Sunday Walks at Beltzville Aren't Hunting-Free Anymore. Here's How the Fall Calendar Works Now

For years, an easy rule applied to a November walk at Beltzville State Park: go on Sunday. This fall that rule doesn't hold. For 2026-27, every Pennsylvania hunting season except those for migratory game birds includes the Sundays between its start and end dates. Beltzville allows hunting every day of an open season on about 1,700 of its acres, though migratory bird hunting there is still off-limits on Sundays.

For anyone in Franklin Township who walks the Falls Trail or takes the dog out along Pohopoco Drive, the day of the week no longer tells you much. The better guides are the season calendar, which has no breaks between now and Christmas Eve, and the park map, which shows where hunting is never allowed.

Sunday Used to Be the Easy Answer

The quiet Sunday was already wearing away before this year. According to the Governor's office, hunters had been allowed three designated Sundays a year since 2020. In July 2025, Act 36 of 2025 repealed the general ban on Sunday hunting and gave the Game Commission authority to set Sunday opportunities. The law took effect September 7, 2025.

State parks made the change slowly. For 2025-26, DCNR limited state parks to three Sunday hunting dates and said broader access would follow in 2026-27. That broader access is now in place. DCNR's statewide hunting page says hunting is allowed every day of an established season in most state parks. Seven parks in southeast Pennsylvania are still limited to three Sundays: Big Elk Creek, Delaware Canal, Evansburg, Marsh Creek, Nockamixon, Ridley Creek and White Clay Creek. Beltzville is not on that list.

The Times News reported on October 2 that 2026-27 is the first Pennsylvania season to include every Sunday within each season's dates, with migratory game birds as the one exception.

The Calendar Has No Gaps Before Christmas Eve

The bigger change shows up when the seasons are laid out side by side. These are the Game Commission's approved 2026-27 dates for the seasons most likely to matter around Beltzville. The Sundays are counted from those date ranges, starting with this coming weekend.

Beltzville's park map places the park in Wildlife Management Unit 3D, which sets its fall turkey dates.

Small game fills in what the table leaves out. Squirrel season runs September 12 to December 24. Ruffed grouse and cottontail rabbit open October 17, and pheasant opens October 24. Each of those runs to December 24. Take Sunday, November 22. It falls between archery's close and the firearms opener, so it can look like a day off on a deer calendar. It is still inside several open small game seasons. Under the new rules, from mid-September to Christmas Eve, no Sunday falls outside every open season.

Migratory birds remain the exception. According to Beltzville's hunting page, migratory game bird hunting is still prohibited there on Sundays. The Game Commission says that covers waterfowl, woodcock and mourning doves, and that commissioners plan to look at the question again before 2027-28.

This Weekend Stacks Three Seasons at Once

This post comes out on Thursday, October 22, and the next four days have more overlap than any other stretch this fall. Archery deer is open. Antlerless muzzleloader season runs through Sunday. The special antlerless firearms season also opens Thursday and closes Sunday, October 25. That season is limited to junior and senior license holders, mentored permit holders, holders of a disabled person vehicle permit, Pennsylvania residents on active military or Coast Guard duty, and hunters 65 and older who hold a qualifying license. Sunday the 25th is the last day of two of those seasons. Before 2025, Sunday was the day neither one could be hunted.

The quietest part of the park this weekend may be the Environmental Interpretive Center. Its events calendar lists Leaf Litter Critter Crafting on Thursday, October 22, from noon to 2 p.m., and again on Saturday, October 24, from 1 to 3 p.m. Both sessions are free, and registration is required. A Life Cycle of a Tree Hike follows on Friday, October 30. It's a one-mile walk on the Ground Pine Trail starting from the center. The online calendar currently lists its time as 1 to 2 a.m., so call the park office for the actual start time before you go. After that, the park's calendar shows no events for November or December.

The Map Matters More Than the Day

Since the day of the week no longer separates walkers from hunters, location does that job. Beltzville's park map with hunting boundaries marks three kinds of ground: State Park No Hunting, State Park Hunting and Archery Hunting Only. The map labels the Day Use Area as a no-hunting area. On the ground, no-hunting areas are posted with "Closed To Hunting" signs.

The area behind the park office and maintenance area is archery only. Ground Pine Trail starts behind the office, which puts one of the park's most-used short walks, and the route of the October 30 tree hike, next to bow hunting ground. The Tree ID Trail begins near Parking Lot B and ends near Ground Pine. Bird Blind begins near Ground Pine too, so all three share that corner of the park. Pine Run Cove starts at the southeast corner of Parking Lot A.

The longer trails are in other parts of the park. The Falls Trail follows Wild Creek upstream from the Wild Creek Falls Bridge to the waterfall. Cove Ridge starts at the same bridge and runs along the ridge above Wild Creek Cove. Christman connects to the Wild Creek Trail. Preachers Camp starts at the end of Preachers Camp Road or at a lot off Trachsville Hill Road. Trinity Gorge runs between two trailheads and has an optional lakeshore section. Sawmill Loop follows Sawmill Run Creek past fields, a pond, a swamp and the remains of an old mill. The boundary map shows where each of these trails crosses hunting ground, and the posted signs confirm it on site. Check both before picking a route for a weekend morning.

Trappers have a separate rule. Traps are prohibited within 50 feet of the edge of the park's designated trails, paths, sidewalks, roads and parking lots. A dog off the trail can get beyond that 50-foot buffer.

What DCNR Asks of People Who Aren't Hunting

Visitors who aren't hunting don't have to wear fluorescent orange. DCNR's guidance for state park visitors still encourages a few habits during hunting seasons:

1. Wear orange that can be seen from every direction, not only from the front.
2. Stay on established trails.
3. Avoid the hours around dawn and dusk.
4. Make dogs easier to see with a bright orange vest, collar or leash.

Staff at Hickory Run State Park, near Albrightsville, gave similar advice when WNEP covered how parks were preparing for Sunday hunting. They told visitors to check maps, wear orange, stay on trails, and make sure children and pets are easy to see. The visitors WNEP interviewed disagreed about the change. One favored trying it out first, and another opposed hunting every Sunday right away. A June 2025 opinion piece in the Times News raised trail users' safety concerns at Beltzville specifically. It noted the park's 15 miles of trails and more than 1,700 acres open to hunting.

Firearms Season Brings a Different Kind of Weekend

Archery season is quiet and spread over many weeks. Regular firearms deer season is short and busy. It opens Saturday, November 28, two days after Thanksgiving, and runs through Sunday, December 13. Beltzville has no firearm restrictions, so rifle and shotgun hunters can use the park's hunting acreage during that season. This year the season covers three full weekends, Sundays included. The Game Commission also notes that many seasons that used to end on a Saturday now end on a Sunday. That means the closing day of firearms season is also a weekend day.

Hunters will be around after the holidays too. Late archery and flintlock seasons both run December 26 through January 24, 2027. If you want a winter walk at Wild Creek Falls, wear orange through most of January. When planning a weekend outing, look up the season dates and check the park map rather than counting on Sunday being quiet.

Season dates and park rules change, and this post is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the details with the Pennsylvania Game Commission or the Beltzville park office before you head out.

Fall at Beltzville is one of the best parts of living near the lake, and the new calendar takes a little planning. If you have questions about Franklin Township, from the trails to the roads that lead to them, Miriam Santiago is happy to talk anytime. And if you'd like to know what your home near the park is worth this season, ask about a free home valuation.