Revisiting one of our favorite Pennsylvania State Parks: Ricketts Glen!
 |
| Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania |
During my wife and myself’s 14 year long residence in the state of Pennsylvania, we got to experience many wonderful places in the state. We loved the rolling hills, the verdant farmlands of Lancaster County, the mysterious and guarded Amish peoples, as well as the beautiful DuPont family homes and gardens, but one of our favorite places in all of Pennsylvania, may possibly be Ricketts Glen State Park.
We have many fond memories of the park as we hiked there with our dog Toby, with family, and with our friends. Each time we visited and hiked the wonderful trails with a waterfall to be seen every 5 minutes, we got a new appreciation for the beauty of the park.
We all enjoyed getting a heck of a workout traversing down the Falls Trail then taking a break by dipping our toes in the still refreshing and sometimes cold waters of Kitchen Creek even during the heat of the summers. Toby used to get scared seeing some of the steepest parts of the Falls Trail, at which time I would lift him up. I loved how he used to stare back at me with his incredibly pleading and extremely cute eyes begging me to help.
We sure have many wonderful memories there. After retiring early in August 2020 and leaving the state the same month, we always longed to experience parts of the state that gave us so many great memories.
Around the end of August, we had an opportunity to revisit this same park thanks to a friend of mine who invited us to stay at his place in northeastern Pennsylvania. We got to stay for 3 nights and it was like going back home, to a part of the state full of awesome, memorable places!
Ricketts Glen State Park is located in Benton, PA, and it harbors the Glens Natural Area - a National Natural Landmark. Encompassing over 13,000 acres in Luzerne, Sullivan, and Columbia counties, it is one of the most scenic parts of the state of Pennsylvania.
On a warm morning late August, we headed out to Ricketts Glen State Park, about an hour and a half drive from my friend’s place. When we lived near the suburbs of Philadelphia, the drive to this park would take roughly 2 1/2 hours, at around 120 miles driving distance. From northeastern Pennsylvania, we cut an hour from the drive, at around 60 miles driving distance.
It was nice arriving at the park before noon, on a weekday, with much less traffic! We stopped at the visitor center for a quick bathroom break then headed deeper into the park, reminiscing about our previous visits there.
We used to visit the park on weekends and that meant more traffic and no good parking spots, especially near the closest access to the famous Falls Trail, Lake Rose Trailhead. Falls Trail is set up like the letter ‘Y’, with trail access from Lake Rose Trailhead starting from the left of the V, while the trail access from the Beach Parking Lot #2 starting on the right of the Y.
This visit on a weekday finally got us a prime spot into the Lake Rose Trailhead with plenty of parking spots still left over after we parked. We ate our go-to prepared lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches inside the car, then we prepared to start our hike.
The air was crisp, incredibly refreshing and smelled like the woods. We particularly like the earthy smell of the mountains with their hint of decaying matter, pine trees, and rich soil. It is one of the best reasons why we hike in the first place.
We followed fellow hikers, appreciating the fact that we finally got to hike in from this side of the trail. In each and every one of our hikes on Falls Trail, we hiked in from the Beach Parking Lot #2, which is certainly farther than Lake Rose Trailhead.
As beautiful as hiking in from the Beach Parking Lot #2 is, about a 15-20 minute hike through a canopy of tall trees to get to the Falls Trail, we didn’t mind hiking only about 5-10 minutes from the Lake Rose Trailhead. We noticed a fairly quick gradient change, as soon as we left the parking lot.
 |
| Falls Trail, on left! |
We took careful steps trying not to fall on our butts, and after a few minutes, we started to hear the familiar sound of the creek in the near distance. With the sign to turn left for Falls Trail visible after crossing a small wooden bridge, we got on the trail.
We arrived at the first of the waterfalls along the Falls Trail, Mohawk, a 37 foot tall waterfall. We must’ve run into a new waterfall just about every 5 minutes along our hike, each one unique and beautiful in their own way.
There are a total of 22 named waterfalls along the Fall Trail. These are:
- Mohawk (37 foot tall)
- Oneida (13 foot tall)
- Cayuga (11 foot tall)
- Ganoga (94 foot tall)
- Seneca (12 foot tall)
- Delaware (37 foot tall)
- Mohican (39 foot tall)
- Conestoga (17 foot tall)
- Erie (47 foot tall)
- Tuscarora (47 foot tall)
- Onondaga (15 foot tall)
- F.L. Ricketts (38 foot tall)
- Shawnee (30 foot tall)
- Huron (41 foot tall)
- Ozone (60 foot tall)
- R.B. Ricketts (36 foot tall)
- B. Reynolds (40 foot tall)
- Wyandot (15 foot tall)
- Harrison Wright (27 foot tall)
- Sheldon Reynolds (36 foot tall)
- Murray Reynolds (16 foot tall)
- Adams (36 foot tall)
To properly see all of these 22 waterfalls, you’ll need a full day (and lots of energy) to hike the difficult and long (7.2 miles for the upper and lower sections) Falls Trail. On our previous 3 visits, we saw around 5 waterfalls when hiking in from the right of the ‘Y’. Even seeing 5 was no easy task! It was exhausting to walk back up the trail after only seeing those 5 waterfalls then.
We encountered colorful and beautiful butterflies along the way, all decked out in vibrant colors of black and turquoise (see below). We also took frequent breaks owing to the summer heat, and while we rested, we admired the scenery around us: the impossibly tall trees, the burbling sound of the creek, and the sound of bird calls.
 |
| Colorful butterfly! |
Each time we encountered another waterfall, we stopped to look, to experience the power of it merely several feet away. We love waterfalls!
When we got to the Erie waterfall, we had an option of either hiking further down or hiking the right side of the ‘Y’, and we decided to hike the right side of the ‘Y’. It seemed a much shorter hike, and we knew there were more waterfalls concentrated along that way.
After taking a short break at the bottom of the ‘Y’ where the two creeks meet, we continued on, now ascending up the Falls Trail. We got as far as R.B.Ricketts Fall, when we saw a sign that the trail is closed due to a rock ledge collapse.
We saw several hikers taking a chance and braving the hike up the closed trail. We debated whether to continue up that trail ourselves, but as always, safety prevailed.
We headed back down the same way we had come, so we can make our way back up to the parking lot. We again got to the bottom of the ‘Y’ and by then we were sweating profusely.
We knew we needed some food and rest right then and there. We sat at a bench made out of a log and ate our energy bars. It felt good to rest up as we had already hiked a good hour and a half by then. Our legs were complaining about the workload put on by the hike, so we sat down and enjoyed the rest for about 15 minutes.
 |
| Hiking up the right side of the ‘Y’ |
Hiking back up the trail was the unusual aspect of the hike on Falls Trail. Whereas we would normally hike up the side of a mountain then hike down to get to the parking lot, at Ricketts Glen, we were hiking down, hiking up, hiking back down again, then hiking back up to get to the parking lot. Ouch! Our legs were really complaining…
For anyone considering hiking this trail, be prepared! It is a tough hike but it will be well worth it if you can hike the entirety of the trail. We chickened out but that’s ok. We have plenty of time on our hands to revisit the place again. Maybe next time we’ll see the lower section of the trail…
On our hike back up, we rested on a gigantic fallen tree which was really cool. It was a perfect place to enjoy the surroundings while taking a much needed break from all that StairMaster stuff!
When we finally made back to our car, we were famished from all that exertion. We knew the exact place to get some delicious grub, right by Lake Jean and Beach Parking Lot #2.
We drove about 3 miles to get to Lake Jean as there is a food concession stand right by the lake. As is our usual modus operandi, we walked over to it and ordered some high calorie comfort foods like grilled cheese sandwich, French fries, and cold sodas.
We reminisced about our previous trips with Toby, family, and friends. Toby used to beg us for some delicious French fries, fried mushrooms, or any other food for that matter! We sure miss that little fur ball…
Oh, by the way, the foods were delicious and just about the perfect reward after hiking close to 4 hours!
In conclusion:
We were so happy to be back at Ricketts Glen State Park after 4 years. We missed this part of the state, full of treasures and memories. You just never know how much you miss someone or something until you no longer have it…
Ricketts Glen was exactly as how we remembered it: full of beautiful scenery, pretty waterfalls, and incredibly challenging hikes on top of that! We love the place and it is our favorite park in the state of Pennsylvania. It is totally unique with plenty to do and see.
We hope you enjoy your own visit to this wonderful park, and thank you for reading!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Bushkill Falls and Grey Towers.’
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 natural attractions in Las Vegas’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Zion National Park’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Vdara Hotel’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Chateau at Coindre Hall’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Oyster Bay’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Ocean Casino Resort’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Wildwood Park and Fort Hunter Mansion’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Ottawa’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Fiore Suite and classic room at the Borgata’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 places with awesome views near Harrisburg, PA’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Quebec City, Canada’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 quintessential places to visit in New York City’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Ricketts Glen State Park, PA’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Beaufort, NC’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Vernon, NJ’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Harrisburg, PA’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Montreal, Canada’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Falls Lake Dam Recreation Area, Wake Forest, NC’.
Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 parks to visit in Bogue Banks, North Carolina’.
Please check out our YouTube channel ‘Wandering Money Pig’ showcasing our travels and our Pomeranian dog! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3kl9f4W9sfNG5h1l-x6nHw
