The last private mountain in Pa. is now public land, open to hiking, biking, and bird watching

For several years, friends Kenny Young and Ben Robinson dreamed of organizing a trail run across Miller Mountain’s 2,500-acre terrain of old logging roads, hardwood forest, and vistas of the town of Tunkhannock and of the Susquehanna River below.

That dream became possible late last year when Pennsylvania acquired what was believed to be the last sizable privately owned mountain in the state. Young and Robinson quickly put together the inaugural Miller Mountain Trail Challenge, a 25K and 5-mile trail run set for Oct. 5 — when fall colors should be popping. The pair has partnerships with local businesses, such as Nimble Hill Vineyard & Winery and Nimble Hill Brewing Co., with plans to donate proceeds to United Way of Wyoming County.

“It’s been a goal to show off Northeast Pa. for a while now,” said Young, 38, a Penn State graduate who owns a landscaping business. “So when Miller became part of the state forest, we said let’s do it.”

Before it was acquired by Pennsylvania, locals had long wondered what would become of the 2,216-foot mountain. Rumors abounded. Ski resort? Landfill?

So they were relieved when the mountain was purchased in September by the Conservation Fund for $5 million from an LLC managed by Louis DeNaples, a Scranton-area businessman often in the news over the years. The Conservation Fund, a large nonprofit conservation organization, then deeded the mountain to the state in November. Most of the purchase money came from the Williams Cos., a large energy company.

“It’s an entire mountain and it’s a stand-alone mountain, which makes it kind of unique,” said Nicholas Lylo, district forester for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Now, it’s up to Lylo and other state officials to determine how to manage it.

Miller Mountain is within the Endless Mountains region, part of the Appalachian mountain chain, that lies just north of Scranton. The Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau calls the area “one of the best-kept secrets in Pennsylvania,” noting that it lacks the crowds or traffic of other areas.

Local businesses are hoping that Miller Mountain lures outdoor enthusiasts from outside the region, as well.

The mountain had long been used for logging, dairy farming, and other uses until the DCNR formally acquired it. The Conservation Fund brokered the deal with DeNaples. Miller Mountain will be managed as part of Pinchot State Forest, though it does not directly connect to it.

Lylo said the mountain, which is about a 2½-hour drive from Philly, has a diversity of habitats for trees, plants and animals.

It’s already being used by eager hikers, bikers, bird watchers, and sky watchers. There is no plan yet for how the DCNR will manage the mountain, but Lylo said it is open the public for recreation. Some of the existing network of roads could become officials trails.

Lylo said the land will be allowed to revert to “its natural progression.” That includes 136 acres of farm fields. The fields could return to native grasses. Lylo said it’s not yet clear what will be done with a number of buildings already on the mountain.

Miller Mountain borders Bowman’s Creek, which runs into the Susquehanna River. It contains forests of pine, oak, maple, birch, and hemlock.

Lylo said the land still needs to be surveyed for official boundary markers. Biologists and other wildlife experts will likely inventory the natural features of the mountain. It could take years for the state to develop a management plan, though the land would remain open without designated trails, parking lots, or other infrastructure such as designated camp sites or restrooms.

He said the DCNR doesn’t plan to clear out trees to make vistas because the mountain already offers views overlooking the valley.

Locals had heard rumors about possible development of the mountain as far back as the 1960s when plans for a ski resort emerged, but never happened. Pennsylvania once owned part of the mountain but exchanged it for other land that became Pine Creek Valley Trail in Lycoming County.

Surveys on old deeds stretching back into the ‘40s and ‘50s cited “an old rock corner,” “a 40-inch rotted chestnut stump,” an “old unused highway,” and the “old Frear barn” as part of the mountain’s boundary.

Most recently, Miller Mountain was owned by brothers Louis and Dominick DeNaples through their Dencor One and Dencor Two LLCs, as well as Miller Gas LP, which had rights below the surface of the mountain, according to a deed. The DeNaples have long been known in Pennsylvania because of their businesses that include landfills, real estate development companies, a recycling center, and First National Community Bancorp (FNCB) bank.

Over the years, the DeNaples family has been in the news for various issues surrounding those businesses.

For example, Louis won a license in 2006 for his $400 million to operate the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos. In 2009, he gave up ownership of the casino, shifting his stake to his daughter, in a deal with prosecutors in Dauphin County who had charged him with perjury in a separate case.

In 2015, The Inquirer reported that then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane quashed key subpoenas in a move that aides said undermined an investigation of a former state gaming official with ties to DeNaples. Kane removed the subpoenas after taking office in 2013, people familiar with the matter told The Inquirer at the time.

Kane later had to resign as the state’s top prosecutor after being convicted in 2016 of perjury, obstruction, and other counts in a separate case for leaking secret investigative files to embarrass a rival prosecutor. She served eight months of a 10- to 23-month sentence and was released in 2019.

Kyle Shenk, Northeast regional director at the Conservation Fund, said that saving the mountain had been a priority for decades and that the nonprofit had been negotiating with Dencor to purchase it. The fund turned to the Williams Cos., with whom it had a partnership to fund conservation opportunities.

Delaware-based Williams is an energy company with operations in gas exploration, processing and pipelines. It operates 33,000 miles of pipelines in 24 states, including Pennsylvania and its Marcellus Shale region.

In a statement, Williams, which has 200 employees in the area, said Miller Mountain “provides critical habitat for migratory birds, black bears, white-tailed deer and bobcats.”

Williams agreed to put up about 75% of the $5 million purchase price for Miller Mountain, Shenk said, which was about $3.75 million. The DCNR put up the remainder. The deal between Dencor and the Conservation Fund closed in September 2023. The Conservation Fund then deeded the property to Pennsylvania in November.

“I hope that this will really become a recreation destination for the area and provide lots of opportunities for folks to hike, bike, hunt, and enjoy the outdoors right outside of Tunkhannock,” Shenk said. “The views from the mountain are incredible. It’s a beautiful piece of property. It’s accessible, as well. There are plenty of flat areas to park and get on the property. Folks can get out there right now.”