RV rental Cowans Gap State Park, PA: Motorhome rentals, camper van rentals and more

Although Cowans Gap State Park is a smaller park, clocking in at a little over 1,000 acres, it packs in around 15 miles of hiking trails along with water recreational fun. Some of the trails are considered challenging because they require leaping from boulder to boulder or carefully crossing fields of small rocks, left behind by a massive glacier as it retreated north during the last Ice Age, some 65,000 years ago. Standing Stone Trail travels 76 miles, crossing streams, dense woods, other neighboring parks, and up mountain ridges until it finally connects with the Appalachian Trail. Once nonexistent, wildlife is now abundant. Watch for turtles, deer, and even the shy black bear as they forage for berries and other delicious wild fruits. On warm summer evenings, various bat species take to the skies in search of mosquitoes and other insects. Autumn heralds the migrating swans, snow geese, and Canadian geese. They descend in hundreds, sometimes thousands, to rest at the lake for a few days before continuing the very long journey south. Though most wildlife slumber in winters, watch for a flash of white as a white-tailed deer sprints through the woods. The lake, often covered in a sheet of ice in winters, is popular for ice-fishing and skating. After the thaw, electric and non-powered boats are allowed on the lake, and in the summers, a concession stand rents out rowboats and paddleboats. There is a small beach open to the public, but visitors should be mindful that there are no lifeguards on duty. RV camping at Cowans Gap State Park, too, is a popular activity. If those trails aren’t sufficient, the Buchanan State Forest, which curls around Cowans Gap, has several more miles of hiking and recreational fun.