I started this 6 mi. "lollipop" hike from my campsite at Ricketts Glen State Park campground a little late in the day - after 2pm. By the time I finished the sun was setting behind the mountains in the west. Not many people were out on Indigenous People's Day but there was a periodic stream (pun intended) of folks navigating the steep sandstone slab steps coming from different directions. It's all about the waterfalls tumbling down two creeks off the 1200' sandstone escarpment into a meltwater-formed slot canyon below. On this loop there are 17 named falls with a few others on the stem trail leading up from Rt. 118 in the south end of the park. It was a fun romp through geology and glacial history with a little wilderness medicine thrown in for interest.
Sandstone blocks pushed and shoved by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet
I chose to hike the Highlands Trail through glacial till, deposited boulders, and tumbled sandstone blocks. This is the drainage area of a glacial lake that burst its till banks and poured tens of thousands of tons of water down the face of the bluff. I traced a tiny branch of the ravine's "founding creek" on top of the ridge to the start of the Falls Trail and headed down, down, down.
"Founding waters" at the start of the ravine
Let the climb down begin!
The Falls Trail becomes a series of slab-built steps that climb around each of the major falls. Some of the steps are steep and not level. Some are slick with mud or water. There were some folks having to take things very slow. Some decided that the first three falls were enough and headed back up. It took me about an hour to get down to the meeting of the two creek branches where we turned up the western branch and climbed our way out. The climb down made Amos nervous so he went slow but for me the climb up had its own challenges and I needed to push or pull with my arms in some places. In my humble opinion, this may not be the best trail to take your best furry friend. I always worry about what would happen if Amos got hurt and I had to carry a 80 pound coonhound up a cliff?
I didn't bother keeping track of all the waterfall names ...
...but it was nice to be hiking alongside falls named for the Six Nations!
The colors were really starting to pop with mostly bright yellows from Birch, Striped Maple, Spicebush, Poplar, and Oak growing along the sandstone ledges. Slab sandstone had been placed as pavements between most of the great falls where hikers transition to down-climbing or up-climbing sandstone steps. In many places the trail was mucky and ran with water oozing from the canyon walls. In winter these places freeze over, including the large spray zones from the waterfalls and the makes traversing the canyon trail treacherous. For safety, Ricketts Glen State Park closes the Falls Trail due to dangerous ice conditions unless you come prepared with crampons, ice spikes, ice ax, helmet, etc. and get a permit from the office. There are several local outfitters that guide ice hikes and frozen falls climbing trips that are permitted by the park
Don't let the flat pavements fool you ...
The waterfalls that tumble down each of the creek branches are mostly named for Northeastern Tribes - Mohican, Onieda, Cayuga, Conestoga, Tuscarora, Seneca, Delaware, Mohawk and others. It was cool to be climbing up or down these falls on Indigenous People's Day for sure. I loved stopping to watch the different kinds of falls and listen to the sounds they made. Bridal veil falls tumble over projecting ledges spraying water out into the air and make a sifting sound as the water plummets in freeform to the plunge pool below. Cascades roar down stepped sandstone sliding into their pools with a whoosh.
Tumbling into the gorge
Scour holes formed in glacial meltwaters
Many waterfalls drop into scoured holes carved by swirling glacial meltwater as it poured off the top of the top of the plateau lake. There are impressive potholes formed by vortexes of silt laden glacial water careening at great speed down the ravine. I found two fossilized burrows of extinct lungfish exposed by broken ledges of old sea bottom sandstone. They serve as small steps or hand holds in places but unless you know you are looking at a lungfish burrow well, it's just another ledge feature.
Scene of a tumble
As I was navigating down towards the meeting of Leigh Gorge and Gonoga Glen, the sun was beginning to dip behind the rim of the canyon wall. I heard a guy behind me take a tumble off some steep steps in a backwards slip-and-sit. He landed on his wrist which appeared to me to be broken. I helped fashion a splint from his empty long/tall Smart Water bottle and a sock for cushioning. Then I tied his wrist to the splint round and round with a bandana and assessed the rest of him. He seemed fine otherwise, no worse for wear. He and his wife decided they could easily walk back out to the Rt 118 parking area where they'd left their truck. Nevermind that Amos broke into the wife's backpack while we were busy with his wrist. He ate almost $20 worth of beef jerky!
Each had its own music
Leaf fall brightens the dark ledges
Pretty plunge pool and a series of falls
Reading the rocks
Though the main ravine continues south (now officially called Ricketts Glen) I was well on my way up the opposite Ganoga Gorge when I began to notice the boulders and their layered features. I had been so awed by the waterfalls coming down Glen Leigh I forgot about geology! Among the sandstone layers were where softer layers of mudstone or siltstone had been scoured away leaving great empty voids. The thick caprock of sandstone from the canyon rim above littered the ravine, telling a story of violent rushing waters that tore into the bluff.
Capstone tumbled from canyon rim above
Study the plaque boulder for impressions of ancient sea life
Breaking a sweat on the climb up...
...there were plenty of places to take a breather and let faster hikers go around.
Amos and I took a few breathers on the climb up and this gave me the opportunity to read more rocks around me. Cross-bedding showed up in many of the boulders - evidence of sand being laid down in shallow waters by gentle currents shifting here and there long before the glacier came. Eventually the Wisconsin Glacier covered all of northern Pennsylvania with hundreds of feet of ice 20,000 years ago, this area being its "thin end" near its terminus before its retreat. In some places on the plateau above you can find glacial striations, grooves cut into the rock by the movement of heavy ice. The Wisconsin Glacier was the last of four great ice sheets to cover the Northeast during the last million years, though the combined time under ice for all of four ice ages total was less than 50,000 years. A drop in the geological bucket.
Cross-bedding
The trail looks tiny compared to the scour hole carved around it
With light fading fast we continued our climb towards the rim. We fell in behind an older couple navigating the steps with care and good humor. She would climb ahead and cheer him on from above. They'd switch places and he climbed ahead and cheered her on. "Come on! Stretch that hip flexor!" "You got this! Bounce on up here! Don't bounce down there!" "This is not the Grand Canyon! No mules will come save you!" "This is how Edmund Hillary did it! Onward!" I was giggling the quarter mile!
The last waterfall before...
...the climb out - following the cheers of the couple ahead of me.
Once on the plateau above I met up with the older couple who were resting on some log benches at the trail intersection with the Highlands Trail. I told them how much I enjoyed their cheering each other on. They laughed out loud, a little embarrassed (but not really) that someone was behind them "listening in" as they thought they were the last hikers out for the day. I assured them that there were others still making their way up the shadowy canyon. "But that's the adventure of it, right? Will we get back to our RV in time for dinner or breakfast?" We had a good laugh.
Atop the Allegheny Plateau
As I walked back through sweet smelling hemlock forests to my campsite I was again in awe of the boulder fields now covered in moss and needles, all placed by the glacier as it receded from the escarpment. The tiny trills of tree crickets came from all directions as the sun finally dipped behind Red Rock Mountain to the west. The last flat mile back to the campground was a delight on the Rose Lake Trail among the hemlocks. We both ate a hot meal. I had mashed potatoes and bacon, Amos had oatmeal to clean out his farty, beef jerky gut and turned in by hiker's midnight (6:30pm).
Notes:
Ricketts Glen State Park's Falls Trail is rated as one of the best trails to hike in PA, but be prepared for a lot of climbing down and climbing up. It's not easy. And, it may not be open to day hikers who come unprepared for serious ice in winter. But there are lots of trails to discover that are safe in winter - I plan to be back for some cold weather camping. The smaller loop of the nice campground complex is open year-round. Yay!
Walter Zolna (the original social distancer) has a great video of the Falls Trail hike on his YouTube Channel. The sounds! I've decided I can't make videos with Amos along, so enjoy one of my favorite PA hiker channels! He really does some excellent work.
Awesome piece about an awesome Park
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