Ricketts Glen State Park

The Falls Trail runs a loop of about eleven and a half kilometres past twenty-one named waterfalls, the tallest Ganoga Falls at about thirty metres, on two branches of Kitchen Creek that meet at Waters Meet. The trail is stone steps cut beside the water for most of its length and is genuinely demanding. The glens hold old-growth hemlock, white pine and oak, some of it over five hundred years old, which survived because the Ricketts family logged around rather than through it. The area was proposed as a national park in the 1930s and the plan was dropped; the state bought it instead. The loop takes four to five hours, and in winter the frozen falls draw ice climbers, who must carry an ice axe, crampons and rope.

What's there

• Twenty-one named waterfalls - on an eleven-and-a-half-kilometre loop.
• Ganoga Falls at about thirty metres - the tallest of them.
• Old-growth hemlock and pine - some over five hundred years old.
• Stone steps beside the water - most of the trail's length.

When to go

May to October; the Falls Trail closes in winter. A full day.

Good to know

The loop is strenuous with continuous steps - not a casual walk. Ice closes it in winter. Parking fills on summer weekends. Rock is wet year round.

Nearby

Wilkes-Barre is south-east; Worlds End State Park is west.

Key facts