State Game Lands 188: hunting, parking and access
State Game Lands 188 is 1,648 acres owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in Snyder County, inside WMU 4D. PGC's maps show 9 parking areas and 3 gates. The game lands are in 2 separate pieces; the largest is 1,555 acres.
Data updated October 2026. Boundary, parking, roads and gates: PGC's game lands maps. Seasons: PGC 2026-27 Seasons and Bag Limits.
State game landsState forestSGL 188PGC parkingWMU lineHighway
| Size | 1,648 acres, measured from PGC's boundary |
|---|---|
| Counties | Snyder |
| WMU | WMU 4D |
| PGC region | Southcentral Region (office in Huntingdon) |
| Parking areas | 9 (5 gravel, 3 grass and 1 dirt) |
| Game land roads closed to public vehicles | 7.8 miles |
| Gates | 3 |
| Separate tracts | 2 (largest 1,555 acres) |
| Nearest towns | Troxelville (next to it), Beavertown (next to it) and Beaver Springs (2 mi) |
Where do you park on SGL 188?
PGC maps 9 parking areas on State Game Lands 188, listed north to south. Surfaces: 5 gravel, 3 grass and 1 dirt.
| Lot | Latitude, longitude | Surface | Size (square feet) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40.79741, -77.15924 | grass | 4,200 |
| 2 | 40.79630, -77.13853 | gravel | 600 |
| 3 | 40.79582, -77.18290 | dirt | 2,000 |
| 4 | 40.79352, -77.14782 | grass | 2,000 |
| 5 | 40.79166, -77.19186 | gravel | 500 |
| 6 | 40.78165, -77.16639 | gravel | 2,800 |
| 7 | 40.77908, -77.16584 | gravel | 400 |
| 8 | 40.77841, -77.18818 | grass | 1,200 |
| 9 | 40.77687, -77.17552 | gravel | 1,600 |
Source: PGC State Game Lands parking areas. Sizes and surfaces are PGC's own records; a lot may be plowed or not in winter.
Which roads on SGL 188 are open to vehicles?
PGC's road layer shows no seasonally opened road on SGL 188.
PGC also maps 7.8 miles of game land road on SGL 188 that is closed to public vehicles. PGC's road layer counts 5.6 miles of road open to public traffic through or along the game lands. PGC records 3 gates here.
Sources: PGC State Game Lands roads; PGC State Game Lands gates. Road miles measured by FilledTag from PGC's lines.
Which WMU is SGL 188 in, and what is taken there?
SGL 188 lies wholly in WMU 4D. Seasons, antlerless licenses and harvest are kept by WMU, not by game lands; these are the figures for each whole WMU:
| WMU | Game lands acres in it | Antlered deer | Antlerless deer | Bears |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMU 4D | 1,648 | 9,388 (2025-26) | 15,439 (2025-26) | 143 (2024) |
In WMU 4D, 2026-27 archery deer runs October 3 to November 20, and December 26 to January 24, 2027 and the regular firearms season November 28 to December 13.
Harvest: PGC Annual Deer Population Report, April 2026; PGC's 2024 bear harvest release. Seasons: PGC 2026-27 Seasons and Bag Limits.
How do you get to SGL 188?
Highways within five miles: PA 235, US 522 and PA 104. Nearest towns: Troxelville (next to it), Beavertown (next to it), Beaver Springs (2 miles) and Paxtonville (3 miles).
PGC's land records for SGL 188: PGC real estate, SGL 188.
PGC's rules for every State Game Lands tract, from tree stands to fluorescent orange for non-hunters, are on the Pennsylvania hunting page.
Questions hunters ask
Where can you park on State Game Lands 188?
PGC maps 9 parking areas on SGL 188: 5 gravel, 3 grass and 1 dirt. The largest PGC lists is about 4,200 square feet, at 40.7974, -77.1592. Every lot's coordinates are in the table on this page.
What WMU is State Game Lands 188 in?
All of SGL 188 is in WMU 4D. PGC estimates 9,388 antlered and 15,439 antlerless deer were taken in the whole WMU in 2025-26.
Can you drive on the roads in SGL 188?
PGC's road layer shows no road on SGL 188 that it opens to vehicles by season. It shows 7.8 miles of game land road closed to public vehicles. 5.6 miles of road through the game lands is open to traffic.
Can you camp on State Game Lands 188?
No. PGC does not allow camping on any State Game Lands, SGL 188 included. The nearest town is Troxelville, next to the game lands, by the Census map of places.
Get a Pennsylvania hunt plan when they open
Hunt plans for Pennsylvania are coming. Join the list and you'll hear first. The first 50 hunters in each new state get their plan free.
Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, Pennsylvania included.
Where these facts come from
- Boundary and acres: PGC State Game Lands boundaries. Parking: PGC State Game Lands parking areas. Roads: PGC State Game Lands roads. Gates: PGC State Game Lands gates.
- WMU harvest: PGC Annual Deer Population Report, April 2026; PGC's 2024 bear harvest release. Seasons: PGC 2026-27 Seasons and Bag Limits.
- Public land around the game lands: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US 4.1). Highways and towns: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, places.
FilledTag is not part of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.