Article of the day for August 1, 2016
The Article of the day for August 1, 2016 is Ricketts Glen State Park.
Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park and American National Natural Landmark on 13,050 acres (5,280 ha) in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties. The park has 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek, as it flows down the Allegheny Front escarpment over four rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the larger watershed were the Susquehannocks. The park is named for R. Bruce Ricketts, who built the trail along the waterfalls and operated a hotel there from 1873 to 1903. Ricketts made his fortune clearcutting much of what is now the park, but preserved about 2,000 acres (810 ha) of old-growth forest in its three glens. The park opened in 1944. The Benton Air Force Station, a Cold War radar installation in the park, operated from 1951 to 1975 and still serves as airport radar for nearby Wilkes-Barre and as the Red Rock Job Corps Center. The park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals and was named an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society. The state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources named it one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park and American National Natural Landmark on 13,050 acres (5,280 ha) in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties. The park has 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek, as it flows down the Allegheny Front escarpment over four rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the larger watershed were the Susquehannocks. The park is named for R. Bruce Ricketts, who built the trail along the waterfalls and operated a hotel there from 1873 to 1903. Ricketts made his fortune clearcutting much of what is now the park, but preserved about 2,000 acres (810 ha) of old-growth forest in its three glens. The park opened in 1944. The Benton Air Force Station, a Cold War radar installation in the park, operated from 1951 to 1975 and still serves as airport radar for nearby Wilkes-Barre and as the Red Rock Job Corps Center. The park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals and was named an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society. The state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources named it one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
