Discover Elk Scenic Drive

Discover Elk Scenic Drive. . , our history, There's no telling exactly how many elk once roamed free throughout Pennsylvania. From the Allegheny National Forest to Kettle Creek State Park, the loud bugles of the male bulls could be heard calling the female cows to mate. But, by the mid-1800s, the Pennsylvania population was reduced to living in a small area in Elk County. And the last native Pennsylvania elk was killed near Ridgway in 1867., Realizing their historic and geographic importance, the Pennsylvania Game Commission set about to restore this once proud herd and bring them home. Between 1913 and 1926 they released 177 elk from the Rocky Mountains and pledged to give them a safe haven to live and breed. Today, Pennsylvania's elk population has come roaring back, the herd estimated to be about 600 strong with calves being born every year., To help you discover these majestic creatures and other wildlife, we've mapped out the Elk Scenic Drive, a 127-mile route that winds its way through three state forests and three state game lands. You can hear bull elk bugle from the Gilbert Farm and Dent's Run sites on Winslow Hill. Or photograph them grazing at first light in the dew-touched fields of Hicks Run Wildlife Viewing area., Take your time (it'll take you about four hours). If you listen carefully, the land will tell its story in the rich language of bird songs and animal tracks, in the late-summer cadence of grasshoppers, in the resounding splash of a beaver's tail at dusk. Observe patiently, and you will see many of the wild inhabitants of this varied and beautiful landscape.