State Parks

July 27, 2022 Last Updated: July 26, 2022 03:43 PM

The historic gristmill at McConnells Mill State Park in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, was built in 1868. It processed grains from local farmers and is now open to the public for self-guided tours. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

McConnells Mill State Park

Address: 2697 McConnells Mill Road, Portersville, PA 16051

Telephone: 724-368-8811

Manager: Dustin Drew

Hours: Dawn to dusk, year-round

Website: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/mcconnellsmill

Founded: 1957

McConnells Mill State Park has 2,546 acres in Perry and Slippery Rock townships in Lawrence County.

Services, activities and attractions: Picnic areas, fishing, hunting, climbing and repelling, hiking, whitewater boating. The gristmill is normally open Memorial Day through late September. Limited hours are available; see the park’s Facebook page.

Brandi Parrish reads "Who Eats What?" to 4- and 5-year-olds at Jennings Environmental Education Center during a DiscoverE camp about the forest food chain in June 2022.

Jennings Environmental Education Center

Address: 225 Pleasant Valley Road, Portersville, PA 16051-9650

or when using GPS: 1761 McConnells Mill Road, Portersville, PA 16051

Telephone: 724-794-6011

Office hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and summer weekends

Park hours: Picnicking and trails open sunrise to sunset year-round

Manager: Wil Taylor

Website: www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/jennings

Email: jenningssp@pa.gov

Founded: 1980

Jennings Environmental Education Center is a 300-acre park in Brady Township.

Services, activities and attractions: Picnic areas, restrooms, hiking trails, interpretive exhibits and Foltz School, which was built in 1880 and closed in 1963, one of the last one-room schools to close in the state

Winter activities: Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing

The prairie, about 20 acres, is a rare ecosystem that is home to the endangered massasauga rattlesnake. The park also has about 250 acres of mixed hardwood forest, a floodplain meadow and an abandoned coal mine area, used for a water treatment program. The five miles of hiking trails includes the 0.22-mile Blazing Star Trail, named for the wildflower that turns the prairie purple in late July and early August.

Ducks fly along the Lake Arthur shoreline at Moraine State Park.

Gayle Lenihan of Grove City kayaks on Lake Arthur with Ruth Fertelmes of Cabot during a tour with environmental education staff at Moraine State Park.

Moraine State Park

Address: 225 Pleasant Valley Road, Portersville, PA 16051

Telephone: 724-368-8811

Office hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays year-round, and weekends during the summer

Park hours: Daily from sunrise to sunset year-round

Manager: Dustin Drew

Website: www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/MoraineStatePark

Email: morainesp@pa.gov

Founded: 1970

Moraine State Park has 16,725 acres in Brady, Clay, Franklin, Muddy Creek and Worth townships.

Services, activities and attractions: Picnic areas, snack concessions, restrooms, swimming, fishing, boating with up to 20 hp motors permitted, hunting, hiking and biking trails, horseback riding trails, 18-hole disc golf course, cabins

Winter activities: Cross-country skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, ice fishing, ice skating, ice boating

Lake Arthur is a 3,225-acre warm-water fishery.

ADA accessible flush toilet restrooms are in the Pleasant Valley Picnic Area, Pleasant Valley Beach, Pleasant View Picnic Area, Bear Run Boat Launch, McDanels Boat Launch, Park Road Boat Launch, 528 Boat Launch, Lakeview Beach Area, and the Davis Hollow and Watts Bay marinas.