Canoe Creek Ranger: Park is for Everyone

Resource Ranger at Canoe Creek State Park James Effinger spoke recently during the history hour at The Hollidaysburg Area Library.

Effinger focused on the park's ability to supply different enjoyment for different people. Different groups are coming that didn't come before. After a spike during COVID, the park saw less people, but they are now seeing more people than ever using the park for different things.

For example, disc golf is extremely popular. There isn't a day at the park, where somebody isn't throwing a disc.

Effinger said that as far as fishing goes, Canoe Creek is now a bass trophy lake. There are men and women coming now, specifically, for trophy bass. The park also stocks around 10,000 trout a year.

"We have different outside programs going on," Effinger said. "The triathalon with the YMCA. Dreams Go On with the horses in the park. There are a lot of different activities that state parks didn't see 10 or 20 years ago that now we are starting to see a lot of groups taking advantage of. We have to be ready for them. We are seeing the parks either as an evolution or a revolution."

He hopes that the people will receive the message that everybody is welcome. This simple message is near and dear to his heart.

There are 124 state parks in Pennsylvania. Trying to keep up with just the infrastructure inside the parks - the bathrooms, the roads, the pavilions and everything - takes a tremendous amount of money.

"We appreciate every dollar we get, but the taxpayer gets a lot of bang for the buck," Effinger said.