WEISER STATE FOREST
The Weiser State Forest consists of eight tracts of State Forest Land located in northern Dauphin, Schuylkill, Carbon and Berks Counties. The total area of State Forest Land is 17,961 acres.
Within the Weiser State Forest are some very rugged and secluded wooded areas. These areas can be reached by the 65 miles of roads which have been constructed for wildfire suppression and administrative use.
The Weiser State Forest is located in areas where pure mountain water originates. Several of these streams provide the sole source of drinking water for the Communities of Port Clinton, Lykens and Williamstown.
All State Forest Lands are open to the public for hunting, fishing and general recreation.
There are two small State Forest Picnic Areas located on the Haldeman State Forest Tract in Dauphin County. These picnic areas offer a secluded place to "get away from it all."
The major hiking trail located in the Weiser District is the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail which travels the entire length of the District. One end of the trail is at Mt. Katahdin, a 5,267 ft. granite monolith in the wilds of northern Maine. The other is at Springer Mountain, Georgia, the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Weiser Forest District was named in honor of Conrad Weiser, a great leader of the Colonial Period. His entire life had its setting during the early years of our country, when a large part of our State was still a vast wilderness and interior America was as yet unexplored. Weiser spent his years as a frontiersman and pioneer among the husky men who were clearing farms in the forest, building roads and struggling for for existence against hostile Indians, hunger, the elements and the discomforts of pioneer life. Weiser emerged during these times as a community leader and a nation builder.
For fifteen years Conrad Weiser had been closely associated with the Mohawk Indians and learned Indian language, habits and customs. In 1729, Conrad Weiser moved from Schochary (west of Albany) New York to Tulpehocken (near Womelsdorf) Pennsylvania. A town had already been established on the banks of the Tulpehocken Creek six years before his arrival.
In 1731, Weiser's public life began. He was persuaded by Shekilammy, the Chief of the Six Nations Federation, to accompany the Indian leader to Philadelphia. Here Weiser was to be the Provincial Indian Interpreter and Agent at a meeting of the provincial council. Weiser devoted his remaining years to interpreting the words and thoughts of the Indians to white men. After Braddock's defeat, Weiser persisted more than any other man of his time to hold the chain of friendship between white and Indian from falling apart.