Cook Forest State Park, a vacation wonderland for nature lovers, covers 6,433 acres of sylvan beauty in Western Pennsylvania. Bordered by the picturesque Clarion River, the park contains a significant stand of virgin timber that has been designated by the National Park Service as a Registered National Natural Landmark. More that 30 miles of trails take you deep into a world of trees, seasonal flowers, vegetation, fungi, and wildlife. Interpretive walks are held during the summer season.

The Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts, located in the heart of this beautiful park, is a multi-faceted nonprofit organization, which conducts many educational and entertaining programs year-round. Adult arts/crafts instructional sessions, children's craft classes, demonstrations, exhibits, two Craft Markets, Elderhostel, festivals, and live theatre performances are scheduled each year.

Recreation and education are a natural twosome for both Cook Forest State Park and the Sawmill Art Center. Students may take time out from their artwork to take an afternoon swim in the pool next door to the Center, rent a Clarion River canoe or innertube, hike or ride horseback through the forest. Classes are sometimes held outdoors under the canopy of the park's tall trees.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Bureau of State Parks have been extremely cooperative in the progress and growth of the Sawmill Art Center. Both the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and the Agency on Aging Program help to staff the organization. Programs are made possible through the generous support of Clarion, Jefferson, and Forest County Local Revenue Sharing and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

While the dream of a rural-based Art Center within a state park seemed impossible to most people, administrator Verna Leith started in 1975 to make this dream a reality. She traveled to Harrisburg to obtain permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources to use a part of the old Cook Forest Sawmill as a showroom sales outlet for locally produced handwork. A year later an additional building was constructed to be used for pottery and woodworking classes. Since that time, the Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts has gradually enlarged to full usage of the old sawmill and several other facilities and is recognized around the country as a leading art center where students may come to study with some of the finest artisans and instructors in the nation.

Each year more than 500,000 visitors come to the Sawmill to participate in classes, attend the theatre, shop in the Craft Markets which house one of the largest (if not the largest) selection of handcrafted gifts to be found in the country, enjoy a fun festival, or attend an Elderhostel week.

As Park Operations Manager at this magnificent natural wonder, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Cook Forest State Park. I am positive that you will have a fantastic time and hopefully want to return again and again!

The Sawmill Center is surely one of our largest attractions and your enjoyment of the park and the Sawmill Center is a priority to me. I intend to work closely with the Sawmill Center in an effort to provide the best possible schedule of activities and events.