cook forest

Cook Forest State Park is the second most visited state park in PA, second only to Presque Isle on Lake Erie. Wonderful forest, many different species of wildlife including eagles, bear, deer, bobcat, river otter, turkey and the list goes on. A very relaxed atmosphere in which to unwind, A great Clarion River to enjoy canoeing, kayaking, tubing or just wading and swimming. Well maintained picnic area right along the river where you can sit and watch the various river activities. My wife and I live along the river just outside the park boundaries.

Loved hiking the trails, especially the Longfellow and the Cordouroy! 18 inches of snow made the forest spectacular!

Trails are very well marked. Hiking was fantastic. Peaceful and beautiful. Nothing is marred by man. Huge trees that have never been cut. Awesome.

Not to be missed for the day tripper, hiker, boater, family... Well just about anybody! This is one of the last stands of virgin Hemlock in the state.

Just seeing the huge trees worth trip. Lots of hiking trails thru old growth forest. Found one bike path in brief visit but only rode 1.5 miles. Neat log cabin with displays. Fall colors spectacular.

What a great (and rare) opportunity to enjoy some original growth forest in PA. A cyclone went through in the 1950's and wiped out a lot of it, but still a significant amount left to be scene. Great trails - both easy and moderate. The Park staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Could easily spend an entire weekend hiking the trails.

I recently visited the Fire Tower with my mom and sister. My mom and dad met in the 70s at Clarion University and they visited the tower then. It was awesome to go there years later to reminisce. After the TALL climb we shook the nerves out by walking around. beautiful area! Great opportunities for photography.

Had a great time camping here. So many trails for hiking and biking. The canoeing was great on Clear creek river. Fishing was so so but it was the end of July. Old #9 Fire Tower gives a a great over all view of the area and at Seneca Point Overlook you can see the Clarion Valley. A good family trip in a beautiful setting.

As much as I hate the north anything, Cook Forest is such a beautiful place. I went canoeing down the river, and the view was just breathtaking. Just seeing the trees, hearing the calm water, was just so relaxing. The place is just amazing. I am definitely going back again to visit!

Fell in love with Cook Forest when my parents purchased a small cabin about 30 minutes away. Then I went to college at nearby Clarion University and got to enjoy it with friends. We live in Maryland now so we don't get the opportunity to get back much be have stayed at some of the B&B's a couple of times. Romantic and great outdoors stuff to do such as canoeing, swimming, hiking, a couple of stables for horseback riding, camping in cabins, tents or campers. The Clarion River runs right through the forest. LOVE Cook Forest in the fall especially. Hope to head back for the first time in years this fall.

Loved the area and the trails. Hiking, tubing, rafting down the river. Family fun for everyone. I liked the fire tower experience. The view is beautiful.

The trees are the attraction! Plenty of trails to meet anyone's abilities. Visit during any season. Shopping limited to tourist stuff for the most part.

We spent 2 days in the Cook Forest state park, love it here! So much to do--we hiked with our dog on several of the scenic and beautifully maintained park trails, road bikes on the dirt roads, and checked out the amazing Clarion River on edge of park. This is a huge park so we wished had more time but plan to travel back here when we can. We really liked the trails in the Forest Cathedral natural area-awesome trees, trails have wide range of distance and difficultly so good for just about everyone, park was busy but we all had plenty of room and at times felt like we were the only couple on trails. The trail bridges were great especially swinging bridge over Toms run, all park areas very clean and felt completely safe here. Park is easy to find off I-80 and many family attractions nearby plus camping areas inside and just outside park, we stayed in Clarion area and drove back and forth to park each day which worked out well for us. Check out park's website for all the details. We plan to get back here soon, seems like this is a year round park with much to see and do no matter what the season. This is a very awesome park and we enjoyed entire area so much, am already planning next visit-just wish we lived closer. Thank You!!

I've visited and lived in this area a lot over my life. If you like to bike this area can supply easy to difficult bike routes on lightly traveled back roads. A great route that is scenic and easy runs along the Clarion river north out of Cooks Forest. Turn off of Rt.36 onto River Road where it crosses the Clarion River. Just drive down the road about a mile and park. From there Bike North along the river and enjoy the scenery. You will eventually intersect with a busier Rt. 899. Turn right and travel maybe a 1/2 mile before taking the 2nd left (before the bridge over the Clarion) and ride through the small town of Clarington where River Road picks up again. This road will lead you along the river to the next little town of Belltown. Once through Belltown you can make the decision to keep it easy or challenge a big hill. If you stay straight on River Road you can follow it another 6 miles or so to the small town of Hallton. Once you're there you can turn around and enjoy the same route back. Round trip will be about 50 miles. If you want the challenge turn right over the Belltown bridge and then left onto Rt. 949. Once you reach the Heath Station you'll have the challenge of riding up out of the river valley on two steep climbs. The only thing to keep in mind while climbing is that after you crest the second hill the ride levels out again. Ride for a while on Rt. 949 and eventually turn left onto Spring Creek Road which is a little rough at first, but eventually becomes paved and changes to Shanley Hill Rd. This will take you back down and across the Clarion river and onto River Road again. Turn left over the bridge and head back to Cooks Forest. This route is 45 miles. Riding this route on a beautiful day really lifts the spirit. It's also great to ride in the fall when the trees are changing.

There is plenty to do in Cooks Forest. You can either camp or rent one of the many cabins in the area. We have a cabin here so I have not personally stayed at any of them. However, I have gone to the Gateway Lodge for Breakfast, dinner and massages and it is a beautiful place and the food is great along with the massages if you want a spa day. Regarding the forest. Hiking is a must. Senica Point with Fire Tower is beautiful to see the across the mountain tops. Hiking the Cathedral has some steep parts, but the old grand trees are great. There are several hiking paths with variations in difficulty. We go off the beaten path for our older dogs. Canoeing or tubing down the Clarion River is fun. We have done this with our kids since they were very little (now in their 20's) There is horse back Riding several options. The one on Forest Drive in the Red Barn is very good, they are all expensive. Go deer spotting at night, or just relax around a campfire. It is really peaceful and a great place to just relax and unwind.