Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 57 together comprise an area of nearly 100,000 acres in four counties, making them the largest tract of continuous state game lands in Pennsylvania. State Game Lands Number 13 is itself the largest single state game land in Pennsylvania. The game lands are located near Sonestown. They are located mostly in Sullivan County, but a small area is in Columbia County. The game lands are in the

Endless Mountains The Endless Mountains are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Endless Mountains region includes Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties. The highest peak in the region is the North Kn ...

. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13 are mostly forested and mountainous, though there are a number of

food plot A food plot is a planted area set aside to act as a supplementary food source for wildlife. The term was coined by the U.S. hunting and outdoor industries and food plots are most commonly planted for game species. Food plot crops generally cons ...

s. Several impoundments are located also within its boundaries. North Mountain, Huckleberry Mountain, and Roundtop are in the game lands and the highest mountains are over above sea level. The game land's northern reaches are somewhat flatter than its southern reaches, with rolling hills instead of mountains.

West Branch Fishing Creek West Branch Fishing Creek is one of the northernmost major tributaries of Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania and Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is long and flows through Davidson Township, Sullivan County a ...

and many of its tributaries also flow through it, as are some tributaries of

Little Fishing Creek Little Fishing Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Lycoming County, and Columbia County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through eight townships. The watershed of the creek has a ...

. There are several minor roads passing through the game lands. Numerous old forest roads and grades are in the area. In the western part of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13, West Branch Fishing Creek cuts a

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

between a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

and the

Allegheny Front The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and western Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front forms the boundary between the Rid ...

. Numerous

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s, such as

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s are on the top of the plateau. In the eastern section of the game lands, streams such as

Heberly Run Heberly Run is a tributary of East Branch Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Davidson Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . Its tributaries include Quin ...

and

Sullivan Branch Sullivan Branch (also known as Sullivan Run or the Sullivan Branch of East Branch Fishing Creek) is a tributary of East Branch Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through David ...

have created rugged and steep glens with many

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s. There are more than 20 waterfalls in the game lands. Nearby recreational and protected areas include,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 142 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 172 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

and

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 250 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

to the north,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 66 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

to the northeast, Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 57 and

Ricketts Glen State Park Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 13,193 acres (5,280 ha) in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. Ricketts Glen is a National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth fore ...

to the east,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 206 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 224 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 260 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...

, Moon Lake County Park and PP&L Susquehanna Riverlands Wetland to the southeast,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. They have an area of . A number of ridges, such as Knob Mountain, Huntington Mountain, and Lee Mountain, are within t ...

to the south,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 226 Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 226 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. They have an area of . The terrain of the game lands mainly consists of woodlots and food plots. Streams such as Spruce Run and East Branc ...

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 325 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

and Montour Environmental Preserve to the southwest,

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 134 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

and

Worlds End State Park Worlds End State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. The park, nearly surrounded by Loyalsock State Forest, is in the Loyalsock Creek valley on Pennsylvania Route 154 in Forks and Shrewsbury Townships southeast ...

to the west, and

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 12 Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 12 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Bradford County and Sullivan County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. The game lands have an area of nearly in Bradford County. The area is mainly mountainous a ...

and

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 36 The Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 36 are Pennsylvania State Game Lands in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Bradford County (United States), County in Pennsylvania in the United States providing hunting, bird watching, and other activities. G ...

to the northwest.https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/advanced-viewer/, The National Map Viewer

Pennsylvania Route 487 Pennsylvania Route 487 (PA 487) is a , north–south state highway running from PA 61 in Shamokin Township, Northumberland County, to PA 87 (near its intersection with US 220) in Dushore, Sullivan County. In Bloomsburg, PA 487 and US 11 ...

passes near a part of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13.

Statistics

SGL 13 was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on 2 August 1979 as identification number 1199594 and is located at consisting of a single parcel of . Elevations range from to . SGL 13 is located at

Biology

Common

game animal Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, tho ...

s in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13 include

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondr ...

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

, and

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

. Large numbers of deer inhabit the area.

History and recreation

There are of

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

s in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13. of designated routes in the game lands are on Fishing Creek Road and head to a

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

. are on Lee Road, are on Cherry Ridge Road, are on Grassy Hollow Road, and are on Glass Creek/Masonite Road. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13 are less of a popular hiking destination than the nearby

Bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, and

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

can also be done in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13. A large logging town was historically on the border of what is now Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 13. The game lands were planned as early as 1930. An infrared deer survey was planned in 2006. Twenty

nest box A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

es were set up in the area in July 2008.

References

External links

The National Map Advance ViewerGeographic Names Information SystemState Game Lands 013
{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania Protected areas of Columbia County, Pennsylvania Protected areas of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania 013