Swift Hill State Forest

Swift Hill State Forest covers a total of 1,569 acres. The forest contains a mixture of native hardwood species and planted conifers.

The area was settled in the early 1800s. Much of the land now comprising the state forest was cleared for agriculture, but by the early 1900s much of the worn-out farmland was being abandoned and reverting once again to forest. After State acquisition in the 1930s, the fields were planted with a variety of conifers by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The former Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad bed borders the forest on its eastern boundary (which accounts for the long curve in the boundary line). This railroad, which ran from Buffalo to Wellsville and on into Pennsylvania, operated from 1907 to 1916. A large concrete culvert still exists under the railroad bed, just outside the state forest boundary.

• Info from the NYS DEC
• Learn more about the history of New York's state forests

FLT Map M5