Are there cherry trees in Cherry Springs State Park?
Cherry Springs State Park
Cherry Springs State Park is an 82-acre (33ha)[a] Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. Cherry Springs, named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in the park, is atop the dissected Allegheny Plateau at an elevation of 2,300 feet (701m). It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having "some of the darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".[4]
Cherry Springs State Park
Awards and press recognition have come to Cherry Springs and its staff. Thom Bemus, who initiated and coordinates the Stars-n-Parks program, was named DCNR's 2002Volunteer of the Year.[66] In 2007the park's Dark Sky Programming and staff received the Environmental Education Excellence in Programming award from the Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society.[67] Operations manager Chip Harrison and his wife Maxine, who directs the Dark Sky Fund, received a 2008award from the Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting Council for "steadfast adherence and active promotion of the principles of responsible outdoor lighting at Cherry Springs State Park".[68] The DCNR has named Cherry Springs one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks", specifically for having the "darkest night skies on the east coast".[69] Cherry Springs State Park was featured in the national press in 2003when USA Today named it one of "10Great Places to get some stars in your eyes",[70] in 2006when National Geographic Adventure featured it in "Pennsylvania: The Wild, Wild East",[71] and in The New York Times in 2007.[53] All these were before it was named an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association in 2008.[38]