Kings Gap Environmental Education Center is well known for the four-mile road that winds through more than 2,600 acres to the historic Italian villa-style stone mansion atop South Mountain. Kings Gap focuses on natural and cultural interpretation and education. Lifelong learners will appreciate both self-guided interpretive trails and guided hikes. Kings Gap is free and open year-round, from dawn to dusk.
Click here to view the rules from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources regarding pets in state parks.
Day-Use Areas
Twenty-six miles of trails interconnect three main day-use areas: Mansion, Pine Plantation, and Kings Gap Hollow. Begin your journey at the Mansion Day Use Area, where the center offices and an adjacent education center are located.
Mansion
Be sure to take in the view from the patio, wander through the mansion garden, or hike the Ridge Overlook Trail to the sweeping vista of the Cumberland Valley. James McCormick Cameron built the 32-room stone mansion as a summer house. In 1951, the C.H. Masland and Sons Carpet Company purchased the estate for business functions and overnight accommodations for clients. The Commonwealth purchased the property in 1973 and opened it to the public as a state park. In addition to the mansion, many of the estate's buildings remain visible in the park, including the original water tower.
Mansion Garden: The peaceful setting and the vibrancy of its colorful blooms create a garden to be experienced and enjoyed in all seasons. This outdoor classroom inspires and teaches about plants while demonstrating sustainable gardening practices. Surrounded by a low stone wall, the garden has three sections: an herb garden, a wildlife habitat garden featuring native plants, and a compost demonstration garden.
Kings Gap Hollow
Traveling back down the mountain, this day-use area offers trails that explore this habitat for songbirds, wildflowers, reptiles, and amphibians, created by the presence of Kings Gap Hollow Run.
Pine Plantation
Continuing down the road, this area is the site of another trailhead, a half-century-old conifer forest, and is also a haven for many resident bird species, including owls.
Twenty-six miles of trails provide ample opportunities to explore chestnut oak forests, blueberry patches, and trickling streams and encounter wildlife such as birds, white-tailed deer, and the eastern box turtle. Trailheads are located in the three-day use areas. Sturdy footwear is recommended due to the rocky terrain on most trails. Trails are well marked, but taking a trail map on your hike is strongly recommended.
Trails include
Black Gum Trail: 0.8-mile linear trail (more difficult) | View Details
Buck Ridge Trail: 1.8 miles in the park, 6-mile total linear trail from Kings Gap to Pine Grove Furnace (most difficult) | View Details
Cold Spring Overlook Trail: 1.3-mile linear trail (easiest) | View Details
East Watershed Trail: 0.8-mile linear trail (easiest) | View Details
Firebreak Trail: 0.5-mile linear trail (most difficult) | View Details
Trail Difficulty Ratings: based on the technical challenge, not physical exertion.
Easiest (Interpretive) – Grade is gentle with few obstacles
More Difficult – Grade is steeper and trails narrower with embedded rocks or roots on the trail surface
Most Difficult – Grade is steep and provides a definite physical challenge. Elevation gain or loss is severe.
Wildlife Watching
The elevation change from the bottom to the top of the mountain creates three distinct forest habitats.
At the foot of the mountain are coniferous and vernal pool habitats providing a home to wildlife, including saw-whet owls. Although impacted by invasive plants, the understory includes native spicebush, a food source for butterflies and bluebirds. In the spring, vernal pools are a safe haven for amphibians and their young
On the lower slopes of South Mountain is a forest habitat of white oak, red oak, and tulip trees. In the tree canopy, birds like scarlet tanagers, Baltimore orioles, and vireos hunt for insects to feed their young. More remote areas host a variety of wildlife, including foxes, coyotes, and black bears. Summer brings blooms to native wildflowers such as mountain laurel and wild azalea.
The dry ridge tops of South Mountain are forested with chestnut oak, with a summer understory of huckleberry. Orchids, trailing arbutus, and trillium can be seen in the spring. Pileated woodpeckers, eastern wood-peewees, brown creepers, and kinglets thrive in the dry forest. Turkey vultures often soar over the park on warm air currents rising from the ridgelines. Deer, turkeys, and fox squirrels flourish, and five-lined skinks can be seen basking in the sun.
All areas of the park are home to a variety of snakes. Due to a declining population, it is unlawful to hunt, take, catch, or kill timber rattlesnakes.
Bike the 4-mile windy road leading up to the mansion. Be sure to stop along the way at scenic vistas of the Valley below. NOTE: Bikes are prohibited on the trails. View more bike routes in Cumberland Valley.
Hunting
During established seasons, about 2,400 acres are open for hunting, trapping, and dog training. (Dog training is only permitted from the day following Labor Day through March 31 in designated hunting areas.) An additional 138 acres are open to archery-only deer hunting in the appropriate season. Common game species are deer, turkeys, and squirrels.
The mansion and education building are included in a 56-acre posted no-hunting area. Hunters should be aware of both posted and not posted "Safety Zones." Contact the center office for additional information on hunting areas.
Orienteering
The park offers orienteering courses and programs in the spring and fall. Additional information on orienteering and copies of the course maps are available in the education building foyer.
Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing
If there is enough snow cover, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are permitted on all trails, although the more level trails in the Pine Plantation Use Area are recommended.
Guided Hikes and Programs
Self-guided and guided programs range from historical mansion tours to interpretive walks through the gardens, grounds, and trails. Check our online events calendar for guided hikes and other programs.
Electric Charging Station
A two-plug, first-come, first-served, electric vehicle charging station is available for public use in the Education Center parking lot. There is a four-hour maximum time limit. Overnight charging is prohibited. Please move to another parking space once your vehicle has been charged.
Stay the Night
Weekend Stays at the Mansion-- Spend the weekend at the historic Cameron Masland Mansion from late April through mid-November. There is a two-night minimum stay (Friday & Saturday nights). Continental breakfast is included in the cost. All suites and rooms come with a queen bed (plus a queen sofa bed for the suites), mini-fridge, Keurig coffee maker and coffee/tea, iron and ironing board, hairdryer, linens, and toiletries. There are four suites with a maximum capacity of 4 people each and three rooms with a maximum capacity of two people each. Each two-person room features a private full bathroom with a clawfoot tub. Each four-person room features a private full bathroom with a clawfoot tub or shower. Check-in time is between 3 pm and 7 pm on Friday, and check-out time is 11 am on Sunday. To book a room, call 888-PA-PARKS or visit https://pennsylvaniastateparks.reserveamerica.com/.
Organized Group Tenting -- Located in the Kings Gap Hollow Area, a wooded space features six tenting platforms, a communal fire pit, and nearby restrooms. This site may be reserved by organized groups from mid-April to late October at https://pennsylvaniastateparks.reserveamerica.com/
Groups -- The Mansion is also available to rent for meetings, retreats, training sessions, weddings, receptions, and other special events.
