Gouldsboro State Park

Hiking   -  Mountain Biking   -  Picnicking   -  Swimming   -  Boating   -  Fishing   -  Hunting   -  Cross-country Skiing   -  Ice Fishing   -  Ice Skating

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Picnicking: Gouldsboro State Park provides five wooded picnic areas with picnic tables and charcoal grills. There is an ADA accessible picnic pavilion with electricity. Picnic pavilions can be reserved up to 11 months in advance for a fee. If unreserved the picnic pavilion is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

Make a reservation.

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Swimming: The sand beach at Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro state parks are open from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to mid-September, 8 a.m. to sunset. Swim at your own risk. Please follow posted rules. The Tobyhanna bathhouse has flush toilets and changing areas. Showers are available for a fee. Gouldsboro has rustic restrooms.

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Boating: electric motors only
The 250-acre Gouldsboro Lake has 50 overnight mooring spaces. A boat rental at each lake has rowboats and canoes and is open daily from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day, except in inclement weather.A state park mooring permit is required for overnight mooring and is available at the Tobyhanna State Park office.

A boat concession rents rowboats, canoes, paddleboats and motorboats.

Motorboats must display a current boat registration. Non-powered boats must display one of the following: boat registration; launching permit or mooring permit from Pennsylvania State Parks, available at most state park offices; launching permit from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Complete information on boating rules and regulations in Pennsylvania is available from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Web site.

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Fishing: The common fish in the 250-acre Gouldsboro Lake are bass, pickerel, yellow perch, catfish and sunfish. The lake also has muskellunge, walleye, crappie, sucker and fallfish. An ADA accessible fishing pier is near Parking Lot 4.

Complete information on fishing rules and regulations in Pennsylvania is available from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Web site.

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Hunting and Firearms: Most of Gouldsboro State Park is open to hunting, trapping and the training of dogs during established seasons. Common game species are white-tailed deer, black bear, snowshoe hare, squirrel and turkey. Furbearers include beaver, muskrat, mink, fox, coyote and raccoon. Hunting is also permitted in nearby state game lands 127 and 312.

Hunting woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, is prohibited. Dog training is only permitted from the day following Labor Day through March 31 in designated hunting areas. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Game Commission rules and regulations apply. Contact the park office for ADA accessible hunting information.

Use extreme caution with firearms at all times. Other visitors use the park during hunting seasons. Firearms and archery equipment used for hunting may be uncased and ready for use only in authorized hunting areas during hunting seasons. In areas not open to hunting or during non-hunting seasons, firearms and archery equipment shall be kept in the owner's car, trailer or leased campsite. The only exception is that law enforcement officers and individuals with a valid Pennsylvania License to Carry Firearms may carry said firearm concealed on their person while they are within the park.

Complete information on hunting rules and regulations in Pennsylvania is available from the Pennsylvania Game Commission Web site.

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Hiking: 10 miles of trails
The rugged terrain of Gouldsboro State Park makes for challenging but rewarding hiking. All trails are blazed. Double blazes indicates a change of direction or a junction of two trails.

Follow these rules for a safe hike:

• An adult should accompany children.
• Be sure to wear hiking boots.
• Motor vehicles are not permitted on the trails, except snowmobiles are permitted on designated trails.

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Prospect Rock Trail: 5.8 miles, blue blaze, difficult hiking
This large, loop trail begins in the day use area. Some sections follow the old entrance road and Old Route 611, which are suitable for bicycling and cross-country skiing. But, there are several very rocky sections.

Old Route 611: 1.25 miles, blue blaze, easy hiking
This flat, wide trail runs along the western side of Gouldsboro State Park, paralleling I-380. Part of the trail is Prospect Rock Trail. This trail is excellent for hiking, bicycling and cross-country skiing.

Frank Gantz Trail: 3.2 miles, red blaze, difficult hiking
Frank Gantz Trail connects to Tobyhanna at Lakeside Trail and to Gouldsboro in the south day use parking lot. Children should not hike this trail without adult supervision. Special care is needed to cross PA 4013 (Tobyhanna Road). This is a very demanding trail with many areas where ‘rock hopping’ is necessary. Good hiking boots are essential for a pleasant and safe hike. Allow at least three hours for a round trip.

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Mountain Biking: 8 miles of trails
Old 611 and Prospect Rock trails begin in the day use area.

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Winter Activities

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Explore the Winter Report for the current snow and ice depths.

Cross-country Skiing: Hiking trails can be cross-country skied with adequate snow. Old 611 Trail is recommended.

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Ice Fishing: The 250-acre Gouldsboro Lake is popular for ice fishing. Ice thickness is not monitored. For your safety, be sure the ice is at least four inches thick and carry safety equipment.

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Ice Skating: Ice skating is available as natural conditions permit. Gouldsboro State Park has a 1 acre area near Parking Lot 4. Ice thickness is not monitored. Be sure the ice is four inches thick and carry safety equipment.

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Access for People with Disabilities

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If you need an accommodation to participate in park activities due to a disability, please contact the park you plan to visit.

 

Gouldsboro State Park is in the Pocono Plateau, a rugged highland with rocky soil, nutrient-poor bogs, dark evergreen forests and a diversity of animals and plants.

About 20,000 years ago, a giant sheet of ice at least one mile thick covered the area. Evidence of the glacier is the very rocky soil that is called glacial till and the abundance of bogs.

Much of the park is characterized by sphagnum moss bogs, evergreen trees and thin, moist, rocky soil. Blackburnian warbler, red-breasted nuthatch and northern waterthrush are common to this habitat. In the spring, spotted and Jefferson salamanders and wood frogs flock to the bogs to breed. Interesting plants like the carnivorous pitcher plant, cotton grass and many sedges inhabit the bogs. The carnivorous plant yellow bladderwort lives in some of the bogs and in Tobyhanna Lake. In the underwater portion of the plant, small sacks trap tiny aquatic animals.

Due to the logging of the forests, large portions have regrown with a mix of deciduous trees like American beech, many species of oak and red maple trees. American redstart, red-eyed vireo and Louisiana waterthrush are common to these forests.

In early May, before any trees have leaves, serviceberry trees flower. In mid-June, the plentiful mountain laurel blooms, followed in late-June to early-July by rhododendron. In mid-July, highbush blueberries bear fruit, providing a feast for bears and birds.

Jay Gould

The name Gouldsboro comes from the village north of the park that was named for Jay Gould (1836-1892). A native of New York, Gould acquired a very large fortune that by 1892 included ownership of ten percent of all railroad tracks in the country. One of the railroads he owned was the Erie-Lackawanna. This rail line parallels the eastern boundary of the park and is now a part of the Steamtown, USA railroad excursion route between Scranton and Pocono Summit.

Gould was a co-owner of a leather tannery at Thornhurst, a small village 9.5 miles west of Gouldsboro. Raw hides shipped from Australia and the western United States came to Gouldsboro by railroad and then were taken in two-ton loads by horse drawn wagons over a plank road to Thornhurst for tanning.

Ice Industry

From about 1900 to 1936, Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro lakes were the site of active ice industries. The ice was cut from the lakes during the winter and stored in large barn-like structures. During the rest of the year, the ice was added to railroad boxcars hauling fresh produce and meats destined for East Coast cities. Boxcar loads of ice were also shipped to cities for use in family iceboxes (early refrigerators). During the summer when ice usage peaked, up to 150 boxcar loads per day shipped out of the Tobyhanna, Gouldsboro and Klondike (near Gouldsboro) plants. Some ice was even shipped to Florida for use in hospitals.

Land Acquisition

In 1912, the federal government acquired the land that became the Tobyhanna Military Reservation. In World War I, (1914-1918), the Army used the reservation as a tank and ambulance corps training center and the National Guard used it as an artillery-training center.

From 1918 to 1931, the reservation was used for artillery training.

In the early 1930s, the reservation housed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees.

For more information on the CCC, visit the Civilian Conservation Corps Online Archive.

From 1937 to 1941, the reservation served as an artillery training center for West Point cadets. During World War II, the reservation housed German prisoners-of-war. From 1946 to 1948, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used the reservation. In 1948, the War Assets Administration took control of the property and in April of 1949, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania received title to most of the 26,000 acres, with the remaining area operated as the Tobyhanna Army Depot. Of the land acquired, about two-thirds of the area was made into Game Land 127, and the remaining one-third was used to create both Gouldsboro and Tobyhanna state parks.

Tobyhanna State Park opened to the public in 1949, complete with parking areas, swimming beach, boat rental and boat launching site, water supply and sanitary facilities. The camping area was added in 1959.

The former Department of Forests and Waters (DFW) subsequently acquired additional properties, and in 1956, the former Pennsylvania Fish Commission (PFC) purchased Gouldsboro Lake and land not included in the larger government tract.

In 1958, the DFW and the PFC agreed to combine the area owned by both agencies into a single recreational site. Gouldsboro State Park opened to the public in 1958.

In 2004, the lake and land owned by the PA Fish and Boat Commission was transferred to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Keep in Touch

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Volunteering

Like to spend time in the outdoors, meet friendly people and help make Pennsylvania State Parks great? Volunteering at a park might be for you.

Becoming a Conservation Volunteer is easy.

• Sign up to be a Conservation Volunteer
  OR
• Contact your local state park directly and ask for the Conservation Volunteer coordinator - you'll be hooked up with an interesting and appropriate project in Pennsylvania's natural resources.
   

Scouts and organized groups can earn free camping by completing service projects.

Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation

Believing that each generation is responsible for leaving behind a better legacy of good conservation, the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) was created in 1999 to give supporters and users of Pennsylvania's parks and forests a positive way to contribute to the conservation of our publicly-owned properties. The Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation welcomes the support of individuals and businesses who share a commitment to conserving, protecting, and enhancing the natural, scenic, and recreational areas of this commonwealth. www.paparksandforests.org

Make a Donation

To a park - find this park's address below

To a park or the Bureau of State Parks - Pennsylvania Parks and Forestry Foundation www.paparksandforests.org

Through a purchase at a park gift shop

Thank you for your support!

Education Programs

We love when young people ask us how to get involved!

DiscoverE has programs for young people ages 4 to 17, provided by Pennsylvania State Park educators. By combining recreation and education, we hope to motivate children to learn more and return often, leading to a lifetime of outdoor enjoyment and conservation leadership. 

In Watershed Education, teachers and students assess water quality of a local stream on a quarterly basis and develop strategies to solve local water quality problems. 

ECO Camp - Exploring Careers Outdoors - is a week-long residential camp for a cross-section of high school youth from across Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Participate in action-packed, hands on activities and recreational adventures in Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests that expose youth to conservation, recreation and careers in natural resources. Learn how people make a living working in the outdoors.

Explore education for more information on these and other programs.

Explore the Calendar of Events to find a program near you.

iConservePA

Do you take conservation personally? iConservePA is a Web site managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources whose vision is to inspire citizens to value their natural resources, engage in conservation practices and experience the outdoors. Take conservation personally.

Come Work with Us

Pennsylvania State Parks and the Department of Conservation and Natrual Resources offer a wide range of civil service and non-civil service jobs, from foresters, to rangers, to engineers, to educators, to botanists and so much more. Learn what is currently available.

Tell us What You Think

Contact this park with compliments, concerns and issues about the park.

Gouldsboro State Park

Nearby Attractions

Information on nearby attractions is available from the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau. www.800poconos.com

Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro state parks are in the famous Pocono Mountain resort area. Nearby attractions include: Lake Wallenpaupack, one of the largest man-made lakes in Pennsylvania; state game lands 127 and 312; Big Pocono State Park at the top of Camelback Mountain, which features a view of three states; and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area www.nps.gov/dewa/index.htm.

Maps and Downloadables

Below are many of the maps and publications for this park. You can read them or download them and might need special software (all free) to view the publications.

You must have the free Adobe Reader to view the maps and brochures that are in pdf format (.pdf).

Alternate versions of the text of the brochures are in rich text and text formats. Click on the files to view them. To download (.rtf) files:
For Windows users, right click on the link then left click on "Save target as" to download the file to your computer. For Mac users, hold down the "Options" button and click on the link, then select "Save" to download the file to your computer.

Recreational Guide

Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro State Parks Map (.pdf) (909 kb, 3/11)
Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro State Parks Recreational Guide (.pdf) (604 kb, 3/11)
    large print version of the guide text (.rtf)