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Hyner View State Park is a 6 acre Pennsylvania state park in Chapman Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is 6 mi east of Renovo and 3 mi north of Hyner on Pennsylvania Route 120 (Route 120 here is also known as Bucktail State Park Natural Area). Hyner View State Park is surrounded by Sproul State Forest.

Hyner View State Park is 5 mi from Hyner Run State Park and is administered from there. The lookout area is bordered by a large stone wall that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The current access road from Hyner Run State park was built in 1949 (it also connects to a dirt road that leads to Pennsylvania Route 44). After the new access road opened, the first Flaming Fall Foliage Festival was held at the park. It has since outgrown the park and is currently held in nearby Renovo. The park was officially transferred to the Bureau of State Parks in 1965.

The park overlook is at an elevation of 1940 ft above sea level. The West Branch Susquehanna River here is at an elevation of 640 ft, so the overlook is 1300 ft above the river. Hyner View State Park was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "Twenty Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".

Native Americans
Humans have lived in what is now Pennsylvania since at least 10,000 BC. The first settlers were Paleo-Indian nomadic hunters known from their stone tools. The hunter-gatherers of the Archaic period, which lasted locally from 7000 to 1000 BC, used a greater variety of more sophisticated stone artefacts. The Woodland period marked the gradual transition to semi-permanent villages and horticulture, between 1000 BC and 1500 AD. Archeological evidence found in the state from this time includes a range of pottery types and styles, burial mounds, pipes, bows and arrow, and ornaments.

Hyner View State Park is in the West Branch Susquehanna River drainage basin, whose earliest recorded inhabitants were the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks. They were a matriarchial society that lived in large long houses in stockaded villages. Decimated by disease and warfare with the Five Nations of the Iroquois, by 1675 they had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes.

After this, the lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were under the nominal control of the Iroquois. The Iroquois lived in long houses, primarily in what is now New York, and had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers. To fill the void left by the demise of the Susquehannocks, the Iroquois encouraged displaced tribes from the east to settle in the West Branch watershed, including the Lenape (or Delaware).

The Sinnemahoning Path, a major native trail, ran along the West Branch Susquehanna River below what became the park. The path went from the Great Island in the river (at modern day Lock Haven) northwest to Sinnemahoning Creek. It followed this and its tributary Sinnemahoning Portage Creek north to the Allegheny River at Canoe Place (modern day Port Allegany). Wallace's "Indian Paths of Pennsylvania" notes this is the easiest route over the mountains into the eastern part of Pennsylvania and as such was likely used in prehistoric times, perhaps even by some of the first natives. He also recommends Hyner View State Park for its "extensive panorama of the valley where the river and path ran".

Lumber era
Prior to the arrival of William Penn and his Quaker colonists in 1682, it has been estimated that up to 90 percent of what is now Pennsylvania was covered with woods: over 31000 sqmi of White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, and a mix of hardwoods. The forests near the three original counties, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester, were the first to be harvested, as the early settlers used the readily available timber to build homes, barns, and ships, and cleared the land for agriculture. The demand for lumber slowly increased and by the time of the American Revolution the lumber industry had reached the interior and mountainous regions of Pennsylvania.

Lumber became one of the leading industries in Pennsylvania. Trees were used to furnish fuel to heat homes, tannin for the many tanneries that were spread throughout the state, and wood for construction, furniture, and barrel making. Large areas of forest were harvested by colliers to fire iron furnaces. Rifle stocks and shingles were made from Pennsylvania timber, as were a wide variety of household utensils, and the first Conestoga wagons.

By the mid-19th century, the demand for lumber reached the area, where Eastern White Pine and Eastern Hemlock covered the surrounding mountainsides. Lumbermen came and harvested the trees and sent them down the West Branch Susquehanna River, to Lock Haven and on to the Susquehanna Boom and sawmills at Williamsport.

Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established in 1933. As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, it was designed to combat unemployment during the Great Depression. The CCC operated in every U.S. state.

The original facilities at Hyner View and Hyner Run State Parks were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, from 1933 to 1937. The CCC created many jobs for unemployed industrial workers from Lock Haven, Jersey Shore, and Williamsport. Hyner View State Park is the result of one of many projects undertaken by the CCC throughout central Pennsylvania.

Forest Fire Wardens Monument


Hyner View State Park is the location of a monument to the state's forest fire wardens, erected in 1965 by the Forest Inspectors Association. The monument consists of a large monolith with a plaque reading "1915 - 1965 Dedicated to the Forest Fire Wardens of Pennsylvania in recognition of their faithful service to the Commonwealth during the past fifty years".

The monolith is at the head of a low, keystone-shaped concrete wall. On each of the two long sides of the keystone are ten stones, one for each of the twenty state forests in Pennsylvania. Each stone is a rough cube in shape and each was taken from its respective state forest.

Geology and climate
The Allegheny Plateau has a continental climate, with occasional severe low temperatures in winter and average daily temperature ranges of 20 °F (11 °C) in winter and 26 °F (14 °C) in summer. The mean annual precipitation for the Pine Creek watershed is 36 to 42 in. February is the coldest month at Hyner View State Park, July the warmest, and June the wettest. The highest recorded temperature at the park was 101 F in 1988, and the record low was -22 F in 1994.

Recreation
The park is the location of a scenic lookout and a contains a launching point for hang gliding. Visitors to Hyner View State Park can see the West Branch Susquehanna River for many miles both up and downstream. Hang gliders can be launched from a ramp just below the lookout wall and glide over the river valley. The park has a small picnic area, a parking area, and restrooms.

Nearby state parks
The following state parks are within 30 mi of Hyner View State Park:
 * Bald Eagle State Park (Centre County)
 * Bucktail State Park Natural Area (Cameron and Clinton Counties)
 * Cherry Springs State Park (Potter County)
 * Colton Point State Park (Tioga County)
 * Hyner Run State Park (Clinton County)
 * Kettle Creek State Park (Clinton County)
 * Leonard Harrison State Park (Tioga County)
 * Little Pine State Park (Lycoming County)
 * Lyman Run State Park (Potter County)
 * Ole Bull State Park (Potter County)
 * Patterson State Park (Potter County)
 * Prouty Place State Park (Potter County)
 * Ravensburg State Park (Clinton County)
 * Sinnemahoning State Park (Cameron and Potter Counties)
 * Upper Pine Bottom State Park (Lycoming County)