Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.
- John Ruskin
Monday, June 9
Before beginning our descriptions of the hikes we went on during our stay in the state park, it's important to point out that cell reception in the area is extremely poor, especially in the low-lying areas. We highly recommend stopping in the park office for trail maps, or downloading trail maps on your phone from an app such as AllTrails or TrailLink. We use both apps, and have the paid version of one of them. It allows you to download trail maps for use when cell reception is unavailable. Having that availability is extremely important when hiking in remote locations.
The High Rock Trail, located within the boundaries of Worlds End State Park, is considered one of the most difficult trails in the park, as well as one of the shortest. We started our hike at the trailhead near the park office, just over the bridge crossing the Loyalsock and south of the rental cabins.
Our legs definitely got a workout on this trail, even though it’s one of the shorter trails in the park. We crossed a lot of rocky terrain, scrambling over rocks as we headed upwards for a fairly steep elevation gain of 300 feet in a very short stretch of trail.
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One of the highlights of the trail is High Rock Falls, located about ⅓ of a mile from the trailhead. The falls are the only waterfall located within the boundaries of Worlds End State Park. High Rock Run, which creates the waterfall, is considered an intermittent tributary of the Loyalsock Creek. As a result you can’t expect to see much during a dry spell. But, because there were frequent rain storms in the previous days and the night before our hike, we were able to see the fall running, although not fully.
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Continuing past the falls we arrived at the High Rock Vista, from which we could see the Loyalsock Creek, the park office, and the beach at the park.
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After taking in the view, the trail cut through some large rock formations before starting the steep descent back down the side of the mountain. The trail cuts back and forth as it descends and you need to be careful. We were glad we had our walking poles. At the end of the descent we crossed over a small stream that feeds into the Loyalsock Creek.
From there we followed the trail along Rt. 154 just north of the swimming dam and the park’s snack stand. Then we hiked back up through the day use area and past the park office to where we started. We clocked in at 1 hour 21 minutes and 1.98 miles.
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To view an 8-minute YouTube video of our hike on the High Rock Trail, click here.
After returning to the campground for lunch, we decided to go for another hike on one of our favorites: the Double Run Nature Trail.
The 1.2 mi. loop trail is rated “more difficult” due to some short, steep sections. The trail travels through thick woodlands and along the west branch of Double Run, which features waterfalls and pools. We started our hike at the park Chapel along Route 154, following the trail as it meandered along and sometimes over Double Run.
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| Double Run |
We followed the trail clockwise, up into the forest above the water before heading back down some wooden stairs where we stopped to view the many drops and falls along the stream.
Following the trail just outside the boundaries of the park, we came to the trail highlight: Cottonwood Falls and the grotto formed around it.
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| Cottonwood Falls |
From there we followed the trail back down through the canyon, taking time to enjoy all the little falls and cascades we passed on our way back to the bottom of the trail.
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If you would like to watch a 7-minute-long YouTube Video of our hike on the Double Run Nature Trail, click here.
Later we drove to High Knob Vista, located nearby within the Loyalsock State Forest. The overlook provides a beautiful view of nearly 25 miles of the Endless Mountains. Unfortunately the views during our stay were hazy due to the smoke from Canadian wildfires blowing down from the north. But we were able to pick up a good cell signal so we could check our messages and send a few to our family and friends, letting everyone know we were well and enjoying ourselves.
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Tuesday, June 10
The Loyalsock Canyon Vista Trail (more commonly known as the Canyon Vista Trail) is one of the “more difficult” trails in the state park. It includes multiple vistas, especially when you add the Cold Run Trail spur to the hike, as we did.
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The trail is a 4-mile loop starting just past the campground entrance on Route 154 and climbs from the Loyalsock Creek up the walls of the gorge, getting quite steep at times. The Loyalsock Canyon Vista overlook is at an elevation of 1,750 feet above sea level and from it you can see the Loyalsock Creek winding it’s way through the surrounding mountains.
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We extended the hike a little by exploring the Rock Garden directly across the road from the Canyon Vista Overlook.
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Then we continued on the trail through huge boulders and past the Prospect Rock overlook along with some small waterfalls created by the recent rain.
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When we came to the Cold Run Trail spur we turned onto it, adding another 1.5 miles to the hike. The Cold Run Trail branches off of the Canyon Vista Trail a bit further down the trail from the Prospect Rock overlook and after passing through a labyrinth of boulders before heading along Cold Run.
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We had taken this trail on our previous visit to the park, but Cold Run is a seasonal stream and was completely dry when we visited. Our timing on this trip was a bit better as there had been frequent recent rainfall in the area, including the night before our hike. This time we were treated to many small seasonal waterfalls and cascades as we wound our way along the trail and back up out of the gorge to Cold Run Vista.
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After resting on a bench conveniently placed at the top of the steep uphill climb to the vista we connected back to the Canyon Vista Trail and wound our way down several switchbacks to cross over Route 154. From there we followed the trail along the banks of the Loyalsock until we returned to the campground, 6.59 miles and almost 4 hours after starting out. It was a strenuous hike, but one we both enjoyed and will likely hike again when we next return to Worlds End State Park.
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If you'd like to see the 16-minute-long YouTube Video of our hike on the Canyon Vista & Cold Run Trails, click here.
Thursday, June 12
The 117-acre Hunters Lake is located in Sullivan County, close to Worlds End State Park. It's managed by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Boating on the lake is limited to unpowered and electric motorboats. There is one launching area with a fishing pier. Fishing is permitted on the lake, which is stocked with trout. We kayaked around the perimeter of the lake, but there really wasn't much to see. However the water was calm and we had a nice relaxing paddle. We did spot some fish in the clear water, some turtles on logs, some geese on the shore, and a beaver den, but that was about it.
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After finishing our kayak tour around the lake, we tried our hand at fishing from the pier, but didn't have any luck. The sun had risen too high and the fish headed down into the deeper water. They weren't biting anymore. But we did enjoy watching bunches of butterflies sunning themselves on the gravel near our truck while we ate our lunch.
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Butternut Trail - The Butternut Trail, considered a moderately difficult trail, is a good way to explore the north of Loyalsock Creek from within Worlds End State Park. The trailhead for the 2.5 mile trail can be found at the same parking area as the High Rock Trail, just past the bridge over the Loyalsock on Cabin Bridge Road.
When we reached the split in this “lollipop” trail, we wisely followed the recommendation to follow the trail counterclockwise as it led us straight up a very rocky stretch of the trail. The reward at the top was Butternut Vista, with a view of Loyalsock Creek below. The trail also passed over Butternut Run several times and we had several wet, muddy areas to navigate around. But we had the trail completely to ourselves and we enjoyed hearing the birds in the trees as we followed the trail. We also enjoyed seeing other signs of wildlife: deer hoofprints in the muddy trail and trees filled with holes from woodpeckers. It was a short, but exhausting hike on the warmest day of our trip to Worlds End, thanks to the steep rocky climb up the hillside at the beginning, but we enjoyed it.
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If you'd like to view a 3-1/2 minute YouTube video of our hike on the Butternut Trail, click here.
That wraps up our adventures within Worlds End State Park. Our next blog will highlight some areas outside of the state park, but within Loyalsock State Forest and the nearby area, so watch this space!
Meanwhile, don't forget to enjoy the view from wherever YOU are!
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
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