Explore the Area
The park is located near Mercersburg, which was named for Hugh Mercer, a general during the American Revolutionary War. The town is at the foot of Cove Mountain and just 7.5 miles from the Mason Dixon Line.
The park is also located near the town of Fort Louden, so named for the fort built there during the French and Indian War. Both towns offer shops and places to eat.
For information about Wheatland, James Buchanan’s Lancaster Estate, visit the Lancaster History website.
Learn about some of the area businesses and things to do from the Tuscarora Area Chamber of Commerce.
Nearby State Parks and Forests
Buchanan’s Birthplace State Park is close to three state parks and two state forests, where visitors can enjoy recreation, education, and other activities.
Caledonia State Park
The 1,125-acre Caledonia State Park is located in Adams and Franklin counties, midway between Chambersburg and Gettysburg along the Lincoln Highway, US 30.
The park is nestled within South Mountain, the northern terminus of the well-known Blue Ridge Mountain of Maryland and Virginia. Within South Mountain there are four state parks and 84,000 acres of state forest land waiting to be explored and enjoyed through hiking, picnicking, swimming, fishing, hunting, golfing, and camping.
Cowans Gap State Park
The 1,085-acre Cowans Gap State Park is located in the beautiful Allens Valley of Fulton County. The park features a 42-acre lake for recreation, rustic cabins, and many hiking trails.
Mont Alto State Park
The quiet, 24-acre Mont Alto State Park features a unique pavilion, picnicking, and trout fishing. Mont Alto is the oldest park still in the Pennsylvania state park system.
Buchanan State Forest
The 71,683-acre Buchanan State Forest is named in honor of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. Buchanan State Forest covers land in Franklin, Fulton, and Bedford counties. The 19 tracts of the forest occupy upper slopes in the southern portion of the ridge and valley region of Pennsylvania.
The forest offers the opportunity for many recreational activities including hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, ATV riding, picnicking, fishing, hunting, and camping.
Tuscarora State Forest
The 96,025-acre Tuscarora State Forest covers the narrow valleys and steep, rocky ridges of the ridge and valley region of Pennsylvania. These fertile, well-watered sites are ideal for growing majestic oak and hemlock forests.
Recreational activities in Tuscarora State Forest includes hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, picnicking, boating, fishing, hunting, and camping.
Other Nearby Outdoor Spaces and Natural Places
The park is near State Game Lands 124 and 53, which offer additional areas for recreation.
Pennsylvania Heritage Area
Heritage Areas protect, enhance, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic, natural, cultural, and scenic resources.
Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor recognizes the country’s first coast-to-coast highway, which stretched from New York City to San Francisco in 1913. It’s the one route that changed America forever-marking the birth of popular American tourism-vacationing by automobile.