Travel Log Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennslyvania

I would have never known of this park.  Since arriving in Harrisburg, PA I've been doing google searches on day trips and day hikes and places to visit near Harrisburg.  Ricketts Glen never came up.  So, in talking to my husband on what we should do during our last weekend in Pennsylvania he mentioned that several of his co-workers had mentioned this park.

I googled it and was amazed.  So many waterfalls!  All in one park!  Yes!  We were definitely going there.  And we did.

Ricketts Glen State Park is a couple of hours away from Harrisburg.  It's easy to find with gps.  We stopped at the ranger's station and picked up a map.  We were told by the ranger to take the Highland Trail route to see the waterfalls.  Once we got to the trail head we realized we could go that way or take the other way around, toward Beaver Dam Road.  Having never been there, we followed the advise of the ranger and I'm so glad we did.

There are lots of steep areas to climb and since the trail goes through waterfall areas, it's wet.  So you are either climbing or descending steep, wet stone steps with no railing.  It's challenging in areas.  Taking the Highland Trail route allowed us to climb the wet, steeper areas, instead of descending them.  So, I highly recommend everyone take the Highland Trail your first time to this park.

Get there early.  We started at 8:30 am and there was already plenty of traffic on the trail, though we were spaced out.  By the time we finished the trip the parking lot was full and there was people everywhere.  The pressure of having people behind you, waiting, can make the hiking less enjoyable.  I'm glad we started early.

We did see a few families with very young children and I wouldn't recommend this.  The climbing is challenging and small children will struggle or need to be carried.  We saw a couple of dads with babies strapped to their fronts.  Very dangerous.

Visit the bathroom before starting.  It takes at least 3 hours to hike this loop and there's no bathrooms on the trail.  That might not be much of a concern for men, but it is for the ladies.

We took water and snacks but we didn't stop to eat until after we finished the trail.  There is a great place at the halfway point to sit and eat if you bring food.  Again, there's no bathrooms, so keep that in mind.

We thoroughly enjoyed this park.  The waterfalls are amazing and the photos don't do them justice.  I'm so glad we made the trip.