Canoe Creek State Park

The beautiful, 958-acre Canoe Creek State Park features a 155-acre lake, wetlands, old fields and mature forests, which provide critical habitat for migrating birds and other wildlife. The lake is popular for fishing year-round. Hikers enjoy the trails that wind through the many habitats. Picnicking, swimming at the beach, enjoying educational programs, and staying the night in a modern cabin are also popular activities. Geologic formations in and around the park are rich in limestone. This limestone was extracted and used for many purposes, including supplying a raw material for the once thriving iron and steel industry of Pennsylvania. The park has several old quarry operations. Two calcining plants (limekilns), the Hartman kilns site and the Blair Limestone Company kilns site, operated in the park during the early 1900s. The Blair Limestone Company Kiln remnants are the focus of historical and interpretive programs and displays. This company was a subsidiary of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. Canoe Creek State Park is a modern day use facility developed during the Project 70 expansion era of state parks and was dedicated in 1979.