River Otter Trapping in Pennsylvania

When river otters are open

1 dated segment for river otters, each with its length and the Sundays it contains. WMU codes link to the unit guides.

Notes printed with the dates

• One otter per license year; permit required (buy before Feb. 13). WMUs 2G, 3A and 4C newly open.

From the Pennsylvania Game Commission seasons and bag limits and the 2026-27 digest, checked October 12, 2026.

Where otter trappers find public ground

Public ground for river otters: 97 tracts, mostly State Park, listed largest first. Starred tracts mention river otters in the PGC write-up. Closed-unit tracts are excluded.

Other otter ground, by size

Erie National Wildlife Refuge (8,959 ac) · State Game Lands 208 (8,833 ac) · State Game Lands 24 (8,585 ac) · State Game Lands 64 (8,100 ac) · State Game Lands 168 (7,814 ac) · Oil Creek State Park (6,800 ac) · State Game Lands 74 (6,568 ac) · Lehigh Gorge State Park (6,000 ac) · State Game Lands 38 (5,818 ac) · Tobyhanna State Park (5,200 ac) · State Game Lands 101 (5,058 ac) · Bald Eagle State Park (4,910 ac) · State Game Lands 69 (4,476 ac) · State Game Lands 314 (3,550 ac) · State Game Lands 135 (3,540 ac) · Nescopeck State Park (3,500 ac) · Swatara State Park (3,500 ac) · Elk State Park (3,150 ac) · State Game Lands 283 (3,061 ac) · State Game Lands 285 (2,841 ac) · Gouldsboro State Park (2,700 ac) · State Game Lands 55 (2,651 ac) · State Game Lands 299 (2,646 ac) · State Game Lands 207 (2,573 ac) · State Game Lands 222 (2,377 ac) · McConnells Mill State Park (2,200 ac) · Beltzville State Park (1,700 ac) · Little Pine State Park (1,700 ac) · Locust Lake State Park (1,700 ac) · State Game Lands 115 (1,686 ac) · Kettle Creek State Park (1,640 ac) · State Game Lands 284 (1,590 ac) · Cornplanter State Forest (1,585 ac) · State Game Lands 151 (1,584 ac) · Prompton State Park (1,400 ac) · Sinnemahoning State Park (1,400 ac) · State Game Lands 140 (1,346 ac) · Promised Land State Park (1,300 ac) · State Game Lands 291 (1,259 ac) · State Game Lands 191 (1,223 ac) · State Game Lands 310 (1,197 ac) · Mount Pisgah State Park (1,100 ac) · Tuscarora State Park (1,100 ac) · Maurice K. Goddard State Park (1,075 ac) · State Game Lands 173 (1,058 ac) · Clear Creek State Park (1,000 ac) · Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area (975 ac) · Lackawanna State Park (900 ac) · State Game Lands 318 (858 ac) · Big Pocono State Park (800 ac) · Parker Dam State Park (800 ac) · Salt Springs State Park (800 ac) · Joseph E. Ibberson Conservation Area (780 ac) · Chapman State Park (700 ac) · Frances Slocum State Park (700 ac) · Denton Hill State Park (650 ac) · State Game Lands 294 (621 ac) · State Game Lands 150 (594 ac) · State Game Lands 148 (575 ac) · Vosburg Neck State Park (575 ac) · plus 22 smaller tracts

River Otter by county

• Monroe County8 tracts
• Warren County7 tracts
• Wayne County7 tracts
• Crawford County6 tracts
• Erie County6 tracts
• Lawrence County6 tracts
• Luzerne County6 tracts
• Potter County6 tracts
• Carbon County5 tracts
• Schuylkill County5 tracts
• Bradford County4 tracts
• Clarion County4 tracts
• Jefferson County4 tracts
• Lackawanna County4 tracts
• Mercer County4 tracts

PGC State Game Lands GIS, DCNR forest and park hunting pages and federal managers (PGC layers), retrieved 2026-10-12. Species lists are what each manager names; area rules still apply.

River Otter questions, answered from the PGC