The Enchanted Mansion & Grounds of Kings GAP Environmental Education Center
Driving up to the Mansion on the hill, you can feel the impressive enchanted forested area was bring you into a fairy tail with land with Princesses waiting at the top.
As I keep climbing and climbing up the hill. It feel as if I would see Princess Aurora or Belle or Snow White at the top waiting for Prince Charming’s to rescue them.
With enchanted ponds….
Babbling brooks with tree bridges to cross them….
Arriving I found this!!!!! All the princesses at a special event. Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana, and I even that I thought that I saw Tinker Bell and a few other Disney females characters!
The tower…
The Castle (32 room Stone Mansion)…
High above the kingdom below…
So, into the Secret Garden, one of my favorite books as a child, ie the Mansion Garden.
With a sundial and spice garden in the back.
With a koi pond…Just a wonderful day dream….
But of course, this is what I found at the pond. Yeah, that was about it for my day. The enchanted feelings just stopped. The magic of the day gone with the snake in the garden of Eden showing his face.
As you leave, the carriage house were Cinderella carriage never makes it too.
But the property has over 22 miles of trails…A place that you can really enjoy.
Lodging
The Mansion has rooms available starting at $115 per night. It also has one organized group tenting site for up to 30 people. Reservations. But check out the near by State Parks for campsites (Pine Grove Furnace State Park is only about 10 miles away and has lots of other things to do as well.
Near By State Parks
- Big Spring State Forest Picnic Area
- Caledonia State Park
- Codorus State Park
- Colonel Denning State Park
- Fowlers Hollow State Park
- Gifford Pinchot State Park
- Litttle Buffalo State Park
- Mont Alto State Park
- Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Brief History
The Kings Gap Environmental Center area was once roamed by Native Americans. It became important to Europeans in the mid 1700’s when the mountain area used to fuel the nine local Iron Furnaces until the 1800’s when coal was discovered. Hearth sites are located throughout the Kings Gap area.
In 1906, James McCormick Cameron purchased the land and built the 32 room stone mansion. James grandfather was the Secretary of War for a bit under Abraham Lincoln and a US Senator. His father was also the Secretary of War under Ulysses S Grant and a US Senator. But James keep out of the political life but kept the family business going, banking, steel mills, railroads, etc.
James died without children in 1949. His Mansion was sold to C. H. Masland and Son Carpet Company. It was used to showcases the companies carpets and a place to stay for long business meetings. But the Masland family also got involved with land management projects on their property.
In 1973, the mansion and land was acquired by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is now used for recreation, education, and environmental studies.