July 10 – Ricketts Glen State Park

It is a good thing we did this hike late in our trip because it will forever ruin any other waterfall hike that we do. We did part of the Falls Trail at Ricketts Glen State Park. The entire trail is a 7 mile lollipop. We did the the 3.7 mile looping section by using a closer parking area. The trail is more of a triangle. You drop down about 800 vertical feet on one creek, then climb back up on another and finally have a flat walk back along the top.

The amazing thing about the trail is that it has 21 large waterfalls on it. We saw 18 on the loop section. Most were in the 40 foot tall range but the highest was 94 feet. Even better the trail is always literally right beside the creeks. In some places it looked like the dug out some of the cliff so they could put in steps and keep you right beside the action.

Once again the pictures are a pale imitation of being there but they will remind us of what it was like in person. There are so many waterfalls pictures in this post that most likely your eyes will just glaze over but they are meaningful to us.

This is simply an amazing place. If you get even close to here on your travels, this hike is a must do.

As an added bonus the creeks were really roaring. We had a heavy rain last night but as well this summer the park is repairing a dam so any water that would normally flow in the lake behind the dam is flowing right to the waterfalls.

This is a very popular hike. We got to the parking lot around 9:30 and were the second car there.

It is quite a large lot and it fills up quickly on the weekends. We didn’t see anybody else for the first hour of the hike but it got progressively busier as the day went on. When we got back there were around 40 cars but still lots of empty spaces.

We really took our time today. It took us 5 hours to do the loop because we just had to stop and stare so often. That also means a lot of pictures. Jennie took 344 and I took 420.

The only time were felt tired was on the flat walk back at the very end. The climb down and back up was broken up because between each falls the trail was almost flat and then we usually did a steep set of stairs to get to by the falls. Then it was back on to the next flat section.

Heading through the woods to start the loop.

Mohawk Falls.

On the flat sections they usually laid down these wide flat stones to keep us dry.

There we lots of smaller cascades to keep us looking between the falls.

Oneida Falls.

Cayuga Falls.

Then the tallest at 94 feet, Ganoga Falls.

There was a viewpoint halfway down.

And then from the bottom.

I don’t think this section got a name. Just another cascade.

I think this is Seneca.

Delaware

The start of Mohican.

From the bottom.

Still lots to look at between the falls.

Tuscarora. I think we walked by Conestoga without knowing it.

Erie

We had lunch where the two creeks join.

It got kind of busy.

Now the climbing begins. First Wynadot.

Then one call B. Reynolds. You could go behind this one. You can just barely see Jennie in the picture below.

My turn.

R.B. Ricketts.

Next was a long multipart one called Ozone. I wonder who came up with these names.

Huron beneath a huge cliff.

Shawnee was just around the corner.

F.L. Ricketts

And finally Onondaga.

Without the waterfalls to keep us occupied, the flat walk across the top back to the car was a killer. The soreness in our legs became quite apparent and we collapsed into the car.

I wonder if anyone will actually read this far. Congratulations if you did. Sorry for the extremely long post, even for me, but I really want to remember every part of this hike.