Annual Woodmen`s Show at Cherry Springs State Park

Pennsylvania Wilds
Celebrating
Time-honored Tradition
Woods Work
Come to the Show
When: The first weekend
in August
Where: Cherry Springs
State Park
In about 1880, Pennsylvania lumbermen began using a crosscut saw to fell trees. Prior to that trees were axe felled.
David Brooks
USDA Forest Service
Competitors are judged by how fast they can cut
through a 10 inch log.
What: A celebration of our
lumbering heritage, with
professional and amateur
lumberjack competitions,
chainsaw carving, historic
reenactments, music, food,
and more.
For more information: Inquire
at the park office or visit www.
woodsmenshow.com.
Without horses, loggers could not have moved their logs to
the railroad or river for transport to the mill.
David Brooks
Try your hand at log rolling and
other lumberjack skills during the
amateur lumberjack competition.
Watch chainsaw carvers transform
logs into art sculpture. Step back
in time as historic reenactments
depict 1800s logging life here in
Pennsylvania’s Lumber Heritage
Region. In between logging events,
you can listen to traditional music,
eat a hearty meal, and browse the
handiwork of regional artisans. Pitch
your tent at the park campground
for the weekend so you don’t miss
any of the action.
Trees are typically felled in less than two minutes as competitors attempt to hit a grounded stake.
Thomas Taber Collection
Wood chips fly, shoulders heave, axes thud, the
crowd cheers—these are just a few of the sights and
sounds that greet visitors to the annual Woodsmen’s
Show. Each August, the country’s top
lumberjacks gather at this three-day
festival to compete in events ranging
from traditional cross cut sawing and
spring board chopping to chainsaw
tree felling.
David Brooks
Annual Woodmen’s Show at Cherry
Springs State Park
In 1949, regional sawmill
operators formed the Penn
York Club to promote the
forest products industries of
Pennsylvania and New York.
Three years later, they held their
first Woodsmen’s Carnival, as it
was then called, showcasing the
latest logging equipment and
inviting woodsmen to test their
skills in log rolling, crosscut
sawing and tree felling. Since then,
the Woodsmen’s Show—now run
by the Galeton Rotary Club—has
been an eagerly awaited annual
fixture here at Cherry Springs.
Horses are judged by the amount of weight they pull and
the length the logs are dragged.
www.lumberheritage.org
visitPA.com
www.dcnr.state.pa.us