Locals hunt, hike and fish in Jackson Township
Jackson Township in Columbia County is a rural community south of Pennsylvania’s largest game lands. Locals often spend their days hunting, fishing and hiking through the 49,500-acre plot within Huckleberry Mountain. The township is also near Ricketts Glen State Park, where waterfalls cascade into a recreation lake. This natural setting is why the community’s nearly 600 residents have stuck around. “A lot of these houses are hunting cabins that have been in families for decades,” says Laurie Edson, the township’s secretary. Jackson also offers a remote location, about 5 miles west of Benton’s restaurants and 20 miles north of Bloomsburg’s big-box grocery stores. “You could probably go days without coming across a neighbor,” Edson says. “There’s really just farmland and forestland here.”
Land sells more frequently than homes here
Farmhouses, ranch styles and Cape Cod cottages are all common here. Some homes sit behind dense forests of hemlock, maple and oak trees. Others are on rolling farmland, with barns, cattle and grain crops. The median single-family home price here is around $390,000, though only three homes have been sold within the past five years. There have been five empty lot sales, with prices ranging from $69,000 to $105,000, depending on acreage. “Some people just buy a chunk of land for hunting,” Edson says. “They won’t even build a house on it.” Heavy rainfall can cause the area’s creeks to overflow, and homes closest to these waterways may be at risk of flooding.
State Game Lands Number 13 and Ricketts Glen State Park are nearby
Hardwood, oak and hickory forests make up State Game Lands Number 13. Hunters will find white-tailed deer, wild turkey and black bears living here. Other game includes gray fox, waterfowl and snowshoe hare. Anglers can fly fish in the forest’s rocky streams to catch brown trout and sculpins. A trail network for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing spans the mountainous terrain. Ricketts Glen State Park, about 13 miles northeast, is a green space on North Mountain. The 7-mile-long Falls Trail System passes by 21 waterfalls ranging from 11 to 94 feet tall. There’s a sandy beach surrounding Lake Jean, which also has launches for kayaks and electric motorboats. Ice fishermen may catch bluegill and brown bullhead when the water freezes. A few bed-and-breakfasts and campgrounds are in the area. For instance, less than 5 miles east, Mill Race has RV hookups, tent sites and a public 18-hole golf course. However, Jackson never gets too crowded. “We don’t get enough out-of-towners to be considered touristy,” Edson says.
Kids go to public school in Benton
The Benton Area School District serves Jackson. Kids can attend L. Ray Appleman Elementary, which Niche grades a B. They may continue to C-plus-rated Benton Area Middle and B-minus-graded Benton Area High, located in the same building. The high school offers agricultural classes like veterinary science, wildlife management and forestry.
Benton has restaurants, and grocery stores are in Bloomsburg
Jackson doesn’t have any restaurants or stores, but there are mom-and-pop places in Benton, a borough on Jackson’s east side. “You go to any restaurant in Benton, and they remember your name,” Edson says. A bungalow-style building houses the Hoboken Sub Shop, while The Old Filling Station is a 20th-century gas station turned cozy breakfast diner. Country Fresh Market sells tools, meat and fresh produce, and there’s a Dollar General in the area. Big-box grocery stores in Bloomsburg include Walmart Supercenter and Aldi. “It’s like a half-hour drive to get to Bloomsburg, so getting everything on your grocery list is super important,” Edson says.
Locals have to deice their own streets when it snows
Jackson is a car-dependent community with dirt and asphalt roads. The township receives 38 inches of snow annually, but the county doesn’t salt roads. Instead, locals can pick up cinders from the township’s municipal building on Waller Divide Road to deice their streets and driveways. State Route 487 leads directly to Bloomsburg, home to Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital. State Route 118 runs along Jackson’s northern edge. A 47-mile drive east on the highway reaches Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport.
