Tobyhanna State Park

Hiking  -  Mountain Biking   -  Picnicking   -  Swimming   -  Boating   -  Fishing   -  Hunting   -  Snowmobiling   -  Ice Fishing   -  Ice Skating   -  Organized Group Tenting   -  Camping

Picnicking: Picnicking is permitted throughout the year. Tobyhanna State Park provides four picnic areas with picnic tables and charcoal grills. Three of the areas are wooded and one is in an open, grassy area. A small playfield is near Parking Area 4. There is an ADA accessible picnic pavilion. 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 State Park is 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.

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Boating: electric motors only
The 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake has 60 overnight mooring spaces. A boat rental 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.p>

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 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake and the 250-acre Gouldsboro Lake are bass, pickerel, yellow perch, catfish and sunfish. Tobyhanna Lake also has brook trout. Gouldsboro Lake also has muskellunge, walleye, crappie, sucker and fallfish. An ADA accessible fishing pier is available at each park.

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 Tobyhanna 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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Mountain Biking: Lakeside Trail is an improved surface trail that circles the lake and borders the Black Bear and Bender Swamps Natural Area.

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Hiking: 10 miles of trails
The rugged terrain of Tobyhanna 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.

Lakeside Trail: 5.1 miles, blue blaze, easy hiking
This improved trail has a hardened base for hiking and bicycling in summer and cross-country skiing and snowmobiling in winter. Although not recommended for people with disabilities, wheelchair users have completed the trail. Part of the trail is on the paved road. Allow at least 2.5 hours to complete the entire trail around Tobyhanna Lake.

Yellow Trail: 3.3 miles, yellow blaze, difficult hiking
It is a 6.6-mile walk from the trailhead on Lakeside Trail to PA 196 and back. Allow three hours for this trip. Yellow Trail is a very demanding hike and should not be attempted without the proper hiking footwear. An adult should accompany children and no one should hike the trail alone. Be prepared to ‘rock hop’ and cross a few minor wet areas. This trail follows the border of the Black Bear and Bender Swamps Natural Area and passes through several other wetlands and boulder fields created by the last glacial period.

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

Stay the Night

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Camping: flush toilets and hot showers
Tobyhanna’s 140-site camping area opens the second Friday in April and closes the third Sunday in October. A playground is available for children. Trailers and motor homes may use a convenient, sanitary dump station at the campground entrance. Due to the high elevation of nearly 2,000 feet above sea level, campers should be prepared for cool nighttime temperatures, even during the summer months. Pets are permitted at designated campsites.

Explore the campground map.

Explore camping for more information.

Make a reservation.

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Free Camping for Campground Hosts: one host position in the modern campground
The campground host site has amenities including a large wooded campsite, electric hook-up, and free firewood. There is water available nearby and a sanitary dump station. Hosts are required to work five days per week including weekends from Memorial Day until Labor Day. A long-term stay is preferred. Contact the park office for additional information and availability.

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Organized Group Tenting: Tobyhanna has five rustic sites. Sites One to Four accommodate up to 20 people. Site Five accommodates up to 40 people. Or, all sites can be combined to accommodate up to 120 people. The area is adjacent to Parking Lot Four and is open year-round. It has vault toilets and running water.

Explore organized group tenting for more information.

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Winter Activities

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

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Snowmobiling: Tobyhanna State Park provides a one-way snowmobile trail 5.5 miles in length that runs counterclockwise on Lakeside (Blue) Trail. The trail begins at Lot One, which has restrooms, parking and unloading space. Conditions permitting, snowmobiles may be operated only on the designated, one-way trail from the day after the last deer season in December until April 1. Operators and passengers must follow the PA Snowmobile Law. Please remember to respect the environment and the rights of others.

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Ice Fishing: 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake and the 250-acre Gouldsboro Lake are 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. Tobyhanna State Park has a 1.2-acre area near Parking Area 3. 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.

 

Wildlife Watching

Tobyhanna and Gouldsboro state parks are 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.

Black bear are common in the park. This omnivore eats plants, grasses, berries and occasionally meat. Unfortunately, bear find human food to be nearly irresistible. Please observe wildlife from a safe distance and do not feed wildlife.

Keep your food in the trunk of a car or in a camper.

Black bear normally avoid people, but bear dependent on eating human food can become slightly aggressive when people get between them and food. If you come in contact with a black bear, try chasing it away by making loud noises like yelling, honking a car horn or banging a pot. Notify a park employee if you have difficulties with a bear. Never approach a bear and be especially wary of mother bears and cubs.

Feeding wildlife is prohibited. Feeding raccoons, squirrels or chipmunks may expose you to the threat of rabies. Feeding Canada geese at the swimming areas results in large quantities of fecal droppings, which is offensive to park visitors.

Bender/Black Bear Swamps Natural Area

The 1,600-acre Bender/Black Bear Swamps contains acidic shrub swamps. Openings through the trees contain sphagnum moss and rare plants and animals. Bender/Black Bear Swamps will be maintained in a natural condition by allowing physical and biological processes to operate, usually without direct human intervention.

Explore natural areas for more information.

The landscape of the area is of broad, flat, swampy areas intermixed with low hills covered with a northern hardwood forest. Common tree species are beech, birch and maple. This landscape affected the settlement and industries of the area.

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

Add yourself to the DCNR's online community to receive info on this park, or parks in general.

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.

Volunteers Needed at Tobyhanna

Tobyhanna State Park Complex is searching for a long-term host to live in our rustic 140-site campground to provide visitor information and perform light maintenance duties. A camp host will need to provide their own camping unit and demonstrate model camping ethics. The park will provide a large wooded campsite with electric hook-up. There is water available nearby and a sanitary dump station. We will also provide free firewood for the duration of your stay. The campground at Tobyhanna is open from about mid-April until mid-December. A long-term host would be needed five days a week including weekends from at least Memorial Day Weekend until Labor Day Weekend. If interested, please contact the park manager at 570-894-8336.

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.

Tobyhanna 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)

Interactive GIS Map

The Interactive GIS Map uses Geographic Information Systems to create a map that does not need to be downloaded and features driving directions, searchable park amenities and customizable maps. Please note that the background maps are maintained by a variety of public sources and driving directions usually go to the nearest large road.

Campground Map

Tobyhanna Campground Map (.pdf)  (528 kb, 2/13) 
    large print version of the brochure (.rtf)