Several glaciers sculpted this landscape, and as the last glacier receded north more than 10,000 years ago, its meltwaters helped carve Pine Creek’s deep gorge, whose waters continue to deepen Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon. Humans also shaped the land: Colton Point State Park is named for lumberman Henry Colton, who ran a logging camp here during the 1870s, where loggers felled white pines and floated log rafts to Williamsport sawmills. George Washington Sears, the outdoor writer known as “Nessmuk,” lived in Wellsboro most of his life. By the early 1900s, deforestation, forest fires, and unregulated hunting had taken a heavy toll on wildlife, so Pennsylvania began purchasing private lands to create state forest reserves and parks, and white-tailed deer, beaver, elk, river otter, and fisher were reintroduced to this area throughout the 1900s. In 1968, 12 miles of the gorge were designated a National Nature Landmark, and in 1993, the canyon became a State Park Natural Area. The route of today’s Pine Creek Rail Trail follows a path Native Americans traversed for thousands of years; in 1883, the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek, and Buffalo Railroad laid tracks along it to carry timber, coal, and passengers, rail service ended in 1968, and now the trail runs for more than 60 miles from Wellsboro Junction to Jersey Shore.