Wandering Pennsylvania’s Wilds

On a recent long drive from Iowa to New Jersey we needed a break from truck-crowded Interstate 80. Our map showed a looping parallel to the big highway along a two-lane road through dense woods. Exiting at the small Pennsylvania town with the intriguing name Snow Shoe, we soon embarked on an unplanned adventure.

As we entered Moshannon State Forest an astonishing roadside sign greeted us. It showed the silhouette of a bull elk with a warning alerting us that the giant animals might cross the road.

Elk! We were in Pennsylvania, not Colorado or Idaho where these huge deer are common. We knew the Keystone State hosts an enormous population of deer and thousands of black bears and wild turkeys, but elk!

An hour later we entered the Keystone Elk Country Alliance Visitor Center near the tiny town of Benezette. After viewing displays on elk biology, staff members Morgan Lovenduski and Brandi Hanes filled us in on the herd’s history and other wonders of this largely undeveloped part of the state, called the Pennsylvania Wild. Before leaving they gave us tips on where we might see wild elk.

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Following their advice, we drove to three spots overlooking former coal mines that had been revegetated to grass. It’s where elk commonly feed, but we struck out. Not a single one was in sight that late November midafternoon, so we checked in at the Morning Mist B&B.

“What, you came all this way and didn’t see any elk? Jump into my SUV. We’re going to find some,” said Troy Lawrence, co-owner of the B&B.

We did. A herd of cows clustered in a grassy area. A bull lounged near a cabin, and as darkness gathered, we spotted three enormous bulls across a clearing. The next morning, we prowled back roads again searching for elk as dawn crept over the hillsides. We did indeed wonder as the B&B co-owner, Sarah, quipped, “ … with those antlers you wonder how they can keep their heads up.”

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Elk thrive in Pennsylvania due to healthy land changes over the past century and careful management by a combination of nonprofit and government organizations.

They need huge areas to roam, grasslands for food, and shady thickets for shelter during summer’s heat and winter’s blizzards.

Before and during early settlement, Pennsylvania, like Iowa and many other states, boasted a huge elk population. They were doomed by rapid human population growth. Settlers leveled the Keystone State’s forests to create farms as lumber companies unsustainably cut millions of acres of open forests where elk had lived. To add injury to environmental insult, mining companies ripped the soil open to reach coal veins. When mining became uneconomic, they simply abandoned land that eroded acidic soil and water downhill into waterways turning them an unsightly orange with an acidic pH around 3.2. With such abuse it’s no wonder elk vanished.

Fortunately, the work of conservationists began transforming a near trashed environment over a century ago. Millions of trees were planted while other areas naturally regrew vegetation. Restoring old coal mines was more challenging. Over the years people neutralized the soil using a process that involved recycling paper pulp, and planted grass and clover. Today these old coal mines look like steep natural meadows. It was elk habitat lacking elk.

This grand scale re-wilding enabled the restoration of wildlife and natural beauty while creating amazing opportunities for human outdoor recreation. Bears and deer moved in by themselves, but not elk. Between 1913 and 1926 the Pennsylvania Game Commission released 177 elk captured in Yellowstone National Park and a few other places. The herd suffered ups and downs for many years, but increased habitat improvement and effective wildlife management enabled them to expand in recent years. Today somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 roam widely.

“We have a legal elk hunting season, with tags distributed by lottery or raffle, but far more people come to see elk than to hunt them,” said Lovenduski. The economic impact of elk viewing is “untouchable compared to other recreation,” she added.

To minimize pushback from residents who live in small communities with these giants, the Pennsylvania Game Commission manages strategic food plots to draw elk out of town, away from roads, and into areas where visitors can safely view them.

Today the Pennsylvania Wilds Conservation Landscape encompasses 12 counties on the Allegheny Plateau in the north-central part of the state. In total it’s about a quarter of the entire state’s area yet only 4 percent of Pennsylvanians live there. The region has 29 state parks, eight state forests, and one national forest. Interstate 80 and the New York state line form rough boundaries.

Although elk viewing may be the best-known activity, the region boasts outstanding camping in state and private campgrounds, hiking, birding, white water rafting, fishing, and simply being enmeshed in one of the wildest areas in the East. Far from populated areas, it is a dark sky haven for astronomers.

For Iowans driving to New York City or other Eastern destinations Interstate 80 is the most efficient route across Pennsylvania. It’s a scenic 311-mile drive from the Ohio state line to the Delaware Water Gap and New Jersey. Dense forests interspersed with broad farmed valleys line both sides of the road nearly its entire length, making it easy to think that few people live in the state. Actually 13 million Pennsylvanians live in a state smaller than Iowa but they are clustered around Pittsburg, Philadelphia and a few other urban areas. The rest of the state is rural farms and forests with occasional small towns.

On many trips to the East Coast, we’d crossed Pennsylvania on Interstate 80 without exploring the Wilds. The area is so amazing we now plan time to explore parts of it every time we drive East. One of its allures is that although it’s becoming a tourist magnet, the Wilds lacks big box hotels, rows of fast-food joints and tourism glitz. Rather, woods are peppered with small bed-and-breakfasts, Airbnbs and lodges. Many have an elk-related theme.

The connection of our hosts at Morning Mist B&B to the region goes back generations. They treated us to stories and offered up a delicious breakfast after our morning “elk spotting hunt.” Although the area is remote, the rustic B&B is complete with Wi-Fi and streaming. The dark sky was stunning.

More standard chain motels and eateries cluster along the Interstate to the south. Food is both regional and surprising. We enjoyed an “elk dog” lunch at a modest outdoor eatery and a delicious shrimp dinner in the Benezette Hotel.

Tourism peaks in September and October when bull elk bugle during the mating season. It coincides with colorful fall foliage. “Anyone wanting to stay overnight during the fall needs to make lodging reservations at least a year in advance,” said Morning Mist B&B host Lawrence.

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Where elk live

Most Iowans are familiar with easy-to-view elk in Western national parks and forests and might be surprised to learn that these huge animals are becoming increasingly common in Eastern states. Kentucky has the largest Eastern population, but wild elk also live in the Carolinas, Virginia, Missouri, and the upper Lake States. Many of these herds were established with the support of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

How about Iowa? A few live in the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge east of Des Moines, but our state lacks the vast wild areas that elk prefer. Occasionally, a truly wild elk is spotted in the Hawkeye State.

“Every fall we get authentic reports of a few young bull elk. They probably wandered here from western herds looking for mates. Eventually they seem to head back home,” said Jace Elliott, Iowa DNR’s deer biologist.

The wild elk that thrive in the Pennsylvania Wilds reflect the great changes in the land over the past century and a half. It is an expansive, diverse region for both wildlife and people to enjoy.