Worlds End State Park

An 1872 map uses the name Worlds End for the area around the S-shaped serpentine bend in Loyalsock Creek. Worlds End State Forest Park opened in 1932, and its name has caused some confusion and controversy over the years. William S. Swingler, Assistant District Forester of Wyoming State Forest (reorganized as Loyalsock State Forest in 2005), penned this note about the story of the name in 1935: This was not the end of the controversy. A letter campaign led to the name of the park being changed to Whirls End State Forest Park in 1936; opponents of the new name launched another letter-writing campaign to revert the name to Worlds End State Forest Park. This matter was brought before the State Geographic Board, which supervised the official naming of places. The board ruled that the name be changed once again to Worlds End State Forest Park in 1943. Whatever the source, as of 2012 the name Worlds End State Park is unique in the USGS Geographic Names Information System and on its maps of the United States. The possessive apostrophe is not part of the official name, although it does appear in older records and in informal usage today. ==History==

Native Americans word or "middle creek". Humans have lived in what is now Pennsylvania since at least 10,000 BC. The first settlers were Paleo-Indian nomadic hunters known from their stone tools. The hunter-gatherers of the Archaic period, which lasted locally from 7000 to 1000 BC, used a greater variety of more sophisticated stone artefacts. The Woodland period marked the gradual transition to semi-permanent villages and horticulture, between 1000 BC and 1500 AD. Archeological evidence found in the state from this time includes a range of pottery types and styles, burial mounds, pipes, bows and arrow, and ornaments. After this, the lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were under the nominal control of the Iroquois. The Iroquois also lived in longhouses, primarily in what is now New York, and had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers. Shrewsbury Township was formed from Muncy Township in 1803, and Forks Township was formed from Shrewsbury Township in 1833, both while still part of Lycoming County. Sullivan County was formed from the northeastern part of Lycoming County on March 15, 1847. Horse trails and lumber era The earliest settlers in the Worlds End area rode on two horse trails to traverse the rugged mountains between Muncy Creek and the confluence of Little Loyalsock Creek with Loyalsock Creek at Forksville. These rugged and rocky trails were used steadily until 1895, when Pennsylvania Route 154 was constructed to take their place. Part of these old horse trails are still in use and known as Pioneer Road and Double Run Road, and form part of two of the seven hiking trails in the park. Worlds End trail and Pioneer Road meet at the Worlds End Vista, which is thought to be a possible inspiration for the park's name. The forests near the three original counties, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester, were the first to be harvested, as the early settlers used the readily available timber to build homes, barns, and ships, and cleared the land for agriculture. The demand for lumber slowly increased and by the time of the American Revolution the lumber industry had reached the interior and mountainous regions of Pennsylvania. Lumber thus became one of the leading industries in Pennsylvania. Civilian Conservation Corps The history of Worlds End State Park goes back to 1929, when the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, a precursor to the modern Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, began purchasing land devastated by logging and wild fire to create a state forest. The land that specifically became the park was purchased from the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company in 1929 and Mrs. "Doc" Randall in 1931. The recreational development of the park began in 1933, when four CCC camps were built in Sullivan County. One of these, CCC Camp S-95, built many of the park facilities, such as the dam for the swimming area, the cabins, hiking trails and roads. CCC Camp S-95, which opened on May 29, 1933, on the site of an old lumber camp, was able to distinguish itself over the years it operated in Sullivan County. Two floods swept through the area in 1933 and 1936. The August flood of 1933 caused extensive damage and largely destroyed the newly built camp. During the course of the flooding two young men from Camp S-95 saved the lives of two drowning children at Worlds End State Park. The flood of 1936 covered a large area within the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. The young men of the CCC camp were among the leaders in the cleaning up after the flood and rebuilding many destroyed bridges and roads. Camp S-95 closed in 1941. Historic district In 1987 the CCC architecture earned the Worlds End State Park Family Cabin District within the park a listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The historic district includes nineteen cabins and three latrines built by the CCC between 1933 and 1941. There are also three modern latrines within the district which are designated as non-contributing structures. Modern era Since the CCC finished their work at the park in 1941, Worlds End State Park has continued to develop and change. In 1951 the Loyalsock Trail, which passes through the park, was laid out by Explorer Scouts. This trail has been maintained and extended by the Alpine Club of Williamsport since 1953. While the park was always popular in Pennsylvania, by the 1960s it began to attract attention from outside the state. The park was home to the first annual whitewater slalom race on Loyalsock Creek in 1964, which attracted over 100 competitors in 1965. A 1964 The New York Times article featured Worlds End park and its "excellent trout stream", and one in 1967 mentioned the park's "peerless wilderness views", "half-acre swimming pool carved into cool Loyalsock Creek" and "public campsites". In 1980, a trailer was added as a temporary park office. The accomplishments of the CCC at Worlds End State Park were recognized in 1987 by the inclusion of the Family Cabin District on the NRHP. On November 12, 2002, a new visitor center and park office was dedicated, which included of public space for environmental education and public programs. The building, constructed with an "energy-efficient design and recycled materials", was part of a $1.1 million project that included the park's first flush toilets and sewage treatment plant. and Tropical Storm Lee flooding In 2004, the Loyalsock Creek Watershed Association installed a fence on the creek's banks near the cabins to limit pedestrian access and erosion. The association planted shrubs and trees in the same area to stabilize the creek's banks in 2008, and in September 2010 replaced more than of fence with a less visible version. On January 25, 2010, flooding caused by heavy rain and melt from of snow "washed out a bridge" leading to the cabin area and destroyed of road there, leaving the park looking like "the set of disaster movie". The cabin area road needed $72,120 in repairs, the park was not fully restored until Memorial Day. Two floods hit the park in 2011, the first from Hurricane Irene on August 29, and the second from Tropical Storm Lee on September 8. Lee washed away about of gravel used to make emergency repairs to roads in the park from Irene damage. Loyalsock Creek reached south of the park, and campers in the park had to be evacuated. Worlds End was closed for two weeks after the Lee flood. As of 2012, post-war facilities include the park office, five wash-houses and other modern restroom facilities, beach house with concession stand, chapel, amphitheater, and modern camping areas. Worlds End State Park is one of twenty-one chosen by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Parks for its "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks" list. The DCNR describes it as "[v]irtually in a class by itself, this wild, rugged and rustic area seems almost untamed". ==Geology, paleontology, and Marcellus shale==

making crevices in the rock Four major rock formations are present in Worlds End State Park, all at least partly from the Carboniferous period. The youngest of these, which forms the highest points in the park, is the early Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation, a gray conglomerate that may contain sandstone, siltstone, and shale, as well as anthracite coal. The Loyalsock gorge rim and the upper part of its walls are the late Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation, which is formed with grayish-red shale, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate. Below this is the Mississippian Burgoon Formation, which comprises buff-colored sandstone and conglomerate. The creek bed and base of the gorge walls are the late Devonian and early Mississippian Huntley Mountain Formation, which is made of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. conglomerate in the Rock Garden The park is at an elevation of on the Allegheny Plateau, which formed in the Alleghenian orogeny some 300 million years ago, when Gondwana (specifically what became Africa) and what became North America collided, forming Pangaea. The local region is known as the Endless Mountains, but despite the name these are not true mountains: instead millions of years of erosion have made this a dissected plateau, causing the "mountainous" terrain seen today. The hardest of the ancient rocks are on top of the ridges, while the softer rocks eroded away forming the valleys: the Loyalsock gorge is approximately deep in the park. Loyalsock Creek and its tributaries have been a primary force in the creation of the valleys, as the creek makes its way across the landscape to its mouth at the West Branch Susquehanna River in Montoursville. The Marcellus Formation, a shale rich in natural gas, lies thousands of feet below Worlds End State Park and much of Pennsylvania. As of June 30, 2012, there were 127 active gas wells in Sullivan County, with 14 of those in Forks or Shrewsbury Townships. The state did not purchase the mineral rights to much of the land it owns. Anadarko Petroleum (now Occidental Petroleum) owns the mineral rights under the [Loyalsock] state forest and plans to drill in it. Natural gas pipeline construction upstream of the park spilled a "significant amount" of sediment and mud into Loyalsock Creek in September 2012. Climate The Allegheny Plateau has a continental climate, with occasional severe low temperatures in winter and average daily temperature ranges of 20 °F (11 °C) in winter and 80 °F (14 °C) in summer. For the region the park is in, the average minimum temperature in January is , while the average maximum temperature in July is . The mean annual precipitation for Loyalsock Creek is 42 to 48 inches (1067 to 1219 mm). The highest recorded temperature at the park was in 1936, and the record low was in 1994. On average, July is the hottest month at Worlds End, January is the coldest, and June the wettest. ==Ecology==

Worlds End State Park is near Forksville on Pennsylvania Route 154 in the narrow, serpentine valley of Loyalsock Creek. It is nearly surrounded by Loyalsock State Forest, which was known here as Wyoming State Forest until July 1, 2005. Common trees found in the state park and forest include black cherry, eastern hemlock, red maple, tulip poplar, yellow birch, and white ash. The northern hardwood and hemlock forests are threatened in general by deer overgrazing, while the woolly adelgid, an invasive hemiptera, threatens the hemlock populations. In 2010 Worlds End was part of over of state forests and parks combating the woolly adelgid with a $110,000 federal grant to the DCNR's "Forest Pest Management Division for insecticide treatment of high-value Eastern hemlocks". Several different interpretive and educational programs on environmental and ecological topics are offered at the park each summer. Bird watchers have observed over 200 species of birds in the park, including the great blue heron, northern harrier, white-throated sparrow and highly sensitive species which are rare as breeding birds in Pennsylvania such as northern goshawk and yellow-bellied flycatcher. The state park and forest are part of the larger Pennsylvania Important Bird Area (IBA) #42, which encompasses . The Pennsylvania Audubon Society has designated the IBA as a globally important habitats for the conservation of bird populations. ==Recreation==

Trails There are over of hiking trails at Worlds End State Park. Most of the trails are rocky and steep, so hikers are encouraged to wear proper footgear and to be prepared for icy conditions during the cold winter months. As John Young writes in Hike Pennsylvania, "If you want to do some hiking in the Worlds End region, you should know that hiking here means climbing". Worlds End State Park is open during the winter months for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Most of the trails are too steep or rugged for either activity, but the park roads are open, as are trails on surrounding state forest lands. Recently, the trail markers have been changed to a yellow disc with a red "LT". • Link Trail is a moderate trail marked with a red X on a yellow circle blaze. The trail starts at the Cabin Bridge in the park and follows Loyalsock Creek before it branches off and follows Double Run. The trail then ascends to Canyon Vista and heads out into Loyalsock State Forest where it links up with the Loyalsock Trail at the post. • Canyon Vista Trail is a loop trail with blue blazes that passes through the eastern portion of the park and a stand of ash, sugar maple, and black cherry trees. This trail passes a maze-like jumble of blocky Pottsville Formation rocks known as the Rock Garden, adjacent to Canyon Vista. Fishing, hunting, and whitewater According to John Young, "As soon as you enter Worlds End State Park, you hear it: the never-ending rush of the waters of Loyalsock Creek". Hunting is permitted on about half of the lands of Worlds End State Park. Hunters are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The common game species are ruffed grouse, eastern gray squirrels, turkey, white-tailed deer and bears; however, the hunting of groundhogs is prohibited. The best time for whitewater boating on Loyalsock Creek at Worlds End State Park is from March to May, Worlds End State Park has three options for visitors interested in staying overnight. There are 19 rustic cabins, each with a refrigerator, stove, fireplace, table with chairs, and beds. There is a 70-site tent and camper campground along Pennsylvania Route 154. Some of the campsites have an electric hook-up, and there is a central shower facility with water and restrooms located nearby. Three organized group tenting areas, each capable of accommodating 30 people, are also available north of the cabins. They may also be used for one large group of up to 90 campers. The picnic and swimming areas are adjacent to each other, with the building housing the bath house and concession stand between them. There are many picnic tables and several pavilions available for day use by visitors to the park. During the Great Depression the Civilian Conservation Corps built a tall dam on Loyalsock Creek, which provides a swimming area at Worlds End State Park. Since 2008, lifeguards are no longer on duty at the park. ==References==