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    Shawnee State Park

    Nearby Attractions

    Information about Shawnee State Park’s nearby attractions is available from Visit Bedford County.

    Explore the Area

    The park is located near Bedford County, which offers many points of interest. Days can be spent sampling the past heritage and the present culture through its mountains and rolling agricultural fields.

    U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway, roughly follows the Forbes Trail that was the main highway between Fort Bedford and Fort Ligonier in the 1700s. Original inns and other examples of a unique Bedford architectural style can be seen along the road and in small settlements such as Schellsburg.

    Learn about some of the area businesses and things to do from the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.

    Nearby State Parks and Forests

    Shawnee State Park is close to one state park and one state forest, where visitors can enjoy recreation, education, and other activities.

    Blue Knob State Park

    The 6,128-acre Blue Knob State Park is in the northwestern tip of Bedford County, west of I-99. The elevation of the park can cause air temperatures to be several degrees cooler than the surrounding cities. The annual snowfall averages about 12 feet.

    Recreational activities include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, picnicking, swimming, fishing, hunting, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and camping. For downhill skiers, Blue Knob Ski Area in Blue Knob State Park is one of the best ski resorts in Pennsylvania, and is 25 miles from Shawnee State Park.

    Gallitzin State Forest

    The 24,370-acre Gallitzin State Forest is located in Somerset, Bedford, Cambria, and Indiana counties. Much of Gallitzin rests on the Allegheny Front and the Laurel Ridge.

    Outdoor recreation opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, picnicking, fishing, hunting, camping, skiing, and snowmobiling.

    Other Nearby Outdoor Spaces and Natural Places

    Bedford County is well known by sportsmen for its beautiful trout streams and abundant deer and other wild game. State Game Lands 228 is located near the park.

    For the non-hunter, Bedford offers great wildlife observation opportunities, especially migrating birds.

    Pennsylvania Heritage Areas

    Heritage Areas protect, enhance, and promote Pennsylvania’s historic, natural, cultural, and scenic resources.

    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 one route that changed America forever, marking the birth of popular American tourism -- vacationing by automobile.