The park is largely surrounded by Buchanan State Forest in Allens Valley just off Pennsylvania Route 75 near Fort Loudon.

The French and British fought for control of the Ohio River Valley, including the area surrounding Pittsburgh.

Burd's road, built as a supply line, passed through Cowans Gap but was never completed due to Braddock's defeat at the Monongahela.

Colonel Bouquet used the Forbes Road one more time in 1763 to break the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's Rebellion.

Cowan received a smoking pipe and tomahawk rights, which entailed marking a large chestnut tree on his property with three slashes, as a sign of peace with the Tuscarora.

[2] The old-growth forests in and surrounding Cowans Gap State Park were clear cut during the late 18th and early 19th centuries to meet the need for charcoal at nearby Mount Pleasant iron furnace.

Colliers harvested the stands of white pine, hemlock, and hardwoods, and made charcoal by stacking timber around large hearths.

The trees that were not cut down for charcoal were ultimately felled by a lumbering operation owned by Harrison Kalbach of Lebanon.

The land was left largely barren, covered mostly with dried out tree tops that were burnt to ashes in massive wild fires that were set off by sparks from passing steam locomotives.

An immense reforestation effort, led by the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, began in earnest during the Great Depression.

[2] The Civilian Conservation Corps created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, provided work for the unemployed from throughout the United States.

In addition, the CCC also cleared the forests and streams of brush, built pavilions, and constructed the dam that created Cowans Gap Lake.

[2] Cowans Gap State Park has 10 miles (16 km) of trails open year-round to hiking and in some places cross-country skiing.

[3] Cowans Gap Lake (42 acres (17 ha)) was created by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression by damming Little Aughwick Creek.