Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.
- Albert Einstein
October 10 - 13, 2025
We usually like to go camping over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend every year. This year we decided to return to Hickory Run State Park. We stayed there on a damp weekend with our daughter and her family during the Covid pandemic, which was an experience in itself! We were looking forward to returning and exploring more of the park without the constraints the pandemic and weather placed on our previous trip.
Hickory Run State Park is located at the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Carbon County. In addition to the campground, the park's 15,990 acres includes over 40 miles of hiking trails, trout steams, and 3 natural areas, including the Boulder Field, a 16-acre National Natural Landmark.
There is a lot to do at Hickory Run and in the nearby area. Visitors can swim at the sand beach at Sand Spring Lake. Fishing is available in the park's trout streams and at the CCC dam and pond at the campground. A disc golfing course is located at the Sand Spring Day Use Area, and there are opportunities for geocaching and orienteering.
Visitor Center & Park Office
The park's Visitor Center & Office is located just inside the main entrance to the park. There's a large map of the park and its trail system engraved in a cement patio area just outside of the entrance. The Visitor Center's vestibule is open 24/7 for access to maps, guides and public restrooms.
Venturing further inside you'll find the campground office and information center on the right, and on the left a 2,400 square foot exhibit hall containing educational and interactive exhibits for kids of all ages. The park's history, geology, flora and fauna are all featured. There's also a multipurpose classroom for community meetings and school field trips.
On the outside of the visitor center, at the far left end of the building, there's a large pavilion with picnic tables. A trail leads past this end of the building to the park's amphitheater and connects with the Shades of Death Trail.
Campground Review
The park's campground includes a total of 381campsites. Fifteen of the sites include full hookups, and 115 sites are electric-only. Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring. Water filling stations are located in each campground loop and one is located at the park's dump station.
There are also 11 walk-in tent camping sites and there are 3 camping cottages and two deluxe cottages available for rent. The camping cottages sleep 5 guests in bunk beds, have a dining table, chairs, heat, lights, outlets, a porch/deck, picnic table and fire ring. One of the cottages is ADA accessible. The deluxe cottages have a bedroom and main room, stove, refrigerator, countertop, table, chairs, heat, outlets, fire ring, picnic table and sleep 6 guests in bunk beds. One of these cottages is also ADA accessible.
To get to the campground, you drive past the Visitor Center. If you have a full hook-up site or are renting a cabin, you'll need to turn right out of the visitor center parking lot and watch for the first road on the left. We noticed a new bathhouse was nearing completion in this loop when we drove through it to check out the sites. Be aware that the road was a little rough leading back to the camping area during our visit.
If you continue on the main park road past the first camping loop, you'll see the RV dump station and the park's Camp Store on the left. The store is well stocked in basic groceries, camping supplies, souvenirs, and the all-important ice cream cooler!
The remaining campground loops are located further back along this road. The two loops with electric only hookups share a bathhouse, and two of the loops without hookups also share another bathhouse. The remaining loops each have their own bathhouse. The bathhouses were clean and modern including private showers with changing areas.
We spent most of our time exploring the state park and hiking some of its many trails.
Sand Spring Day Use Area
The Sand Spring Day Use Area is located across the road from the main entrance to the Visitor Center and campground. The park's swimming beach and a concession stand are located there along with picnic tables spread out under the trees. You can drive to the Day Use Area where there's a large parking area, or you can take a 1/2-mile trail from the campground. During the summer, the sandy beach on Sandy Spring Lake in the day use area is a good place to take the kids for a swim. The lake is open for swimming from late May through mid-September.
Shades of Death Trail
The Shades of Death Trail is one of the most popular trails in the park. Early European colonists named this area for its dark forests, swamps, rocky terrain and dense forest. Despite its name, its a great hike for the whole family and is only about 2 miles long out and back. Although the state park brochure lists the trail as "most difficult hiking", there were no major changes in elevation. There are some rocky and root-filled areas along the trail where you'll have to watch your footing. However we encountered many families with young children hiking the trail and enjoying it.
The trail follows along Sand Spring Run and features some small natural cascades and a couple of larger waterfalls from the spillways of man-made dams. It also passes by unique rock formations, through thick stands of rhododendron and past some ponds created by the dams that are popular trout-fishing spots.
 | | View from the trail |
 | | Stametz Dam Spillway & Waterfall |
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 | | CCC Dam Pond |
 | | Stametz Dam Spillway & Waterfall |
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Although the main trailhead for the Shades of Death Trail is along Route 534 near the park's historic Chapel, we started our hike behind the Visitor Center and finished across from the Chapel.
Instead of going back the way we had come, we decided to cross over Route 534 and explore the least visited area of the park.
Our first stop was to view the Hickory Run Chapel from across Hickory Run. The stream gave its name to the long gone town of Hickory Run, and later the park was named after it. There's a small man-made dam in the stream passing in front of the chapel, creating a scenic set of short waterfalls.
 | | The Chapel |
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 | | Chapel Falls |
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Continuing downstream for about 50 yards, we crossed over a bridge and headed up a one-way park road to the Chapel. The Chapel, built in 1878, is one of two remaining buildings from the town of Hickory Run. Hickory Run was once a lumber town that thrived in the mid-1800s, but was abandoned after a large fire in 1875. Currently, the chapel can be rented for special events, such as weddings.
 | | The Chapel |
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 | | Inside the chapel |
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Just past the chapel we could see the abandoned c.1840s Hickory Run Manor perched above us on the hillside. By following a gravel lane from the road up to the house, we were able to get a closer look at it.
 | | Hickory Manor |
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 | | A springhouse? |
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The manor was once the home of Samuel Gould, a prominent landholder in the region and owner of many sawmills along Hickory Run. Gould's land was eventually sold to General Harry Trexler, who refurbished the Manor House for his residence. Today the building appears to be abandoned and much in need of repair.
After returning to the park road we continued following it to a the Fordway. Hickory Run passes over the top of the roadway at this point before continuing on its way. Cars can usually cross over the ford without any problem, but if the water in Hickory Run is high, the road might be closed.
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| The Fordway |
The road continued to wind up through the woodland until we could see Saylorsville Falls peeking between the trees. The waterfall spills over the edge of Saylorsville Dam, yet another dam in the park that was originally built to harness the creek's power for the area's sawmills. Parking is available nearby for those who don't want to walk to this spot, as we did.
 | | Saylorsville Dam Waterfall |
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 | | Saylorsville Dam Spillway |
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 | | Saylorsville Dam |
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We continued following the road through the woodland and past Camp Shehaqua and Camp Daddy Allen. Both of these camps contain cabins that are specifically for use by organized non-profit groups.
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| Hickory Run |
Upon reaching Sand Spring Road, we followed it back down through the woodland and out to Route 534. From there it was only a short hike along the road before we arrived back at the Visitor Center and the campground.
Our hike along the Shades of Death Trail and the walk along the roads on the other side of Route 534 created a 6 mile loop. It took us 3 hours to complete the loop, but we enjoyed the scenery on the Shades of Death Trail, as well as the quiet solitude while exploring some of the lesser known points of interest in the park.
Hawk Falls
Hawk Falls, located on the east side of Hickory Run State Park along Route 534, has a relatively easy and short 0.6 mile trail leading to the falls. The parking area is just across the highway from the parking area for the trail to the Boulder Field.
The yellow-blazed trail winds down a hill past rock formations and over a bridge crossing Hawk Run just above the falls. When we arrived at Mud Run we could see and hear high above us a bridge for the northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
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| Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike passing over Mud Run |
Bearing right along the trail we passed through a tunnel of rhododendron before arriving at the base of the 25-foot tall, naturally formed, Hawk Falls. Hawk Run and Hawk Falls were named after the Hawk family who once farmed the land near here.
 | | Path through rhododendrons |
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 | | Hawk Falls |
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It's a beautiful spot to visit, and as a result, is one of the most popular spots in the park. Unfortunately, that means the parking lot is often full, especially in the warmer months. It can even be difficult to find a parking space in the fall. It's a good idea to visit this spot as early as possible in the morning, regardless of the time of year.
The Orchard Trail
Instead of returning to our car, we chose to continue our hike onto the Orchard Trail. This trail is a spur that connects to the Hawk Run Trail at the point where it meets Mud Run. The trail passes through the Mud Run Natural Area, one of the most remote areas of the state park. The trail, rated "moderate" due to its sometimes steep terrain as well as some rocky footing, travels through stands of hemlock trees and dense rhododendron thickets. The thickets should be beautiful during May and June when they are typically in bloom.
After hiking high up on a ridge and passing through a long alley of rhododendron, the trail heads back down the hillside to Mud Run, which is known as a great trout fishing spot. We saw many small cascades in the stream as hiked along the edge, winding through even more rhododendron tunnels.
 | | Mud Run |
 | | View along Mud Run |
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 | | Mud Run |
 | | Rhododendron Tunnel |
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The trail is not always clearly marked and you have to keep your eyes open. The remoteness of the area was evident in the fact that we passed no one else on the trail until we started the climb back up to the ridge where we passed two fisherman heading for Mud Run.
 | | Mud Run |
 | | Heading back up on the ridge |
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 | | Signs of Autumn |
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We really enjoyed hiking this trail and would like to return in the spring when the rhododendron are in bloom. All told, the hike from our car to Hawk Falls, followed immediately by hiking the Orchard Trail, came to a total hike of 3.69 miles and took us 2-1/4 hours to complete. If you're visiting Hawk Falls and looking for some solitude after the usually crowded falls, we recommend hiking on the Orchard Trail, especially when the Rhododendrons are in bloom!
Boulder Field
Before leaving the state park to head back home, we decided to drive to another feature in the park: the Boulder Field. The park's boulder field is a natural landmark covering 16 acres with huge boulders 10 to 12 feet deep. The rocky field was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1967 and is reportedly the best example of a boulder landscape in eastern Pennsylvania.
Although this isn't the first such field we have visited in Pennsylvania, it's huge size along with the flatness and absence of vegetation are quite striking. The field is the result of a combination of freeze-thaw cycles and frost-heave breaking up sheets of bedrock at the end of the last Ice Age. It's estimated that the field has been there for over 20,000 years! There are informational signs near the parking area where you can learn more about the formation of the field.
 | | The Boulder Field |
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You can drive to the Boulder Field along a 5-mile one-way dirt loop road, or hike the 3.5 mile Boulder Field Trail from the parking lot located along Route 534 across from the Hawk Falls trailhead.
If you visit the field, be aware that moving or stacking rocks is forbidden. Also, if you plan to venture out onto the rocks, some of them wobble. Be prepared and wear proper footwear. Also, if you plan to visit in the winter, you should be aware that sometimes the road is closed due to ice and snow.
That brings to an end our visit to Hickory Run State Park. It won't be our last. There are quite a few more trails we want to hike as well as some sites we somehow managed to miss during our explorations.
We created two YouTube Videos of our adventures in the park - Hickory Run State Park - Part 1 covers the Visitor Center, our review of the campground, our walk to the Sand Spring Day Use Area, and our hike on the Shades of Death Trail. Hickory Run State Park - Part 2 covers our visit to Hawk Falls, our hike on the Orchard Trail, and our visit to the Boulder Field. You can click on the links in this paragraph to view them.
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
