Recharge yourself, and your electric cars, at these PA Wilds locations
- by LaKeshia Knarr
- October 28, 2019
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As electric vehicles (EV) become more popular, some communities are looking to integrate service stations along routes to assist travelers and residents alike. This is also true for state parks and forests in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR) has an initiative in place to add charging stations to public lands — and this includes the Pennsylvania Wilds.
In fact, the first EV charging station was completed in the Pennsylvania Wilds, at Kinzua Bridge State Park in May of 2018.
Kinzua Bridge, located in the Allegheny National Forest & Surrounds landscape, is one of the most visited state parks in the region, with roughly 300,000 visitors annually making the trek to see the renowned skywalk.
Now, three of the region’s 29 state parks have charging stations — with a total of twelve completed so far across the state — and several more are planned!
The other two state parks currently operating charging stations in the Pennsylvania Wilds include Black Moshannon and Bald Eagle, both located along the I-80 Frontier and thus conveniently located for many travelers.
“To promote and encourage the use of sustainable transportation to and from the commonwealth’s state parks and forests, DCNR has begun installing Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that operate free of charge to visitors,” explained Jacob Newton, executive assistant to the Deputy Secretary for Parks and Forestry at DCNR.
By 2021, DCNR seeks to provide EV charging stations at a total of 43 state park and forest locations.
“These 43 sites were chosen due to factors such as visitation, availability of recreational attractions, proximity to major roads and throughways, and the ability to increase the network of available EV stations across both the rural and more populated communities of the commonwealth,” said Newton.
He noted that four more of the planned charging stations will be placed in the Pennsylvania Wilds which will serve the Cook Forest & the Ancients and the Pine Creek Valley & PA Grand Canyon landscapes of the region. These planned EV charging stations will be placed at Cook Forest State Park, Leonard Harrison State Park, Tiadaghton State Forest, and Tioga State Forest over the next couple years.
“Each EV visitor charging station will include at least two universal (J1772) Level 2 plugs that are able to fully charge 75% of current plugin hybrid or electric vehicles on the market in about 2.5-8 hours, depending on the vehicle’s make and model,” Newton noted. “These stations will allow DCNR state park and forest visitors to plug in and recharge their vehicles while they recharge themselves and enjoy the agency’s scenic public lands.”
This initiative is just one of several green and sustainable practice initiatives DCNR has taken on, and one that visitors can easily tap into. Others include the agency’s effort to focus on high-performance buildings standards, including LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified designs; its deployment of small scale solar arrays to take certain buildings and facilities off the grid; and analyzing its own vehicle fleet to integrate electric vehicles.
(The Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park, pictured at right, is one example of a LEED certified building on public lands in the Pennsylvania Wilds.)
To learn more about all the state parks and forests offering EV charging stations, click here. For more information on DCNR’s sustainable practices initiative, click here.
This article highlights EV charging stations available on public lands in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Do you know of communities in the Pennsylvania Wilds that have EV charging stations available? Let us know in the comment section below!
