Poe Paddy State Park
c/o Reeds Gap
Milroy, PA 17063-9735
717-667-3622

Poe Paddy State Park is located at the confluence of Big Poe Creek and Penns Creek, a trout angler's paradise featuring the nationally recognized green drake mayfly hatch in June. Hikers also walk Mid State Trail through the 250-foot long Paddy Mountain Railroad Tunnel. Poe Valley State Park is nearby.

Directions
Located at the confluence of Big Poe Creek and Penns Creek, you can reach this area by going four miles east of Poe Valley State Park on the gravel Big Poe Road.

Recreational Opportunities

Camping: rustic campsites
The campground has rustic toilets and drinking water. Campers can use the sanitary dump station at nearby Poe Valley State Park. Two small Adirondack-style lean-tos and 39 tent and trailer campsites are open from the second Friday in April until the end of antlerless deer season in mid-December. Access is not guaranteed in the winter months.

Fishing:
Excellent trout fishing is available in Penns Creek, which flows by the Poe Paddy campground. Fantastic fly hatches emerge from Penns Creek. The nationally known Green Drake Hatch usually occurs in late May or early June.

Picnicking:
Six picnic tables and two pavilions with four picnic tables each are available for year-round use. A playground is in the picnicking area.

Hiking:
The Mid State Trail, with orange rectangular blazes, passes through Poe Paddy. You can hike through the 250-foot long Paddy Mountain Railroad Tunnel on the Mid State Trail by following the trail upstream along Penns Creek, crossing a pedestrian bridge and then going to the tunnel.

Poe Paddy lies on the site of Poe Mills, a prosperous, but short-lived, lumbering town of the 1880s and 1890s. Poe Mills had a population of over three hundred in 1890. Built in 1879, the main railroad ran very near Poe Mills and a spur track ran to Poe Paddy area. Many small temporary timber railroads were built through most of the mountain valleys. Poe Creek was dammed to provide water to the steam-powered sawmill. In the early 1900s, a scenic excursion train ran a loop from Milroy to Poe Paddy and back.

In the mid-1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps had a camp in the valley and built Poe Paddy and Poe Valley state parks and many of the roads in the area.

The park’s unusual name comes from Poe Mountain to the east and Paddy Mountain to the west. Once the two mountains were one long mountain. Over a million years of erosion by Penns Creek divided the mountain, creating the valley that cradles Poe Paddy State Park.