Loleta Day Use Area

Loleta Campground sits along the east branch of Millstone Creek in the southwestern corner of the Allegheny National Forest, offering a peaceful getaway that is popular with families. The recreation area consists of two camping loops, a shower house, a swim beach, group camping sites, and a 2.7 mile loop trail. The Trail is marked with off-white diamonds, starts and ends at Loleta, from the parking lot near the group camping site through the woods around the upper camping loop and comes back in between the upper loop and the group site. This area has been recently nominated and accepted onto the National Register of Historic Places. The area was once a bustling logging town, established in 1889, with over 600 inhabitants. The town had a large sawmill, shingle mill, broom handle factory and a rail connection for shipping products to Sheffield, PA. Once the timber supply was exhausted in 1913, the mills shut down and the town was deserted. The Federal Government purchased the site in 1925, adding it to the newly formed Allegheny National Forest. In the 1930s, the Forest Service (using CCC labor) reconstructed the mill pond, added a bathhouse, swimming area, picnic shelters, and landscaping. The distinctive quality of CCC workmanship is evident today in the dam stonework and the log construction of the old bathhouse. The camping loops were added in the 1960s. Nearby, trout fishing is popular in Millstone Creek. About 4 miles south of Loleta, the picturesque Wild and Scenic Clarion River offers excellent fishing and canoeing. About 10 miles North of Loleta, Buzzard Swamp offers 10 miles of trail and wildlife viewing.