Year in Review: Top 10 PA Wilds blogs of 2023
- by Britt Madera
- December 31, 2023
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It was a busy 2023, and the story of the Pennsylvania Wilds continues with some exciting developments. Families have been making memories in the region, adventurers have been exploring, small businesses have been growing, and communities have been welcoming in visitors and new residents. This year has proven that the PA Wilds is a place where truly anyone can find something they love.
The year 2023 was full of history, reflection, and growth. It provided opportunities to look back and celebrate the region’s past… and get a sense for what is ahead.
It marked the 20th anniversary of the Pennsylvania Wilds brand, and there were some major anniversaries taking place in the region, such as the centennial celebration for the Allegheny National Forest, the 20th anniversary of the tornado that brought down Kinzua Bridge, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of Kinzua Bridge State Park. The year also offered a chance for new recognition as the Mount Jewett to Kinzua Bridge Trail was named as Pennsylvania’s Trail of the Year. New people began exploring the region as well, with 2023 marking the second year of The Wilds Are Working: A Remote Lifestyle Experience, an initiative that allows select remote workers to spend the month living, working and enjoying the PA Wilds in 2023’s chosen communities, Emporium and Warren.
Throughout the past year, visitors and residents alike have been keeping up with the PA Wilds Are Calling blog, learning the area’s history and finding new ways to explore and discover. It seems like a lot of the readers are ready to go hunting… whether that’s for a big buck, treasure, Bigfoot, a history lesson, or a new adventure. Others want to know what’s going on in the region, searching out news about The Wilds Are Working or learning about the Game Commission’s plans to reintroduce the American Marten.
If you didn’t get a chance to keep up with the blog all year, don’t worry! We’re counting down the Top 10 blogs for you to catch up on before 2024 arrives, starting with #10 and ending with #1, the most read blog of the year.
How are these blogs chosen?
To determine our top blogs of 2023, the PA Wilds Center staff reviewed the past 12 months of Google Analytics data, then found the top ten blogs that had the highest number of pageviews in the 12-month period of 2023. (The number one blog had more than 19,000 pageviews at the time of checking!) Please note, however, that the blogs listed in the Top Ten of 2023 could be from publication in any year – they just so happened to receive the most views this year!
Safety First: PA hunter education and safety
By Pennsylvania Game Commission
The PA Wilds is home to over 2.1 million acres of public land, which includes a number of state game lands for hunters. Hunting is safe and getting safer, thanks to hunter education. Since 1959, hunting-related shooting incidents have declined drastically. There are a variety of resources and safety courses for hunters of all experience levels to participate in. The following information was provided by the PA Game Commission and even more information can be found on their website.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/safety-first-pa-hunter-education-and-safety/
The Kinzua Bridge Tornado – 20 Years Later
By Ed Byers
A wise person once noted, “Mother Nature is beautiful, Mother Nature is powerful, and Mother Nature is cruel.” Nowhere is this truer than in the Kinzua Creek Valley where, in fewer than 30 seconds, the “powerful and cruel” became real on July 21, 2003 and something “beautiful” that stood for 121 years, was gone. It has been 20 years since the Kinzua Viaduct/Bridge was blown out by a tornado.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/the-kinzua-bridge-tornado-20-years-later/
Bigfoot sightings in the Pennsylvania Wilds
By Lou Bernard
It’s one of the most prominent paranormal legends in America. He’s Bigfoot. And he’s a bipedal, humanoid land mammal, with shaggy hair and huge feet, known for leaving tracks wherever he goes. He’s popular because he’s so often sighted, and probably because he’s a distinctly American legend; Bigfoot is spotted all over the country. And of course that includes the PA Wilds.
And of course that includes the PA Wilds.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/bigfoot-sightings-pennsylvania-wilds/
What you should know about the Wilds Are Working: A Remote Lifestyle Experience
By Britt Madera
The Wilds Are Working: A Remote Lifestyle Experience initiative seeks to raise awareness about the PA Wilds being a great place for remote and non-remote workers to live, work, and play. Communities apply to be a part of the program, and two communities are chosen each year to host up to six remote workers, allowing the participants to “test drive” what it’s like to fully immerse themselves in the PA Wilds and live in a rural community.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/what-you-should-know-about-the-wilds-are-working-a-remote-lifestyle-experience/
Bigfoot reportedly spotted in the PA Wilds
By Lou Bernard
One Sunday recently, with nothing else to do, I took my son out to Centre County to look for Bigfoot. As one does. Bald Eagle State Park is in Centre County, along the I-80 Frontier. It’s a wonderful state park with camping, hiking, and swimming. And, oh yeah, recently Bigfoot has been sighted there, too.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/bigfoot-reportedly-spotted-pa-wilds/
Understanding terrain features to hunt mountain bucks
By Beau Martonik
The PA Wilds region of northern Pennsylvania is home to a ton of public hunting land and is mostly made up of endless timber and topography. Pennsylvania public lands tend to get a bad reputation for being overcrowded with other hunters, but I’ve come to realize that this isn’t always the case.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/understanding-terrain-features-to-hunt-mountain-bucks/
The legend of the Thunderbird
By Lou Bernard
If you’re into cryptozoology, the study of unknown mystery creatures, the Pennsylvania Wilds is a good place to visit. The forests are packed with Bigfoot sightings, and there are water monsters, too, such as the Susquehanna Seal said to inhabit the West Branch Susquehanna. And if you happen to be looking for this sort of thing, make sure you also look up. There have been sightings of Thunderbirds, too.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/legend-of-the-thunderbird/
X Marks the Spot: 6 legends of treasure in the PA Wilds
By Lou Bernard
There are plenty of reasons to visit the Pennsylvania Wilds. There’s the hiking, camping, and exploring. There are all the historic sites. And if you’re in the mood, there are quests for buried treasure, just waiting to be found. Over the years, people have lost and stashed a shocking amount of money, gold, and silver in Pennsylvania.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/x-marks-the-spot-treasure-in-the-pa-wilds/
A cryptid in the woods of the PA Wilds
By Lou Bernard
Cryptids are pretty popular. Everyone knows the big ones: Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti. Those are the ones everybody can name. But in addition to those, there are plenty of other smaller, more local cryptids that people aren’t aware of.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/a-cryptid-in-the-woods-of-the-pa-wilds/
Returning a lost species to the Wilds
By Thomas Keller, PA Game Commission
The American marten was once a common native species within all of PA’s forests. Lost through habitat destruction and unregulated harvest, the marten vanished out of the minds of Pennsylvanians. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, in association with a variety of partners, is considering their return.
Continue reading: https://pawilds.com/returning-a-lost-species-to-the-wilds/
