Explore the Area
The mighty Susquehanna River flows past many of the communities near the park, including Pittston, West Pittston, Wyoming, and Kingston. The area is known for its coal mining legacy and ethnically diverse populations.
Learn about some of the area businesses and things to do from the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce and the Back Mountain Chamber.
Nearby State Parks and Forests
Frances Slocum State Park is close to several state parks, where visitors can enjoy recreation, education, and other activities.
Hickory Run State Park
The 15,990-acre Hickory Run State Park lies in the western foothills of the Pocono Mountains.
The park contains 44 miles of hiking trails and a large picnic area with picnic tables, restrooms, playground equipment, drinking water, and trash containers located near Sand Spring Lake, which has a swimming beach, and offers opportunities for disc golf and orienteering.
Lackawanna State Park
The 1,445-acre Lackawanna State Park is in northeastern Pennsylvania, ten miles north of Scranton. The park offers a great deal of outdoor recreation opportunities, including 18 miles of hiking trails and 15 miles of multi-use trails for mountain biking and horseback riding.
Nescopeck State Park
Bordered on the south by steep Mount Yeager and on the north by Nescopeck Mountain, the 3,550-acre Nescopeck State Park encompasses wetlands, rich forests, and many diverse habitats. Nescopeck Creek, a favorite of anglers, meanders through the park. Hiking trails follow the creek, pass through quiet forests, and skirt wetlands.
An environmental education center provides year-round educational programs on the park’s diverse resources. Interpretive exhibits highlighting the park’s natural history can be seen inside the environmental education center.
Ricketts Glen State Park
The 13,050-acre Ricketts Glen State Park is one of the most scenic areas in Pennsylvania. Ricketts Glen harbors the Glens Natural Area -- a National Natural Landmark.
Hike the Falls Trail system to explore the glens, which boasts a series of wild, free-flowing waterfalls, each cascading through rock-strewn clefts in this ancient hillside. The 94-foot Ganoga Falls is the highest of 22 named waterfalls. Old growth timber and diverse wildlife add to the beauty.
Other Nearby Outdoor Spaces and Natural Places
Misericordia University is five miles west of the park in Dallas, Pa., and Harveys Lake, another nice place to recreate, can be found another six miles west of the college.
Pennsylvania Heritage Areas
Heritage Areas protect, enhance, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic, natural, cultural, and scenic resources.
The Endless Mountains Heritage Region invites people to discover the legacy of river gateways, rolling hills, family farms, river towns, and unique natural resources and scenic corridors of this northeastern Pennsylvania region.
Susquehanna National Heritage Area recognizes the role the Susquehanna River plays for history, recreation, and the economy of the towns along the river.
Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor recognizes our nation’s first coast-to-coast highway, which stretched from New York City to San Francisco in 1913. It’s a route that changed the U.S. forever, marking the birth of popular American tourism -- vacationing by automobile.