Fulton County: Nature, Trails and History

Fulton County combines expansive landscapes with impressive traces of regional history. Lakes, wooded State Game Lands, hiking trails and historic buildings give your trip a variety of focal points.

Nature and Trails Around Cowans Gap State Park

An important destination is the 1,085-acre Cowans Gap State Park in Fulton County’s Allens Valley. Its main attractions include a 42-acre lake, two campgrounds, rustic Civilian Conservation Corps cabins and numerous hiking trails. The park is open daily year-round from sunrise to sunset. This makes it possible to include nature in your travel plans regardless of a specific event date.

Within the park, the Standing Stone Trail passes a historic CCC incinerator and offers views of Cowans Gap Lake and the lower Path Valley. This combination of trail, landscape and regional history particularly appeals to travelers seeking more than pure nature observation while hiking. The State Game Lands No. 53 west of McConnellsburg offer another type of landscape. They encompass 5,901 acres of hilly to mountainous, densely forested terrain as well as a 200-acre lake.

Overall, Fulton County has more than 50,000 acres of Pennsylvania state forest land, with lakes and streams rich in wildlife and fish. Those who focus on forests, water and trails when searching for accommodation will find a different type of trip here than with a predominantly cultural and historical itinerary. For a sporting addition, the Great Cove Golf Club offers an 18-hole course, a large driving range and a practice green.

Museums and Historic Sites

The museum in the Fulton House is located in the original eastern section of the building and includes four rooms and a log-cabin kitchen. It displays furniture, tools, household items and decorative objects relating to the cultural and material history of Fulton County in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Fulton House itself was built in 1793 as an inn and tavern and expanded in 1820. In addition, the Museum Annex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Various historical themes can also be encountered outside the museum. The Winegardner School in Taylor Township is a fully restored, partially furnished one-room schoolhouse. The McConnellsburg Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 and includes 144 contributing buildings. Big Spring Graveyard is the burial place of, among others, victims of the Great Cove Massacre of November 1, 1755.

Other sites point to the region’s transportation and settlement history: East of the site of the Forbes-Road-Raystown-Path Marker is the junction of two branches of the Raystown Path, including the General Forbes Road through Cowan Gap. Routes 16 and 30, as well as the Lincoln Highway, follow the route of the first public road through Fulton County. Hunter Mill was a gristmill built by pioneers and commissioned by William Hunter in 1812. At the site of the Last Confederate Bivouac, a Confederate force under General Bradley T. Johnson camped on July 31, 1864, after raiding and burning Chambersburg. Fort Lyttelton was begun by George Croghan in 1755 and was reportedly in ruins by 1764.

Getting There and Finding Suitable Accommodation

Fulton County is easily accessible via Interstate Routes 68, 70 and 81 as well as the Pennsylvania Turnpike. When choosing your vacation rental, you can therefore first decide whether nature trails, lakes, golf or historical discoveries should shape your vacation.

If you would like to expand your search to additional destinations, you can find Needmore as well as Pike, Lackawanna, Monroe, Bradford County, Erie, Wyoming County and Elk County here.

For the broader travel overview: Pennsylvania.