What would you say if I told you there was a hike where within just a few miles into your journey, you could view not one, not two, not three… but TWENTY waterfalls?… And a beach? Wouldn’t that sound tempting? Like a “How does everyone NOT know about this?” or “Let’s go right now” kind of tempting? The kind of tempting that might, say, lead a mom to suggest said hike for a family activity on a Saturday afternoon?… After not doing nearly enough research?

Imagine that on this gorgeous afternoon and after just short of a two hour drive to the state park in Northeast Pennsylvania, this family felt optimistic, as the hike started off easy. The path was wide and fairly flat, the birds were chirping, and the warm sun was filtering just enough light through the leafy treetops. Excitement grew as the family approached the first of many waterfalls, hearing the sound of water rushing over rocks. Then, the family approaches a steep descent of rocks, meant to act as a staircase, inviting the family further down the mountain. Along with their new nervousness was a drive for commitment – they had driven two hours for this hike, after all, and there were 19 more waterfalls and a beach to go. The drive to continue the descent won out, and the family continued down the mountain.

If this sounds like the makings of an M. Night Shyamalan movie (particularly because it takes place in Pennsylvania), let’s just say it felt like it could have gone that way.

Rickett’s Glen State Park

Rickett’s Glen State Park in Pennsylvania is truly this breathtaking, seemingly otherworldly place. The hike also kicked. our. asses… And we only did a short piece of it.

Our family of four loves to “hike.” I put that in quotes because we’ve always enthusiastically said “we love to hike!”… but now I know that our version of “hike” may perhaps be what others interpret as a “leisurely stroll through nature.” We’ve tackled “moderate” hikes before, and while challenging, they felt achievable and never really scary. This hike, while also rated as moderate, felt to my family like it should have been a double black diamond.

Really though, that’s because my family (I now know) is comprised of “Nature Walkers” / Lovers of Easy/Moderate-but-not-seemingly-dangerous hikes. We have had hiking boots, but continue to prefer the familiarity of our sneakers on “hikes.” We don’t have hiking poles. (Until this particular hike, I had almost never seen them in real life, except for maybe at Arches National Park or once in Kauai, and mostly used by much older individuals). More than half of the folks at Rickett’s Glen were using hiking poles. Probably, to people who have more of an accurate understanding of the true range of difficulty of hikes, Rickett’s Glen truly (and accurately) is a “moderate” hike. To me though, and probably to most less experienced hikers, it could be rated as “HARD A. F.”

So, if YOUR family falls into the “experienced” category, and you have poles and boots and no one loses their shit when someone slides in the mud and there’s a fifty foot drop to your left, then you should ABSOLUTELY check out this hike. I think you’ll love it! Most of the people we encountered on our hike seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. If your family is more like mine, then I wouldn’t recommend it until you’ve built up some more experience and training. You can still read on, though, because this place was gorgeous and I have pictures. (Also, M. Night, if you use this for your next movie, throw your girl a credit.)

Parking at Rickett’s Glen State Park

We parked in the “Lake Rose Trailhead Parking” lot, noted to be the closest to the first waterfall. It was also noted on the Rickett’s Glen map that this lot fills up early. Since we arrived in the afternoon, however, this lot had already cleared out somewhat and we grabbed a parking spot easily. (You can also put “Lake Rose Trailhead Parking” right into your GPS and get there no problem). Alternatively, there are other lots which you can find on the Rickett’s Glen map.

Restrooms

Yes, there are restrooms. At our parking lot, these were modern restrooms with plumbing, but they were also the grossest park bathrooms I may have ever seen. My daughter used it as a point of comparison for every public restroom we encountered this past week on a family roadtrip. (“Well, at least it’s not as bad as ‘the park’ restroom.”) These facilities look nice from the outside, but it’s deceiving. (One of those early ominous signs ignored by the earnest protagonist family in our future film? Perhaps…)

The Hike Begins

This is a good Kids Come With Tip for all hikes and off-grid adventures: Before you hike, note where you parked on your GPS, and if it’s a bit off-grid, consider texting the coordinates to your Phone-A-Friend. (You know, that person you would call if you were a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionare, but in this case it’s your “If you don’t hear from me by 9pm, send help” friend). Additionally, take a picture of the map if one is posted at the trailhead, and one from the internet or an app also (in case one is more recent). Here is the picture I had saved from the website, as well as the one I took at the trailhead. You’ll see my plan for our hike in yellow, with an added and TRULY naive (delusional?) “if we feel like rock stars and want to hike another three miles” option.

Read the Signs

Seriously. At the trail head, READ THE SIGNS. Some amazing park ranger took the time to put those damn signs there for a reason, and they’re actually important. Don’t just read the signs, either. Take pictures. Make everyone in your party read the signs. Did the kids come with? Talk with them about what the signs mean. Are you catching on to where I’m going with this? …Obviously, we didn’t read all of the signs. You know the one we didn’t read? The one that said to wear hiking attire, and that (in bold): The Falls Trail is Steep and Slippery. That’s right… THE ONE WITH AN IMAGE OF CAUTION TAPE ON THE TOP RIGHT! 🤦‍♀️ The one I took AFTER our hike as a very humbling reminder, so I would ALWAYS remember how important it is to read the signs, and I will share with you below so you, too, can learn from my mistakes:

I will say, though, I didn’t find the description of the hike in nearly as much detail on the website when I was researching the hike. I found the above sign at the trailhead (belatedly) to be much more informative and helpful. I would love it if these same infographics were put on the website. (The most visible warning on the trails website I stumbled across was about the spotted lanternfly, and it’s possible I thought “THAT’S the scariest thing at this state park?” …and skimmed the rest of the website from there. Big mistake.)

The Easy Part

The beginning of our hike truly felt downright whimsical. Perhaps this is why we were so taken aback by the increased difficulty of the hike as we approached our first waterfall. Similar to the protagonists in a suspenseful movie, we wanted desperately to hold on to our first optimistic impressions of the hike, thereby ignoring the obvious “LEAVE NOW” signs the audience so clearly sees… which the protagonists are oblivious to.

Our kids were in Heaven. The weather was great, and the kiddos were taking in every sensory experience around them. We were all together enjoying nature and on an adventure, one of our favorite things.

The Descent

It is utterly shocking to me how achievable this first descent looks in this picture. Truly, coming down was SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. Going up these stairs was child’s play compared to coming down.

This staircase was our first sign that we were (meaning, I was) a little overambitious in choosing this hike. Despite how incredibly challenging this hike was, I’m glad we didn’t turn back then because we saw some amazing waterfalls, we learned a lot, and we had an incredible experience as a family… But we really should have abandoned ship right at that first staircase. (Readers, if you get to that first staircase and you’re like “Hell no,” listen to your gut on this one and train a bit more before you try it again).

We bravely (foolishly?) tackled it though, and decided courageously (imprudently?) to adventure on.

We continued down the mountain, with a few slips and slides and scary moments, and a whole lot of deep breaths and careful footing.

The Waterfalls

The waterfalls… are breathtaking. Now, we didn’t get to see all of them (we only did about 1/3 of the Falls Trail), but the ones we did see were each so different from one another! The fact that we felt challenged in our pursuit of these waterfalls also made them feel even more secret and special. These weren’t waterfalls we could just drive to see, or take a five minute “nature walk” to enjoy. We worked for these bad boys, and they were spectacular.

Sometimes, we’d make our way around a bend and down some rocky stairs, only to find another waterfall on our left. They were everywhere!

One of these waterfalls, Ganoga, was 94′ feet tall! Here’s me at the top of it, trying unsuccessfully to capture the sheer massive scale of this masterpiece of nature in a picture:

In order to truly understand the magnitude of this waterfall, it is really best seen in person, along with a hike down the side, which somehow is safer than that first descent, but also has some pretty dicey moments.

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
~ Winnie the Pooh

This hike tested our resolve, our bravery, and our ability to communicate. It even tested our marriage.

Luckily, we trusted each other, leaned on each other, tested – and learned – our limits. Ultimately, we only did about 1/3 of the waterfall trail, as at that point we realized we would never make it back before dark if we didn’t turn around. This was totally the right call, as it took us a total of 2.5 hours to do this small stretch and back with the kiddos. (We were between the Mohican and Conestoga waterfalls when we called it).

There’s a lot of Rickett’s Glen that we didn’t get to experience – the beach, some other viewpoints… but we felt positive about our choice to call it when we did, as pushing it more than we did would have been unsafe for our amateur-hiking family.

The drive out of Rickett’s Glen State Park was breathtaking, and I bet it would have been incredible to see from the beach. This is something you don’t have to do the waterfall trail to experience!

Some take home thoughts… For nature lovers, Rickett’s Glen is a great choice, and the waterfalls are magnificent for adventurous and experienced hikers. There’s a campground right there on site.

Admission is free, and there is no cell service. The bathrooms were GROSS, but I’ve also never been to nice bathrooms at a trail head.

7 year old daughter review: “It was pretty scary most of the way. My favorite part was the sound of the waterfalls. I also liked spending time with my family, but the rest was a little scary. I liked the look of the waterfall, and the streams were beautiful. I loved throwing rocks into the water. I liked looking up and seeing the sun through the trees. I learned that we are not hiker people, and it’s important to always step forward.”

4 year old son review: “It wasn’t scary for me. I saw the waterfalls and they were cool. The sun was going down when we got to the car. I liked going into the rock tunnels (overhangs) with the water, and playing, and being with you.”

My husband questioned his love for me several times over the course of our hike, particularly when we approached several of the ominous looking drops in the trail. That said, he appreciated the beauty of the streams, waterfalls, and the flat parts of the trail (closest to the parking lot). He agrees that we have learned that we are not a serious hiking family, and our family consensus is that we prefer nature walks and easy trails.

If you ARE one of those families that are awesome at hiking, then bring all of your gear with you and take it nice and slow! The views are truly incredible, and it’s an amazing thing to be able to have so many waterfalls all within a few miles of a hike.