The Michaux State Forest is located in Adams, Cumberland and Franklin counties. It is named in honor of Andre Michaux, a French botanist, dispatched by the King and Queen of France in 1785 to gather plants for the Royal Gardens. He and his son Francois Andre Michaux are noted for discovering and identifying a host of flowers, shrubs and trees.

The Michaux State Forest is located in Adams, Cumberland and Franklin counties. It is named in honor of Andre Michaux, a French botanist, dispatched by the King and Queen of France in 1785 to gather plants for the Royal Gardens. He and his son Francois Andre Michaux are noted for discovering and identifying a host of flowers, shrubs and trees.

From the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, the lands that are now the Michaux State Forest were owned by large iron companies. Iron furnaces processed iron ore, dug from open pits, into "pig iron", which was forged into iron tools, stoves, kettles, and a variety of other implements. The largest iron furnaces were located at Caledonia, Mont Alto and Pine Grove Furnace. Cannon balls made from these furnace's were used during the Revolutionary War. The iron companies needed large land holdings from which to cut wood that was converted to charcoal and used to fuel the iron furnaces. The iron industry disappeared in this area when it could no longer compete with new technology and richer ore deposits found to the west.

The Michaux State Forest can boast many firsts in forestry in Pennsylvania. The first forest tree nursery was established in Mont Alto in 1902, the first wooden fire tower in established in 1905 and the first steel fire tower in 1914. In 1903, the Pennsylvania State Forest Academy was established at Mont Alto. It was the first of its kind in the state and only the second in the nation to train professional foresters. Prior to this, foresters went to Europe for training.

Today, the Michaux State Forest, comprising more than 85,000 acres, is managed for a variety of uses that benefit not only the citizens of Pennsylvania, but also the nation and the world. A variety of wood products are produced from the timber resources providing for the needs of millions of people as well as aiding the local economy.

Potable water may be the Michaux's most valuable resource. Numerous local communities depend on its pure water for their municipal water supplies.