Pennsylvania Route 120 (PA 120) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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, ...

, running from U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in Ridgway east to

US 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways which run east-west. US 220 extends for fr ...

near

Lock Haven Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

Bucktail State Park Natural Area

In much of Cameron and Clinton counties, PA 120 is a

Pennsylvania Scenic Byway The Pennsylvania Scenic Byways system consists of 20 roads recognized for their scenic or historic qualities. History In 1991, the National Scenic Byways Program was created by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, in which roads ...

designated the

Bucktail State Park Natural Area Bucktail State Park Natural Area is a List of Pennsylvania state parks, Pennsylvania state park in Cameron County, Pennsylvania, Cameron and Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Clinton Counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park follows Penn ...

. Bucktail State Park Natural Area runs 75 miles (121 km) from Emporium to Lock Haven, and is named for the Pennsylvania Bucktails Regiment, who came from the area during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. PA 120 and the park run along

Sinnemahoning Creek Sinnemahoning Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Cameron and Clinton counties, Pennsylvania, in ...

and the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the exte ...

and also pass through Renovo (in Clinton County). Bucktail State Park Natural Area was established by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1933. It includes , of which are in Cameron County and in Clinton County. While much of the land is state owned and part of the

Elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

and

Sproul State Forest Sproul State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #10. The main offices are located in Renovo, Pennsylvania in Clinton County in the United States. The forest is located in western Clinton County an ...

s, there are also many tracts of privately owned land within the official boundaries of the park. The law establishing the park defined its boundaries as "all that area of land extending in length from the western city line of Lock Haven, in Clinton County, to the eastern borough line of Emporium, in The County of Cameron, and along the course of the western branch of the Susquehanna River, and its tributary, Sinnemahoning Creek, in Clinton and Cameron counties, an estimated distance of 75 miles, and in width from mountain rim to mountain rim across the valley." The park is primarily dedicated to wildlife viewing, especially

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

History

PA 120 follows an old Native American

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. Th ...

, the

Sinnemahoning Path The Sinnemahoning Path is an ancient trail in Pennsylvania which passes through Keating on its way to the upper Alleghenies. The Sinnemahoning Path followed the West Branch of the Susquehanna from “the Great Island” at Lock Haven to the Sinnem ...

. This trail was used by Native Americans to cross the eastern

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

(specifically 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 ...

) between the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

(which drains into the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

) and the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

(which forms the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

with the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and eventually drains into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

via the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

). American Pioneers also used the trail to make their way west and it was also known as the Bucktail Trail. PA 120 was U.S. Route 120 until ca. 1967. US 120 was initially planned in 1926 as an

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

–

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

route, but was truncated to Ridgway–

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 1927, the route west of Ridgway primarily becoming an extension of US 6 and that to the east of Reading becoming the eastern segment of US 422. The portion east of

of the remainder of the route became US 220,

US 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...

, and US 122 ca. 1935; this alignment is now roughly followed by US 220, I-180, PA 147, and PA 61.

Major intersections

References

External links

Pennsylvania Highways: PA 120
{{Authority control 1 120 Transportation in Elk County, Pennsylvania Transportation in Cameron County, Pennsylvania Transportation in Clinton County, Pennsylvania

Bucktail State Park Natural Area

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links