The primary purposes of Canadaway Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) are for wildlife management, wildlife habitat management, and wildlife-dependent recreation. This is a 2,180-acre broad and deeply dissected upland plateau, characteristic of the county. The landscape of steep slopes is covered primarily with deciduous forest mixed with conifer plantations. Canadaway Creek runs through the property.
The federal government became interested in the area in the mid-1930s. Under the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture acquired the area by the late 1930s. The land remained under federal government control until 1961 when title to this property was deeded to the State of New York. By 1964 an additional 165 acres was acquired under the Park and Recreation Land Acquisition Act.