Outdoor Life · Locations
Outdoor Locations in Schuylkill County
36 public lands, waters, and campgrounds for getting outdoors across Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania — state parks and a state forest, lakes and reservoirs, trails and water trails, private campgrounds, and the county's State Game Lands. Each links to its own page with the durable details and the agency or operator that manages it.
How to use this. Every location has its own page with directions, what's there, and how to get in. The details that change each year — fees, season dates, stocking schedules — link out to the managing agency (DCNR, PFBC, PGC) or the campground operator rather than being frozen here. Browse the activities under Outdoor Life, the county's natural areas & habitats, or the cited reference to what lives here under Wildlife and Plants, fungi & lichens.
Parks, forests, trails, lakes, campgrounds & preserves
- Appalachian Trail — Port Clinton — Long-distance trail (in-county section) · straddles the county line
The Appalachian Trail passes through Port Clinton, a noted thru-hiker town; a steep stair-and-rock side trail climbs west from town to the Blue Mountain ridge and its overlooks. - Camp-A-While Campground — Private campground (RV, tent, cabins/rental trailers)
A family campground in the Hegins Valley with RV and tent sites, a pool, a stocked fishing pond, and a lodge with a game room and WiFi. - Christmas Pines Campground — Private campground (RV, tent, cabins)
A family campground in Auburn off I-78 with a pool, country store, game room, and Blue Mountain views, offering RV, tent, and cabin stays. - Echo Valley Campground — Private campground (RV, tent, cabins/glamping)
A year-round family campground near Tremont just off I-81, with pull-thru RV sites, tent sites, and modern glamping cabins along Black Creek. - Hawk Mountain Sanctuary — Private raptor sanctuary & trail system · straddles the county line
A private Kittatinny-Ridge sanctuary famous for autumn raptor migration, with a network of rocky ridge trails and two lookouts; established in 1934 — widely recognized as the world's first refuge for birds of prey. - John Bartram Trail — Riverside rail/dirt trail (point-to-point) · straddles the county line
A flat dirt riverside trail along the Schuylkill River connecting Kernsville Dam toward Port Clinton, crossing the Appalachian Trail and State Game Lands. - Landingville Marsh Trail — Marsh loop / birding trail
A flat loop circling the Landingville Marsh — a noted Schuylkill County birding site with a documented 211-species bird list — incorporating a developed section of the John Bartram Trail along the Schuylkill River. - Locust Lake State Park — State park (campground, lake & trail system)
Schuylkill County's classic family lake campground — 282 wooded sites split into tent-only and trailer sides around a 52-acre lake with swimming, boating, fishing, and a trail system near Barnesville. - Owl Creek Reservoirs — Borough reservoir recreation area (two reservoirs)
Two restored former drinking-water reservoirs at Tamaqua, managed by the borough as a catch-and-release, electric-only bass and panfish fishery with loop trails for walking and mountain biking. - Pulpit Rock — Appalachian Trail ridge overlook · serves the area (just outside the county)
A cliff-edge Appalachian Trail overlook near Hawk Mountain, reached from the Hamburg Reservoir just over the Schuylkill County line, often combined with The Pinnacle in a ridge loop. - Rabbit Run Reservoir — Borough reservoir (stocked trout, bank fishing)
A small Tamaqua-owned former water-supply reservoir in Walker Township, PFBC-stocked with adult trout and supported by a volunteer co-op nursery — primarily bank fishing. - Rosemount Camping Resort — Private camping resort (RV, tent, cabins)
A long-established family camping resort near Tamaqua with about 200 sites, two pools, full-hookup RV sites, and cabin rentals. - Schuylkill River Water Trail — Water trail (river paddling) · straddles the county line
The Schuylkill River rises in the Schuylkill County coal region; a developing water trail offers public paddling launches at Auburn, Schuylkill Haven, and Port Clinton. - Swatara Creek Water Trail — Water trail (creek paddling) · straddles the county line
A DCNR-designated water trail whose Mile 0 access is at Pine Grove in Schuylkill County, running down the Swatara Creek corridor through Swatara State Park toward Lebanon and Dauphin counties. - Swatara State Park — State park (rail trail & creek valley) · straddles the county line
A linear creek-valley park between two I-81 interchanges near Pine Grove, with a 10-mile rail trail and the rolling Bear Hole Trail, combinable into a 10-mile loop via the historic Waterville Bridge. - Sweet Arrow Lake County Park — County park (lake, trails & day-use)
A ~183-acre county park near Pine Grove around a 60-acre lake — paved lakefront paths, a waterfall walk, the natural Berger Dam Trail, disc golf, and year-round fishing stocked each spring with trout. - The Pinnacle — Appalachian Trail ridge overlook · serves the area (just outside the county)
A dramatic quartzite outcrop on the Kittatinny Ridge with a sweeping Appalachian Trail panorama, reached from the Hamburg Reservoir just over the Schuylkill County line in Berks County. - Tuscarora State Park — State park (cottages & yurts, lake & trail system)
A lake-centered state park around 96-acre Tuscarora Lake near Barnesville — roofed camping in cottages and yurts (no drive-in campground), an electric-only fishing lake, and a 5.5-mile perimeter trail loop. - Twin Grove RV Resort & Cottages — Private destination RV resort (RV, cottages/cabins, tent) · straddles the county line
A large destination RV resort near Pine Grove with amusement rides, pools, a restaurant, and full-hookup big-rig sites, sitting directly across from Swatara State Park. - Weiser State Forest — Port Clinton Tract — State forest (roadside & primitive camping) · straddles the county line
The Port Clinton Tract of Weiser State Forest — five remote, permit-required roadside campsites plus forest-wide primitive backpacking near Port Clinton, with no facilities and the Appalachian Trail close by.
State Game Lands
The 16 State Game Lands in and bordering the county — public hunting land managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
- State Game Land 80 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A Blue Mountain game land spanning Schuylkill, Berks, and Lebanon Counties, almost entirely forested ridge with seven public parking areas and about eight miles of the Appalachian Trail along the crest. - State Game Land 84 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A mountainous, heavily forested game land on the Northumberland–Schuylkill border, with several parking areas and gated internal administrative roads. - State Game Land 106 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A forested Blue Mountain ridge with Schuylkill River bottom across Schuylkill, Berks, and Lehigh Counties, with eight parking areas, a public shooting range near Eckville, and the Appalachian Trail corridor crossing it. - State Game Land 110 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A forested Blue Mountain ridge with the Schuylkill River corridor across Schuylkill and Berks Counties, with parking at the major access points and the Appalachian Trail running the ridge to Port Clinton. - State Game Land 132 — State game land (public hunting land)
A mountainous, heavily forested game land on Mahantango Mountain north of Hegins, entirely within Schuylkill County, with parking areas per the PGC map. - State Game Land 160 — State game land (public hunting land)
A bottomland and riparian game land along Lower Little Swatara Creek in Schuylkill County, with one foot-access parking area and roads closed year-round to public motor vehicles. - State Game Land 211 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A wooded ridge-and-valley game land in St. Anthony's Wilderness / Stony Valley across Schuylkill, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties, with numerous parking areas and a public shooting range on the Dauphin-County side. - State Game Land 217 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A forested Blue Mountain ridge game land at Bake Oven Knob across Schuylkill, Lehigh, and Carbon Counties, with numerous parking areas and the Appalachian Trail running its full length. - State Game Land 222 — State game land (public hunting land)
A two-compartment forested game land near McKeansburg in Schuylkill County, almost entirely forested mountain with parking on the southern parcel and on Catawissa Road. - State Game Land 227 — State game land (public hunting land)
A forested Locust Mountain game land north of Tamaqua in Schuylkill County, with five parking lots, roads closed year-round to public motor vehicles, and trout-fishing streams crossing it. - State Game Land 229 — State game land (public hunting land)
A two-compartment ridge-and-valley game land in western Schuylkill County along the Swatara and Lorberry Creek drainages, with six parking lots and stocked pheasants. - State Game Land 257 — State game land (public hunting land)
A mountainous, wooded game land near Tamaqua, entirely within Schuylkill County in two tracts, with several parking areas per the PGC map. - State Game Land 264 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
An almost entirely forested Bear Valley game land across Schuylkill and Dauphin Counties, with several parking areas off SR 25/209 and an abandoned railroad grade now a horse/bike trail. - State Game Land 286 — State game land (public hunting land)
A small game land on Schuylkill Mountain next to Schuylkill Haven, a steep north-facing forested slope plus reclaimed coal-silt bottomland, with one established parking area on SR 2010. - State Game Land 326 — State game land (public hunting land)
A three-piece game land near Gordon and Frackville along the Mill Creek drainage in Schuylkill County, with four parking areas and some access roads open to vehicles only during major hunting seasons. - State Game Land 329 — State game land (public hunting land) · straddles the county line
A predominantly forested game land of rolling hills with some farmland near Aristes on the Columbia–Schuylkill line, connecting to Weiser State Forest (Roaring Creek Tract) trails.