Worlds End State Park
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Worlds End State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in
Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Sullivan County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,840, making it the second-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Laporte ...
. The park, nearly surrounded by
Loyalsock State Forest Loyalsock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. The forest spans across the northern tier's "Endless Mountains" and is a total of . The Loyalsock is a “working forest” and is managed for ...
, is in the
Loyalsock Creek Loyalsock 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 located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in ...
valley on Pennsylvania Route 154 in
Forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
and
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
Townships southeast of the borough of Forksville. The name ''Worlds End'' has been used since at least 1872, but its origins are uncertain. Although it was founded as ''Worlds End State Forest Park'' by Governor
Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...
in 1932, the park was officially known as ''Whirls End State Forest Park'' from 1936 to 1943. The park's land was once home to Native Americans, followed by settlers who cleared the forests for subsistence farming and later built sawmills. The
second growth forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
s in and surrounding Worlds End State Park are partially a result of the efforts of the young men of the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. They helped overcome the
clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...
of the early 20th century, and built many of the park's facilities, including the cabins that earned it a place on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. A wide variety of wildlife is found in the park, which is also part of an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
. Located 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 ...
region of the
dissected Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...
Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...
, Worlds End has a
continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
and rocks and
fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
from the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
period. It is one of "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" named by the
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...
, which describes it as " rtually in a class by itself, this wild, rugged and rustic area seems almost untamed". The park offers year-round recreational opportunities, including
environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...
, hiking, camping in tents and cabins, whitewater rafting, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, and fishing.


Name

An 1872 map uses the name ''Worlds End'' for the area around the S-shaped serpentine bend in Loyalsock Creek. Worlds End State Forest Park opened in 1932, and its name has caused some confusion and controversy over the years. William S. Swingler, Assistant District
Forester A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
of
Wyoming State Forest Wyoming State Forest was the name of the Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. As of July 1, 2005, a reorganization of Pennsylvania State Forests in eastern Pennsylvania resulted in the elimination of the na ...
(reorganized as Loyalsock State Forest in 2005), penned this note about the story of the name in 1935: This was not the end of the controversy. A letter campaign led to the name of the park being changed to ''Whirls End State Forest Park'' in 1936; opponents of the new name launched another letter-writing campaign to revert the name to ''Worlds End State Forest Park''. This matter was brought before the State Geographic Board, which supervised the official naming of places. The board ruled that the name be changed once again to ''Worlds End State Forest Park'' in 1943. The word ''Forest'' was dropped on November 11, 1954, when the park was officially named ''Worlds End State Park'' by the Pennsylvania Geographic Board. This has been the official name ever since, but the names ''Whirls End'' and ''Whirls Glen'' are still used, and are synonymous with Worlds End. Two other etymologies have been suggested. The first is that an early road along the gorge had a sheer drop to the creek hundreds of feet below, which prompted thoughts of the world's end in early travelers. The second is that the bend in Loyalsock Creek, and the surrounding area that became the park, was originally known as ''Huerle's Bend'', but then "years of mispronunciation turned it into World's End (State Park)". Whatever the source, as of 2012 the name ''Worlds End State Park'' is unique in the
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
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 ...
and on its maps of the United States. The possessive
apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...
is not part of the official name, although it does appear in older records and in informal usage today.


History


Native Americans

Humans have lived in what is now Pennsylvania since at least 10,000 BC. The first settlers were Paleo-Indian
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic hunters known from their
stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
.For a general overview of Native American History in the West Branch Susquehanna watershed, see ''Note:'' ISBN refers to the Heritage Books July 1996 reprint. URL is to a scan of the 1892 version with some OCR typos. The
hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
s of the Archaic period, which lasted locally from 7000 to 1000 BC, used a greater variety of more sophisticated stone artefacts. The
Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...
marked the gradual transition to semi-permanent villages and
horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, between 1000 BC and 1500 AD. Archeological evidence found in the state from this time includes a range of pottery types and styles,
burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...
, pipes, bows and arrow, and ornaments. Worlds End State Park is in 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 ...
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
, whose earliest recorded inhabitants were the
Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...
-speaking
Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
s. They were a
matriarchial Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...
society that lived in
stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...
d villages of large
longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
s. Their numbers were greatly reduced by disease and warfare with the Five Nations of the
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
, and by 1675 they had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes. ''Note:'' ISBN refers to 1998 impression After this, the lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were under the nominal control of the Iroquois. The Iroquois also lived in longhouses, primarily in what is now
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, and had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers. To fill the void left by the demise of the Susquehannocks, the Iroquois encouraged displaced tribes from the east to settle in the West Branch watershed, including the
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
and
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
(or Delaware). The
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(1754–1763) led to the migration of many Native Americans westward to the Ohio River basin. On November 5, 1768, the
Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...
acquired the New Purchase from the Iroquois in the
Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William J ...
, including what is now Worlds End State Park. After the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Native Americans almost entirely left Pennsylvania. The land that became Sullivan County was originally part of Northumberland County, then became part of
Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. ...
when it was formed in 1795. Settlers first arrived in the park's townships in 1794. Shrewsbury Township was formed from Muncy Township in 1803, and Forks Township was formed from Shrewsbury Township in 1833, both while still part of Lycoming County. Sullivan County was formed from the northeastern part of Lycoming County on March 15, 1847.


Horse trails and lumber era

The earliest settlers in the Worlds End area rode on two horse trails to traverse the rugged mountains between
Muncy Creek Muncy Creek (also known as Big Muncy Creek) is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Sullivan County and Lycoming County, at Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long. The watershed of the creek has an area of . ...
and the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of Little Loyalsock Creek with Loyalsock Creek at Forksville. These rugged and rocky trails were used steadily until 1895, when Pennsylvania Route 154 was constructed to take their place. Part of these old horse trails are still in use and known as Pioneer Road and Double Run Road, and form part of two of the seven hiking trails in the park. Worlds End trail and Pioneer Road meet at the Worlds End Vista, which is thought to be a possible inspiration for the park's name. Prior to the arrival of
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
and his
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
colonists A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...
in 1682, it has been estimated that up to 90 percent of what is now Pennsylvania was covered with woods: over of
white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...
,
eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...
, and a mix of
hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
s. The forests near the three original counties,
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 ...
, Bucks, and
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, were the first to be harvested, as the early settlers used the readily available timber to build homes, barns, and ships, and cleared the land for agriculture. The demand for lumber slowly increased and by the time of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
the lumber industry had reached the interior and mountainous regions of Pennsylvania. Lumber thus became one of the leading industries in Pennsylvania. Trees were used to furnish fuel to heat homes,
tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...
for the many
tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
that were spread throughout the state, and wood for construction, furniture, and
barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...
making. Large areas of forest were harvested by colliers to fire iron furnaces. Rifle stocks and shingles were made from Pennsylvania timber, as were a wide variety of household utensils, and the first Conestoga wagons. By the mid-19th century, the demand for lumber reached the area, where eastern white pine and eastern hemlock covered the surrounding mountainsides. Lumbermen came and harvested the trees and sent them down
Loyalsock Creek Loyalsock 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 located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in ...
to the West Branch Susquehanna River and to
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s there. The
old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s of eastern white pine and eastern hemlock were soon clearcut and the hills were stripped bare. Nothing was left except the dried-out tree tops, which became a fire hazard, so much of the land burned and was left barren. In the 1920s a sawmill was built on land now in the park, and two more were located about south. After it was "thoroughly logged", the area became a tangle of briars and brush.


Civilian Conservation Corps

The history of Worlds End State Park goes back to 1929, when the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, a precursor to the modern
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...
, began purchasing land devastated by
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
and
wild fire Wildfire is a fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or rural areas. Wildfire or Wild Fire may also refer to: People * "Wildfire", Chippewa name of sculptor Edmonia Lewis (c. 1844–1907) Arts, entertainment, a ...
to create a state forest. The land that specifically became the park was purchased from the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company in 1929 and Mrs. "Doc" Randall in 1931. Worlds End State Park was established by forest ranger John Annabelle in 1932, with a budget of $50 that purchased four picnic tables. The
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
(CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established in 1933. As part of
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
legislation, it was designed to combat unemployment during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The CCC operated in every
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 ...
. The recreational development of the park began in 1933, when four CCC camps were built in Sullivan County. One of these, CCC Camp S-95, built many of the park facilities, such as the dam for the swimming area, the cabins, hiking trails and roads. The CCC workers blasted out bedrock in the creek for the swimming area and built the Canyon Vista road and lookout. CCC Camp S-95, which opened on May 29, 1933, on the site of an old lumber camp, was able to distinguish itself over the years it operated in Sullivan County. Two floods swept through the area in 1933 and 1936. The August flood of 1933 caused extensive damage and largely destroyed the newly built camp. During the course of the flooding two young men from Camp S-95 saved the lives of two drowning children at Worlds End State Park. The flood of 1936 covered a large area within the
West Branch Susquehanna River Valley The West Branch Susquehanna Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, is the low-lying area draining into the West Branch Susquehanna River southeast of the Allegheny Front, northeast of the Bald Eagle V ...
. The young men of the CCC camp were among the leaders in the cleaning up after the flood and rebuilding many destroyed bridges and roads. In 1936 the park was officially expanded beyond the original small picnic area. Camp S-95 closed in 1941.


Historic district

In 1987 the CCC architecture earned the Worlds End State Park Family Cabin District within the park a listing on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
(NRHP). The
historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
includes nineteen cabins and three
latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground (pit latrine), or m ...
s built by the CCC between 1933 and 1941. Seven of the cabins have one room, nine have two rooms, and three have three rooms. There are also three modern latrines within the district which are designated as non-contributing structures. The historic structures are examples of CCC work that reflects the standards set forth by the
Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
. The cabins and latrines are constructed with native stones and timber and are placed on the land in a way that minimizes interference with the natural surroundings of the park. ''Note:'' This includes


Modern era

Since the CCC finished their work at the park in 1941, Worlds End State Park has continued to develop and change. In 1951 the Loyalsock Trail, which passes through the park, was laid out by
Explorer Scouts Explorer Scouts, frequently shortened to Explorers, is the fifth section of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom for 14- to 18-year-olds. The section was introduced in 2001 and formally launched in February 2002, alongside Scout Network ...
. This trail has been maintained and extended by the Alpine Club of Williamsport since 1953. While the park was always popular in Pennsylvania, by the 1960s it began to attract attention from outside the state. The park was home to the first annual
whitewater slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of th ...
race on Loyalsock Creek in 1964, which attracted over 100 competitors in 1965. A 1964 ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article featured Worlds End park and its "excellent trout stream", and one in 1967 mentioned the park's "peerless wilderness views", "half-acre swimming pool carved into cool Loyalsock Creek" and "public campsites". In 1980, a trailer was added as a temporary park office. The accomplishments of the CCC at Worlds End State Park were recognized in 1987 by the inclusion of the Family Cabin District on the NRHP. In 1997 the park's
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) was one of the first 73 IBAs established in Pennsylvania. On November 12, 2002, a new visitor center and park office was dedicated, which included of public space for environmental education and public programs. The building, constructed with an "energy-efficient design and recycled materials", was part of a $1.1 million project that included the park's first flush toilets and
sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...
plant. In 2003 a $2.7 million project added flush toilets and running water to all the park's wash-houses, renovated the cabins, and made major improvements in the day use area. In 2004, the Loyalsock Creek Watershed Association installed a fence on the creek's banks near the cabins to limit pedestrian access and erosion. The association planted shrubs and trees in the same area to stabilize the creek's banks in 2008, and in September 2010 replaced more than of fence with a less visible version. On January 25, 2010, flooding caused by heavy rain and melt from of snow "washed out a bridge" leading to the cabin area and destroyed of road there, leaving the park looking like "the set of disaster movie". The cabin area road needed $72,120 in repairs, the park was not fully restored until
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
. Two floods hit the park in 2011, the first from
Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 At ...
on August 29, and the second from Tropical Storm Lee on September 8. Lee washed away about of gravel used to make emergency repairs to roads in the park from Irene damage. Loyalsock Creek reached south of the park, and campers in the park had to be evacuated. Worlds End and
Promised Land State Park Promised Land State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Blooming Grove, Greene and Palmyra Townships, Pike County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The approximately park is mostly surrounded by Delaware State Forest. It is in the Poconos ...
had "significant damage to roads and bridges", damage to Loylasock State Forest roads was also heavy, and the DCNR estimated the two storms caused $3 to $4 million of damage to its forests and parks. Worlds End was closed for two weeks after the Lee flood. As of 2012, post-war facilities include the park office, five wash-houses and other modern restroom facilities, beach house with concession stand, chapel, amphitheater, and modern camping areas. Worlds End State Park is one of twenty-one chosen by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list. The DCNR describes it as " rtually in a class by itself, this wild, rugged and rustic area seems almost untamed". It goes on to praise the opportunities for camping and hiking at the park, and its scenery and vistas. ''Note'': Despite the title, there are twenty-one parks in the list, with
Colton Point Colton Robert Point (born March 4, 1998) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Point was drafted in the fifth-round, 128th overall, by the Dallas Stars in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to turning professional, he attended ...
and Leonard Harrison State Parks treated as one.


Geology, paleontology, and Marcellus shale

The land on which Worlds End State Park sits has undergone tremendous change over the last 350 million years. It was once part of the coastline of a shallow sea that covered a great portion of what is now North America. The high mountains to the east of the sea gradually eroded, causing a buildup of
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
made up primarily of
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
,
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
and
gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...
. Tremendous pressure on the sediment caused the formation of the rocks that are found today in the Loyalsock Creek drainage basin:
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
,
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
, conglomerates,
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
, and
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. Four major rock formations are present in Worlds End State Park, all at least partly from the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
period. The youngest of these, which forms the highest points in the park, is the early Pennsylvanian
Pottsville Formation The Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. It is a major ridge-former in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the eastern United States. The Pottsville Fo ...
, a gray conglomerate that may contain sandstone,
siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...
, and shale, as well as
anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal. The Loyalsock gorge rim and the upper part of its walls are the late Mississippian
Mauch Chunk Formation The Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It is named for the township of Mauch Chunk, now known as borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and for nearby Mauch Chunk Ridge where th ...
, which is formed with grayish-red shale, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate. Below this is the Mississippian
Burgoon Formation The Mississippian Pocono Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, in the United States. It is also known as the Pocono Group in Maryland and West Virginia, and the upper part of the Pocono Formation is somet ...
, which comprises buff-colored sandstone and conglomerate. The creek bed and base of the gorge walls are the late
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
and early Mississippian
Huntley Mountain Formation The Huntley Mountain Formation is a late Devonian and early Mississippian mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, in the United States. Description The formation is composed of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. It is lo ...
, which is made of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. The park is at an elevation of on the
Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...
, which formed in the
Alleghenian orogeny The Alleghanian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 195 ...
some 300 million years ago, when
Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
(specifically what became Africa) and what became North America collided, forming
Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea () was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million y ...
. The local region is known as 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 ...
, but despite the name these are not true mountains: instead millions of years of
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
have made this a
dissected plateau A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded such that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, me ...
, 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: the Loyalsock gorge is approximately deep in the park. Loyalsock Creek and its tributaries have been a primary force in the creation of the valleys, as the creek makes its way across the landscape to its
mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
at 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 ...
in Montoursville.
Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s have been found in Worlds End State Park, as the area was once a
river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...
on an ancient coastline. This coast was home to an ancient ancestor of the
lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
, which would burrow in the mud to survive dry spells. Fossils of these
burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...
s have been discovered in the red siltstone formations in and near the park. The
Marcellus Formation The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States, it extends throughou ...
, a shale rich in
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
, lies thousands of feet below Worlds End State Park and much of Pennsylvania. As of June 30, 2012, there were 127 active gas wells in Sullivan County, with 14 of those in Forks or Shrewsbury Townships. The state did not purchase the
mineral rights Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfac ...
to much of the land it owns.
Anadarko Petroleum Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It was organized in Delaware and headquartered in two skyscrapers in The Woodlands, Texas: the Allison Tower and the Hackett Tower, both named after former CEOs of ...
(now
Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...
) owns the mineral rights under the oyalsockstate forest and plans to drill in it. About 80% of the mineral rights to its state parks are not owned by Pennsylvania, and the owner of Worlds End State Park's mineral rights is unknown. According to William Kocher, Worlds End's manager, "if the owner decided to drill n the park... the state would have no right to say no." Natural gas
pipeline Pipeline may refer to: Electronics, computers and computing * Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on ** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
construction upstream of the park spilled a "significant amount" of sediment and mud into Loyalsock Creek in September 2012.


Climate

The Allegheny Plateau has a
continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
, with occasional severe low temperatures in winter and average daily temperature ranges of 20 °F (11 °C) in winter and 80 °F (14 °C) in summer. For the region the park is in, the average minimum temperature in January is , while the average maximum temperature in July is . The mean annual
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
for Loyalsock Creek is 42 to 48 inches (1067 to 1219 mm). Pennsylvania receives the most
acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...
of any state in the United States. Because Loyalsock Creek is in a sandstone, shale, conglomerates, coal, and limestone mountain region, it has a relatively low capacity to neutralize added acid. This makes it especially vulnerable to increased acidification from acid rain, which poses a threat to the long-term health of the plants and animals in the creek. The highest recorded temperature at the park was in 1936, and the record low was in 1994. On average, July is the hottest month at Worlds End, January is the coldest, and June the wettest.


Ecology

Worlds End State Park is near Forksville on Pennsylvania Route 154 in the narrow, serpentine valley of
Loyalsock Creek Loyalsock 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 located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in ...
. It is nearly surrounded by
Loyalsock State Forest Loyalsock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. The forest spans across the northern tier's "Endless Mountains" and is a total of . The Loyalsock is a “working forest” and is managed for ...
, which was known here as
Wyoming State Forest Wyoming State Forest was the name of the Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. As of July 1, 2005, a reorganization of Pennsylvania State Forests in eastern Pennsylvania resulted in the elimination of the na ...
until July 1, 2005. Common trees found in the state park and forest include
black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...
,
eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...
,
red maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...
,
tulip poplar ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus '' Liriodendron'' (the othe ...
,
yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...
, and white ash. The northern hardwood and hemlock forests are threatened in general by deer
overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
, while the woolly adelgid, an invasive
hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
, threatens the hemlock populations. In 2010 Worlds End was part of over of state forests and parks combating the woolly adelgid with a $110,000 federal grant to the DCNR's "Forest Pest Management Division for insecticide treatment of high-value Eastern hemlocks". Several different interpretive and educational programs on environmental and ecological topics are offered at the park each summer.


Wildlife and Important Bird Area

Worlds End State Park has an extensive forest cover of hemlock-filled valleys and hardwood tree-covered mountains, which makes it a
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
for "big woods" wildlife. Animals such as
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
,
black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
,
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 ...
,
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and gray squirrels are seen fairly regularly. Less commonly seen but present in the park are creatures such as
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
s,
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
,
fishers Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...
, river otters, and
timber rattlesnake The timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, or banded rattlesnake (''Crotalus horridus'') Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of ...
s. Loyalsock Creek is home to native
brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
and
black bass Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...
which feed on a variety of insects including
mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
s,
dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
, and
gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large num ...
s. Bird watchers have observed over 200
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of birds in the park, including the
great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...
,
northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA. The northern harrier migrates to more southerly areas ...
,
white-throated sparrow The white-throated sparrow (''Zonotrichia albicollis'') is a passerine bird of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. Etymology The genus name ''Zonotrichia'' is from Ancient Greek (, ) and (, ). The specific ''albicollis'' is from Lati ...
and highly sensitive species which are rare as breeding birds in Pennsylvania such as
northern goshawk The northern goshawk (; ''Accipiter gentilis'') is a species of medium-large bird of prey, raptor in the Family (biology), family Accipitridae, a family which also includes other extant diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harrier (bird) ...
and
yellow-bellied flycatcher The yellow-bellied flycatcher (''Empidonax flaviventris'') is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. Description Adults have greenish upperparts and yellowish underparts (especially on the throat), with a dusky wash on the ...
. The state park and forest are part of the larger Pennsylvania
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) #42, which encompasses . The Pennsylvania
Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
has designated the IBA as a globally important
habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
for the conservation of bird populations. The IBA is home to Swainson's thrush and
ruffed grouse The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only specie ...
, the state bird of Pennsylvania. Other notable passerine species found in the park and IBA include blue-headed and
red-eyed vireo The red-eyed vireo (''Vireo olivaceus'') is a small American songbird. It is somewhat warbler-like but not closely related to the New World warblers (Parulidae). Common across its vast range, this species is not considered threatened by the IUCN. ...
s,
Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
and
least flycatcher The least flycatcher (''Empidonax minimus'') (also called chebec, or chebecker, after the sound it makes) is a small insect-eating bird. It is the smallest ''Empidonax'' flycatcher in eastern North America. Taxonomy The closest relative to the ...
s. Breeding
warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...
in the park include both
northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...
and
Louisiana waterthrush The Louisiana waterthrush (''Parkesia motacilla'') is a New World warbler, that breeds in eastern North America and winters in the West Indies and Central America. Plain brown above, it is white below, with black streaks and with buff flanks and u ...
es, as well as Blackburnian, black-throated blue, black-throated green,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, magnolia warbler, magnolia, mourning warbler, mourning, Nashville warbler, Nashville, and yellow-rumped warbler, yellow-rumped. Worlds End State Park is featured in the Audubon Society's ''Susquehanna River Birding and Wildlife Trail Guide''. Birds of interest in the park include common mergansers along the creek and other riparian species such as belted kingfisher, as well as barred owl, barred, great horned owl, great horned, and the scarce, elusive northern saw-whet owls. Other avian species seen in the park and believed to nest there include tufted titmouse, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, common raven, scarlet tanager, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and winter wren. These bird populations are typical of "mature northern hardwood-hemlock forests and high elevation swamps and conifer swamps". ''Note'': This guide is available both as a book (page number given) and website (URL given). It also refers to
Wyoming State Forest Wyoming State Forest was the name of the Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. As of July 1, 2005, a reorganization of Pennsylvania State Forests in eastern Pennsylvania resulted in the elimination of the na ...
, which has been reorganized as
Loyalsock State Forest Loyalsock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. The forest spans across the northern tier's "Endless Mountains" and is a total of . The Loyalsock is a “working forest” and is managed for ...
.


Recreation


Trails

There are over of hiking trails at Worlds End State Park. Most of the trails are rocky and steep, so hikers are encouraged to wear proper footgear and to be prepared for icy conditions during the cold winter months. As John Young writes in ''Hike Pennsylvania'', "If you want to do some hiking in the Worlds End region, you should know that hiking here means climbing". Worlds End State Park is open during the winter months for snowmobile, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Most of the trails are too steep or rugged for either activity, but the park roads are open, as are trails on surrounding state forest lands. * Loyalsock Trail, often abbreviated LT, is a rugged hiking trail that stretches from near Loyalsockville, Pennsylvania, Loyalsockville, in Lycoming County on Pennsylvania Route 87 to north of Laporte, Pennsylvania, Laporte in Sullivan County, just off U.S. Route 220. This trail follows the ridges and streams of the Loyalsock Creek drainage basin, watershed. The trail is primarily within the boundaries of
Loyalsock State Forest Loyalsock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #20. The forest spans across the northern tier's "Endless Mountains" and is a total of . The Loyalsock is a “working forest” and is managed for ...
and uses some old logging roads and abandoned Rail transport, railroad grades. The Loyalsock Trail was originally blazed in a yellow rectangle with a red stripe, and red can lids with a yellow "LT". Recently, the trail markers have been changed to a yellow disc with a red "LT". * Link Trail is a moderate trail marked with a red X on a yellow circle blaze. The trail starts at the Cabin Bridge in the park and follows Loyalsock Creek before it branches off and follows Double Run. The trail then ascends to Canyon Vista and heads out into Loyalsock State Forest where it links up with the Loyalsock Trail at the post. The Loyalsock Trail can be followed back for a long loop. * Canyon Vista Trail is a loop trail with blue blazes that passes through the eastern portion of the park and a stand of ash tree, ash, Acer saccharum, sugar maple, and
black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...
trees. This trail passes a maze-like jumble of blocky
Pottsville Formation The Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. It is a major ridge-former in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the eastern United States. The Pottsville Fo ...
rocks known as the Rock Garden, adjacent to Canyon Vista. The vista is at an elevation of and "rewards the hiker with a spectacular view of the Loyalsock Creek gorge". * Worlds End Trail is a trail with yellow blazes that begins at the park office and ascends to an overlook of the swimming area. It then crosses the old Pioneer Road, which was used by some of the first settlers to the area, and enters the Loyalsock State Forest, ending at the post of the Loyalsock Trail, which can be followed back to the park office to make a loop long. * Butternut Trail is a trail marked with orange blazes that loops through a hardwood forest and crosses over Butternut Run. Two side trails connect Butternut Trail with the Loyalsock Trail. * Double Run Nature Trail is an easy trail, marked with a green stripe on a white rectangle blaze, that loops through woodlands along the west branch of Double Run. Wildflowers like Arisaema triphyllum, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Polygonatum, Solomon's seal and Asarum, wild ginger can be seen on this trail, which passes by an intermittent waterfall. * High Rock Trail is and passes a waterfall on High Rock Run. This steep trail is marked with red blazes and climbs a hollow filled with lichen-covered rocks to a vista. A part of this trail used to pass so close to cliffs that two hikers fell to their deaths; this part of the trail has been relocated for safety.


Fishing, hunting, and whitewater

According to John Young, "As soon as you enter Worlds End State Park, you hear it: the never-ending rush of the waters of Loyalsock Creek". The creek and its tributary Double Run have been designated as approved trout waters within the park by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. This means the waters will be fish stocking, stocked with trout and may be fished during trout season. Note: Searchable map Hunting is permitted on about half of the lands of Worlds End State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, eastern gray squirrels, turkey, white-tailed deer and bears; however, the hunting of groundhogs is prohibited. Edward Gertler, author of ''Keystone Canoeing'', writes that Loyalsock Creek's "exciting whitewater, above Forksville, has long been a favorite of paddlers who are quick and tolerant enough to endure its fickle water levels and weather". This is the stretch of the creek in and near the park, whose "long, steepening, and complex boulder patch and ledgy rapids demand your attention ... A boater's chute through the middle of the swimming area dam at Worlds End State Park climaxes this run". The best time for whitewater boating on Loyalsock Creek at Worlds End State Park is from March to May, and the park hosts a slalom race on Loyalsock Creek each spring. The whitewater grade (slope), gradient is 41 for the section of the creek in and near the park, and its rating on the International Scale of River Difficulty is II to III+, with sections reaching IV. The water is too swift for open canoes, so visitors are asked to use kayaks. The swimming area is closed to whitewater boating during the summer months.


Cabins, camping, swimming, and picnics

When appointed as manager of the park in 2002, William C. Kocher said "Camping really is king here at Worlds End, and the rustic cabins are especially popular ... We also have plenty of picnics and reunions, many of them drawing generation after generation, year after year". Worlds End State Park has three options for visitors interested in staying overnight. There are 19 rustic Log cabin, cabins, each with a refrigerator, stove, fireplace, table with chairs, and beds. There is a 70-site tent and Recreational vehicle, camper campground along Pennsylvania Route 154. Some of the campsites have an electric hook-up, and there is a central shower facility with water and restrooms located nearby. Three organized group tenting areas, each capable of accommodating 30 people, are also available north of the cabins. They may also be used for one large group of up to 90 campers. Non-denominational Christianity, Non-denominational Christian worship services, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, are held in a wooded chapel at the park on Sunday mornings during the summer. The picnic and swimming areas are adjacent to each other, with the building housing the bath house and concession stand between them. There are many picnic tables and several pavilions available for day use by visitors to the park. During the Great Depression the Civilian Conservation Corps built a tall dam on Loyalsock Creek, which provides a swimming area at Worlds End State Park. Since 2008, lifeguards are no longer on duty at the park.


Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within of Worlds End State Park: * Mount Pisgah State Park (Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Bradford County) * Ricketts Glen State Park (Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne, and Sullivan Counties) * Susquehanna State Park (Pennsylvania), Susquehanna State Park (Lycoming County)


References


External links

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Pennsylvania State Parks' Picasa Photo Galleries
(includes photos of the 2010 and 2011 floods) {{authority control State parks of Pennsylvania Parks in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Allegheny Plateau Campgrounds in Pennsylvania Important Bird Areas of Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Protected areas established in 1932 1932 establishments in Pennsylvania Civilian Conservation Corps in Pennsylvania Protected areas of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania