The bogs at the park contain large amounts of sphagnum moss; this decomposes very slowly, causing layers of dead moss to build up at the bottom of the bog, creating peat. In 1994, of bog at the state park were protected as the "Black Moshannon Bog Natural Area"; this was originally conceived as part of the "State Parks 2000" strategic plan of the DCNR, and fourteen years later the total area of bog protected as a Natural Area had increased to .