Explore the Area
Bendigo State Park is located within the borough of Johnsonburg in Elk County. It is a productive farming and lumber region with a history of paper mills.
Learn about some of the area businesses and things to do from the Johnsonburg Chamber of Commerce and the Ridgeway-Elk County Chamber of Commerce.
Nearby State Parks and Forests
Bendigo State Park is close to two state parks and one state forest, where visitors can enjoy recreation, education, and other activities.
Elk State Park
The 3,192-acre Elk State Park offers a short hiking trail, picnic tables, hunting, and camping operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 1,160-acre East Branch Lake provides opportunities for boating and fishing for species such as muskellunge and smallmouth bass that are stocked by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Kinzua Bridge State Park
The 339-acre Kinzua Bridge State Park is the home of the reinvented Kinzua Viaduct. The viaduct, once the longest and tallest railroad structure, was partially destroyed by a tornado in 2003 and was reinvented as a pedestrian walkway in 2011.
Picnicking and trail opportunities are available. The Kinzua Bridge Scenic Byway is a designated shared use hike/bike corridor.
Elk State Forest
Located about an hour away from Bendigo State Park, the nearly 200,000-acre Elk State Forest offers 17 hiking trails, areas that allow mountain biking, approximately 53 miles of designated horseback riding trails, and opportunities for picnicking, fishing, hunting, and camping.
Elk State Forest is one of eight state forests located in the Pennsylvania Wilds Center.
Other Nearby Outdoor Spaces and Natural Places
There are several other nearby outdoor spaces and natural places near Bendigo State Park:
- A recreation area by the East Branch Dam and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has camping with facilities, sanitary dump station, and boat launch. The East Branch Dam of the Clarion River was finished in 1952 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dam provides flood protection and recreational opportunities.
- State Game Lands 25, a 24,523-acre wooded area consisting of long narrow valleys and flat mountaintops, welcomes visitors to hunt, fish, hike, and bird-watch. A large stone marker at the entrance to State Game Land 25 in Glen Hazel commemorates the purchase of this land in 1920.
- The Allegheny National Forest is a few miles from Bendigo State Park and provides a myriad of recreational opportunities.
- The Quehanna Wild Area is a state forest wild area about an hour south of Bendigo State Park that offers a variety of recreational opportunities.
The Pennsylvania Wilds
Bendigo State Park is part of the Pennsylvania Wilds, which offers 2 million acres of public lands for hiking, biking, fishing, boating, hunting, and exploration in northcentral Pennsylvania.
Highlights of the area include:
- Elk watching at the Elk Country Visitor Center
- Scenic PA Route 6 in Pine Creek Gorge (PA Grand Canyon)
- The darkest skies in the east at Cherry Springs State Park
- Hundreds of miles of backpacking trails, bike paths, and trout fishing streams.
Pennsylvania Heritage Areas
Heritage Areas protect, enhance, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic, natural, cultural, and scenic resources.
In the Lumber Heritage Region, roughly 2 million acres of public lands give both wildlife and humans room to roam. Unsurpassed beauty, natural treasures, rich history, and outdoor adventure can be found here.
In 1807, Pennsylvania State officials mandated a road be cut through the Moosic Mountains to enable easier travel to the western part of the state. What would become the PA Route 6 Heritage Corridor was born. By spanning the entire state, the road ties together a unique collection of special places and communities, capturing the spirit of the state’s diversity.