Pennsylvania state game land tours set Oct. 15

Harrisburg — The following tours of state game lands are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15.

• State Game Land 67, Huntingdon County, noon to 3 p.m.

This driving tour of a 5,700-acre tract begins off Route 913, between Coalmont and Dudley (look for the sign) and covers approximately 7 miles. 

Participants will find ample opportunity to enjoy the historical sites, quality habitat improvements conducted by Game Commission habitat crews in partnership with cooperating organizations such as the Huntingdon County Conservation District and the Shoup’s Run Watershed Association, as well as controlled-burn and quality forest management areas. 

This tour will be a self-guided driving tour only, as there will be no staff available to lead the excursion as in past years. Information will be provided to each vehicle at the start of the tour to help guide participants. 

• State Game Land 108, Cambria County, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

This tour will be a 7.5-mile, self-guided, one-way, driving tour and will highlight mountainous terrain and early fall foliage on the Allegheny Front and this 23,086-acre game land. 

The tour begins at the game lands access road three-tenths of a mile north of Frugality, along state Route 53, in White Township. Look for the sign. 

The tour will conclude on state Route 865, near Blandburg in Reade Township. 

Items of interest along the tour route include a rehabilitated strip-mined area that has been converted to small-game habitat, where the Game Commission releases pheasants. The area also serves as a study area for grassland nesting birds. 

Endangered northern harrier hawks and short-eared owls also inhabit the study area. There are also several forestry projects to improve habitat for wildlife, new road maintenance projects to improve access, and herbaceous openings that have been planted to provide food for wildlife along the tour route.

• State Game Land 110, Berks County, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This tour begins at the Mountain Road gate approximately 5 miles west of Hamburg Borough and ends at the state Route 183 gate, 4 miles north of Strausstown. 

Game Commission personnel will be stationed along the tour route to provide site-specific information and answer questions.

• State Game Land 211, Dauphin County, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Known as the Stoney Valley Tour, this route begins at the Ellendale Forge gate, located 6 miles east of Dauphin Borough, along Stoney Valley Road, and ends at the Gold Mine gate.

Game Commission personnel will be stationed along the tour route to provide site-specific information and answer questions.

• State Game Land 252, Lycoming and Union counties, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This tour primarily will focus on the varied habitats this game land has to offer, including managed water impoundments, managed dove fields, woodcock management areas, warm-season grasses and old field management areas.

Additionally, the game land is home to the remnants of a World War II-era military instillation and a historical town.