Promised Land State Park

Despite being just a 30 minute drive from Scranton, Promised Land State Park, is a world away from city life.

Nestled on the Pocono Plateau, this stunning Pennsylvania state park offers a remote location for visitors to explore. Surrounded by almost 12,500 acres of the Delaware State Forest, it sits at 1800 feet above sea level, making it the perfect place to visit for those who really want to escape to nature.

Offering serenity and outstanding natural beauty in abundance, the park boasts wild woodlands, pristine lakes and rugged terrain. This means it is an excellent spot for a range of outdoor recreational pursuits including hiking, fishing, boating, swimming and hunting. As well as the likes of orienteering, geocaching, horse riding, cross country skiing and picnicking.

Open all year round, many people come to the park for a day trip. However, should you want to stay a little longer, the park has six different campgrounds and over 235 cabins available to hire, enabling you to really take their time to appreciate it.

Activities

Visitors to the park can partake in numerous recreational outdoor pursuits during their time there.

Below is a small selection of some of the main activities you can do while at Promised Land State Park.

Boating at Promised Land State Park

If you enjoy boating you will love the opportunities the 422-acre Promised Land Lake and 173-acre Lower Lake provide you with to get onto the water.

Between them they present nine and four miles of shoreline respectively for you to explore with electric motor boats only. There are five launching areas available to get you going, while a total of 170 mooring spaces are available during the months of April and October.

All motorboats are required to display a current and valid boat registration. Non-powered boats must also have a launching permit or a boat registration.

Swimming at Promised Land State Park

During the summer months the park gets quite hot. Thankfully, there are two sand beaches available to swim at. The main beach can be found at the Day Use Picnic Area, while the other is at Pickerel Point Beach.

Both of these beaches are open every day from 8 am to sunset, Memorial Day through to mid-September. They are not lifeguarded, so you will need to swim at your own risk.

Fishing at Promised Land State Park

Both lakes offer excellent opportunities for fishing, so you should definitely bring your rods and reels with you.

Some of the common species you can snare include Muskellunge, Catfish, Pickerel, Sunfish, Yellow perch and both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Additionally, Lower Lake operates as approved trout waters, so it full of brown, rainbow and brook trout.
To fish at the park you will need a valid state license. However, once you have one you can cast a line from the shoreline or in a boat on either waters.

Hiking at Promised Land State Park

For those into hiking the park delivers plenty of opportunity to explore its diverse landscape.

With over 50 miles of trails, visitors can choose from easy, moderate, and challenging hikes that wind through varying terrain such as dense forests, rocky terrain and along serene lakes.

Here are some of the trails at Promised Land State Park:

• Bear Wallow Trail – Length: 0.9 miles. Degree of Difficulty: easy
• Egypt Meadow Trail – Length: 0.75 miles. Degree of Difficulty: moderate
• Little Falls Trail – Length: 1.2 miles. Degree of Difficulty: challenging

Overall the trails at Promised Land State Park offer stunning views of the surrounding Pocono Mountains and provide wonderful opportunities to spot resident wildlife such as white-tailed deer, black bears and numerous bird species.

Orienteering and Geocaching at Promised Land State Park

Orienteering and Geocaching are two popular activities at Promised Land State Park.

Both beginner and intermediate orienteering courses are regularly put on by the park near the Pines Campground at the Rock Oak Trailhead. If you want to partake in them, you can borrow a compass from the Masker Museum and the main office.

For those into geocaching, there are two GPS multi-caches within the park that relate the history of the CCC in the park. One requires driving to from the start of the museum, the other is easily reached on foot.

Pets

The park considers itself to be pet friendly, although several rules and regulations have been put in place with regards to their presence there.

For example, all dogs must be restrained on a handheld leash for the entire time they are in the park. They also must be well behaved, not left alone for more than 30 minutes at a time and not taken into specific parts of the park.

To find out more about their pet policy it is worth contacting the main office staff.

Camping

For those who want to stay at the park for a few nights there are several camping options to choose from.

Overall, there are six camping areas available, offering sites that range from primitive sites with no electricity or showers to those which have full hook-ups for water, electricity and sewer.

All of these campgrounds offer easy access to the boating, fishing, hiking and swimming facilities in the park.

In addition, to these sites there are also 12 rustic cabins available for hire. Tucked away in evergreens located close to the Lower Lake, they were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s and provide a comfortable place to stay.

Each cabin comes with its own refrigerator, stove, outdoor fire ring, fireplace insert and private bathroom.

As well as these cabins – which belong to park authorities – there are also 224 cabins that are privately owned which you can hire out as well.

Park Location

Promised Land State Park
100 Lower Lake Rd
Greentown, PA 18426
Phone: 570.676.6010

Park Website
Reservations

Map

Video

Here is a short YouTube video showcasing several attractions at Promised Land State Park: