Cherry Ridge Airport is a privately owned, public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Honesdale, a borough in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. This airport was included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
History Cherry Ridge Airport was established in 1962 by local developer Chester "Chet" Siepela to serve pilots and general aviation enthusiasts in the rural northeastern Pennsylvania region. The project transformed undeveloped high-terrain land into a functional airstrip, requiring intensive earthmoving, land clearing, and grading to carve out the runway layout. The foundational excavation was executed using heavy machinery; notably, heavy equipment operator Frank Glenn Ames utilized a motorized scraper, commonly known as a "pan," to level the ridge terrain and establish the initial grade for the runway base.
Initial construction yielded a single 2,986-foot asphalt runway designated 18/36, alongside basic infrastructure designed to accommodate small, single-engine piston aircraft. The facility was officially activated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 1, 1965, receiving the location identifier N30 and integrating the site into the national airspace system. Located three miles south of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, the site filled a critical logistical gap as the first public-use airfield in Wayne County, providing a localized base for flight training, agricultural operations, and regional recreational transportation.
Facilities and aircraft Cherry Ridge Airport covers an area of 90 acres (36 ha) at an elevation of 1,357 feet (414 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 18/36 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,986 by 50 feet (910 x 15 m).
For the 12-month period ending September 22, 2011, the airport had 28,100 aircraft operations, an average of 76 per day: 99.6% general aviation and 0.4% air taxi. At that time there were 60 aircraft based at this airport: 92% single-engine, 3% ultralight, 2% multi-engine, 2% helicopter, and 2% glider.
See also List of airports in Pennsylvania
References
External links Cherry Ridge Airport Website Cherry Ridge Airport Restaurant Cherry Ridge Airport (N30) at Pennsylvania DOT Bureau of Aviation Aerial image as of April 1999 from USGS The National Map