The Seneca, members of the Iroquois Confederacy, became inhabitants in the area of Black Moshannon Lake, which was a series of beaver ponds at the time. They and other tribes, including the Lenape, hunted, fished, and traded in the region. The Great Shamokin Path, the major native east–west path connecting the Susquehanna and Allegheny River basins, crossed Black Moshannon Creek at a ford a few miles downstream from the park; however, no trails of the indigenous peoples are recorded as having passed through the park itself. The park's Indian Trail for hiking and cross-country skiing recalls such native paths as it runs through an open forest of oak and pine trees, with occasional clearings and a grove of hawthorns.