Gallitzin was a Roman Catholic priest and is called The Apostle of the Alleghenies for his pioneering mission work in the area in the early 19th century.

Gallitzin State Forest was established in 1916[2] in response to large scale deforestation that took place during the mid-to-late 19th century.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a piece of legislation in 1897 that authorized the purchase of "unseated lands for forest reservations."

[4] The forest is located at the western edge of the Allegheny Plateau, at elevations of about 2400 feet (730 m) above sea level.

This is in the lower reaches of an alpine-type climate, and species such as birch trees, more common further north in New England and Canada, may be found in the forest.