The main offices are located in Wellsboro in Tioga County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

The state forest was named for the Tioga tribe of the Seneca, a Native American people, whose homeland was in the region.

The sparks of passing steam locomotives ignited wildfires that prevented the formation of second growth forests.

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

They cleared roads and trails throughout the forest and built the recreation facilities found at Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks along the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.