Starting Memorial Day weekend on Friday, May 28, Grey Towers National Historic Site will open its main vehicular gate to facilitate public access to the grounds. The gate will remain open daily from 9AM to 4:30PM unless otherwise noted. The USDA Forest Service at Grey Towers invites the public to respectfully enjoy the historic estate.
Although current USDA Forest Service COVID-19 guidelines prohibit us from offering guided tours of the mansion, we are expanding our outdoor public offerings to better serve our visitors. Beginning Tuesday, June 15, we will offer expanded outdoor programming from 11AM to 3PM, seven days a week. Outdoor public offerings will change daily and will be communicated via signage when visitors arrive at the site. Public offerings will include ranger talks delivered in the historic core surrounding the mansion and Yale Forestry Campsite Programs. Please see the information sheet attached below for additional information regarding these programs.
We are also resuming sales of the America the Beautiful Federal Interagency Recreation passes. Beginning Friday, June 18, passes will be available for purchase from 9AM to 11AM, Thursday through Saturday. At this time, we kindly request payment be made by credit card only.
With deep regret, we have postponed the 2021 Festival of Wood to 2022.
All programs and offerings are subject to change based on staff availability, inclement weather, and changed Federal guidelines. Please visit our website www.fs.usda.gov/greytowers or call (570) 296-9630 when planning your visit for additional and updated information. We look forward to the 2021 visitor season and hope you will join us!
Grey Towers was the home of Gifford Pinchot, first Chief of the US Forest Service and Pennsylvania Governor for two terms. Located in Milford, Pennsylvania, Grey Towers was completed in 1886 by Gifford's father, James Pinchot, a successful businessman and philanthropist. The Pinchot family enjoyed numerous summers at Grey Towers, entertaining guests with afternoon teas and dinner parties. Here James, disturbed by destructive logging practices then prevalent in the country, encouraged his eldest son, Gifford Pinchot, to consider a career in forestry.
Gifford married Cornelia Bryce Pinchot in 1914 and the couple moved to Grey Towers. Cornelia made sweeping changes in the design and use of the home, making it “more fitting as a Governor’s home.” The power couple continued to use the home for entertainment and their guests helped move forward their conservation, political and social justice platforms. Gifford was elected Governor twice, supported primarily by working class, agriculture and new women voters.
In 1963, Gifford and Cornelia’s son Dr. Gifford Bryce Pinchot donated Grey Towers and 102 acres to the US Forest Service to carry forward the principles set forth by his father. Today the US Forest Service, with numerous partners, administers the site as an education, conference and leadership center. Public programs and tours, education programs, conferences, seminars, and leadership development programs at the estate bring together a diversity of leading conservation and environmental thinkers to help guide the future of natural resource conservation.
