Worlds End State Park Camping Trip - Day 5

 Wednesday, June 21, 2023

After eating breakfast we headed to the Ranger’s Station to check on the weather for the next couple of days. Then we drove back up to High Knob Vista to check and send messages/photos to our family and friends.

High Knob Vista

From there we drove to Dry Run Falls, along yet another dirt/gravel road in the Loyalsock Forest. These 20-foot falls can easily be found right along the road. Despite the name, Dry Run Falls is one of the last waterfalls in the area to go dry. We certainly weren’t disappointed by the water flow.

Next we found our way to the parking area for the hike to Gipson and Angel Falls, both located a short distance from each other on Falls Run along the Loyalsock Trail in Loyalsock State Forest. We hiked into the forest following the yellow LT trail markers along the trail before branching off and crossing over the other side of the stream. It became increasingly steep and strenuous the further we worked our way into the gorge. We made our way first to what we believe should have been the 20-foot-tall Gipson Falls, only to find it nearly dry. From there we made our way up the steep blue trail to the base of the also dry 70-foot-tall Angel Falls. What a disappointment! We continued on the trail up to the top of the falls where we could see a trickle of water through the crack of a huge slab of stone just above the precipice, then made our way back down the other side, rejoining the Loyalsock Trail.  On our way back to the truck we passed a family of 3 who were headed up to see the falls. We warned them that the falls were dry, but they decided to continue on to the site anyway. We completed the 2.5 mile round-trip hike back to our truck where we ate our lunch before heading back to the campground to decide what else to do with the rest of our day.

A very sparse Gipson Falls

A very disappointing Angel Falls

We hadn’t yet hiked the trail to World’s End Vista, and the park brochure said it was only a 3.25-mile-long trail, so we decided to give it a go. I used my AllTrails app for this hike. We started out across the street from the Park Office, where the trail immediately went straight up hill for the first .6 miles to the Vista. Following the trail from there we connected with the Loyalsock Trail and followed it until we reached the Link Trail taking us back down across Rt. 154 and along the Loyalsock Creek before returning to the Park Office. We did find some sketchy areas on the trail along the creek where the trail was very narrow with steep drop offs, but we were prepared with our hiking boots and walking sticks to help us along. Although it looked like we followed the same trail as what was shown in the brochure and on the Purple Lizard Map, the hike was only 1.88 miles round trip.

Worlds End Vista

Mountaintop View

That ended our adventures for the day. We spent the rest of the day making dinner, relaxing and planning for more adventures in the next couple of days.

Chipmunk feasting on berries

Our nightly entertainment

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