The park is named for the Civil War Pennsylvania Bucktails Regiment and is primarily dedicated to wildlife viewing, especially elk.

The course of Bucktail State Park Natural Area is as follows: leaving the city of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Route 120 and the West Branch Susquehanna River pass through the following municipalities in Clinton County heading west (in order): Allison, Woodward, Bald Eagle, Colebrook, Grugan, and Chapman townships, the boroughs of Renovo and South Renovo, and Noyes Township.

There Pennsylvania Route 120 and Sinnemahoning Creek pass west through Grove and Gibson Townships and enter the borough of Driftwood, where Route 120 follows the Driftwood Branch of Sinnemahoning Creek north through Gibson, Lumber, Portage, and Shippen townships, finally reaching the borough of Emporium and the western end of Bucktail State Park.

The Act says:[4] That the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby dedicates to the public, for use as a park and pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, all that area of land extending in length from the western city line of Lock Haven, in Clinton County, to the eastern borough line of Emporium, in The County of Cameron, and along the course of the western branch of the Susquehanna River, and its tributary, Sinnemahoning Creek, in Clinton and Cameron counties, an estimated distance of 75 miles (121 km), and in width from mountain rim to mountain rim across the valley.

Osprey, a wide variety of duck, white-tailed deer, bald eagles, otter, merganser, mink and black bear can all be seen living in the boundaries of Bucktail State Park Natural Area.