Located about an hour north of Pittsburgh, the 16,725-acre Moraine State Park receives over a million visitors each year. Many are drawn to the man-made Lake Arthur (3,225 acres) for fishing and boating.
Moraine State Park is named for its hilly deposits of gravel, sand and clay (moraines) that were deposited at the end of the last glacial period (about 12,500 years ago).
Moraine State Park was cleared and farmed by settlers in the 1800s, and then mined for sand, gravel, limestone, clay, shale and coal. Being proftable, seven coal beds were deep mined and strip mined, and later oi land natural wells were drilled. Moraine’s recovery began when the English naturalist and geologist Frank W. Preston formed the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy which bought and restored the land, and damned Muddy Creek to form Lake Arthur.
Today, Moraine State Park’ s gently rolling hills, lush forests and rocky trails offer excellent but challenging hiking and biking. The Month of Mud is held in part in Moraine State Park.
Hunting and trapping is permitted in most of Moraine State Park. Please contact the DCNR for details.
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