Things to know about Hiking Bushkill Falls

This week we took a mini vacay to the Poconos in PA.  One of the things I wanted to do there was visit Bushkill Falls.  I first heard of Bushkill Falls (which is a beautiful collection of Waterfalls in the Pocono mountains) when I was in college.  A girl who lived on my floor had a picture of her and her boyfriend in front of a waterfall and I was amazed that such beautiful waterfalls could exist in Pennsylvania.

So finally after a decade or so, I made the trip to the Poconos to see these falls.  Was it worth it? oh heck yea!  If you'd like to go visit these falls and make a day of it, here are some things to know.


1. Wear appropriate shoes. This should be a no brainer but I'm telling you that we saw people who were wearing flip flops!   Before we even went, we debated on which shoes to wear. We didn't know if this was a sneaker thing or a hiking boot thing.  We ended up wearing our Altra Trail shoes ( I was so happy to be getting some use out of them again)  and they did just fine. There were others who were wearing regular sneakers and I probably could have worn my running shoes but I'm glad to have not taken them out on this terrain. I would definitely wear my thick soled Altras again if I did this hike!

2. You do have to pay admission. Admission price is $14 per adult and once you start hiking you will definitely see why you need to pay. Not only are the views spectacular, but about 90% of the walkways are built out of lumber!

It literally looks like the something out of the Swiss Family Robinson. I'm sure it is not cheap to maintain all that.

3. Stairs. You will be climbing A LOT of stairs! Yup, those wooden ones that need to be maintain.  I thought I was in pretty good shape but let me tell you, I was ready to look for a bench and have a seat when I got to the top of a couple of those.

4. Bushkill Falls is pet friendly so you can bring your dog!  Okay, now normally I am all about bringing my dog places and I know both Baylee and Belle would just love this place (although they may want to jump in the water), but I would never bring them here. Honestly I wouldn't recommend bringing a dog unless it was a puppy or a small dog that you could pick up and carry.  The hike is long and and like I said above there are A LOT of steps.  It just wouldn't be fair to have your dog going up and down all the stairs.

On the same token, if you visit, DO NOT BRING A STROLLER.  again, lots of stairs.  We passed a family that was just entering the trail as we were leaving and already they were carrying their baby stroller. They asked if the rest of the trail was like that and we said it got worse.  We ended up passing the dad on the way back to the parking lot where he returned his stroller.

This is the start of the Red trail!

5. Okay now on to the actual trails. There are 4 different colored trails (Green, Yellow, Blue, & Red) based on your activity level. They are all clearly marked as such.  The Green trail will only give you a view of one waterfall, the main one.

There is no Hiking involved but you do have to go down a substantial amount of steps to reach the lookout point.  The yellow will give a view of about 4 falls, you will see more on the Blue trail and then of course the Red trail will give you the best views of all 8 Waterfalls.  We did the Red trail and we survived! It was definitely a workout though.

What a view! 

                            This is just some of the terrain we hiked up while on the Red trail.

I just had to take a picture of this because obviously this couple paid no attention to the sign posted right beside them that said to stay on the trail.  I suppose if I would have zoomed out a little you would be able to tell that they are clearly off the trail and standing in a bed of water they are not suppose to be in. The girl on the rock is taking a selfie because there is a large waterfall behind her.  I bet she did get a great pic though as there really wasn't a way to get a good pic on the side of the trail (where we were).

Also, on these trails there are no restrooms, no water stops, no ranger station, so basically if you need help you are on your own. Pack water (maybe a snack) and any first aid items you might need. There are benches along the way that you could sit at and have your snack.

                                                                      More Falls

Some falls, like this one behind us, had platforms you could walk out on so you could get closer pictures.  This pic is of me and my mom.  In all it took us about 2 1/2 hours to do the red trail, which was the recommended amount of time it says on the map. 

You only have to pay admission to hike (and view) the falls.  Outside of this area is  a snack and gift shop, visitors center, restrooms (the only ones), Ice cream and Fudge Kitchen,  Picnic pavilion, Native American Exhibit, Mining Maze, Mini golf,  Playground, Paddleboats, and Fishing area. 

Perhaps you might put this on your list to do if you ever visit PA.  -M

                                      We are linking up with the gals for the Friday 5.