24 places
Waterfalls, lakes and a Victorian town in a river gorge
Photo: Snagglepuss at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
City people have been coming to the Poconos for fresh air since the nineteenth century, and the draw is the same today: a high, wooded plateau of lakes and trout streams that drops to the Delaware River in a string of waterfalls. Bushkill Falls and the falls of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Dingmans and Raymondskill among them, are the easy introduction, and the river itself is made for a lazy day in a canoe or a tube.
To the south, the Lehigh River runs through a deep gorge past Jim Thorpe, a former coal and railroad town of steep streets and Victorian mansions, and a rail trail follows the river up through Lehigh Gorge State Park. At Hickory Run, the Boulder Field is a startling flat expanse of rocks left behind by the Ice Age. And in Milford, Grey Towers was the home of Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and later governor of Pennsylvania.
Highlights
Waterfall · Lehman Township, Pike County
A privately run chain of eight waterfalls in a hemlock-shaded gorge, linked by bridges and boardwalk trails, with the 100-foot main falls at the center; it bills itself as the Niagara of Pennsylvania.
Photo: Snagglepuss at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
National recreation area · Lehman Township, Pike County
Forty miles of the free-flowing Delaware River between forested ridges, with canoe and tubing runs, river beaches, waterfalls such as Dingmans and Raymondskill, and the Appalachian Trail at the gap itself.
Photo: Mike Serfas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Town · Jim Thorpe, Carbon County
A Victorian coal-and-railroad town packed into a steep Lehigh River gorge, with ornate brick streets, a mansion museum, river rafting, bike trails and excursion trains.
State park · Kidder Township, Carbon County
Its famous Boulder Field, a vast, flat expanse of rocks left by Ice Age frost, is the big draw, but the park also has Hawk Falls, a sandy swimming lake and cold trout streams.
Photo: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
State park · Lehigh Township, Carbon County
Rafters ride the Lehigh River's rapids and cyclists cruise the level rail trail beside it through a deep, rugged gorge between White Haven and Jim Thorpe, past waterfalls spilling off the cliffs.
Historic house · Milford Township, Pike County
The château-style summer home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and two-term governor, with terraced gardens and views over the Delaware Valley.
Photo: Jason Quinn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The full list
The château-style summer home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and two-term governor, with terraced gardens and views over the Delaware Valley.
The 1861 Italianate mansion of railroad magnate Asa Packer, founder of Lehigh University, on a hillside above town, with much of its original furniture in place.
The Delaware River home where the western novelist began his writing career, now a National Park Service museum near Roebling's historic aqueduct.
Ride a mine car deep into an anthracite mine worked from 1855 to 1972, then explore a museum of mining life in the old wash shanty.
The 1871 county jail where several accused Molly Maguires were hanged, with dungeon cells and a mysterious handprint on the wall of Cell 17.
The 1861 Italianate mansion of railroad magnate Asa Packer, founder of Lehigh University, on a hillside above town, with much of its original furniture in place.
The château-style summer home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and two-term governor, with terraced gardens and views over the Delaware Valley.
The oldest existing wire-cable suspension bridge in the country, built by John A. Roebling in the 1840s to carry a canal over the Delaware and now open to cars.
A Victorian coal-and-railroad town packed into a steep Lehigh River gorge, with ornate brick streets, a mansion museum, river rafting, bike trails and excursion trains.
The Pike County seat on the Delaware, with leafy Victorian streets, Gifford Pinchot's Grey Towers estate, and the waterfalls and trails of the Delaware Water Gap recreation area nearby.
Two lakes on the Pocono Plateau, ringed by Civilian Conservation Corps cabins, beaches and campgrounds, with trails into the Bruce Lake Natural Area and the surrounding state forest.
Wetlands and scrub forest of the Pocono Plateau surround a lake with a sandy beach, a campground and a level trail around its shore, linked by trail to Gouldsboro State Park.
A sandy beach and a broad lake surrounded by the scrubby woods and wetlands of the Pocono Plateau, with a trail through the forest to neighboring Tobyhanna State Park.
Its famous Boulder Field, a vast, flat expanse of rocks left by Ice Age frost, is the big draw, but the park also has Hawk Falls, a sandy swimming lake and cold trout streams.
Waterskiers and sailboats share a big reservoir in the Pocono foothills, with a long sandy beach, trout in Pohopoco Creek and a short trail to Wild Creek Falls.
Rafters ride the Lehigh River's rapids and cyclists cruise the level rail trail beside it through a deep, rugged gorge between White Haven and Jim Thorpe, past waterfalls spilling off the cliffs.
A road winds to the top of Camelback Mountain, where rocky trails and lookouts take in the Poconos and stretch on clear days into two neighboring states.
Forty miles of the free-flowing Delaware River between forested ridges, with canoe and tubing runs, river beaches, waterfalls such as Dingmans and Raymondskill, and the Appalachian Trail at the gap itself.
Mountain bikers and hikers have a long web of wooded trails around this quiet flood-control lake on the West Branch Lackawaxen River, where anglers and paddlers launch small boats.
Former farmland given to the state by a local veterinarian, with easy trails through meadows and woods, a fishing pond and rows of conifers the donor planted himself.
A privately run chain of eight waterfalls in a hemlock-shaded gorge, linked by bridges and boardwalk trails, with the 100-foot main falls at the center; it bills itself as the Niagara of Pennsylvania.
A boardwalk through a hemlock ravine passes the slender ribbon of Silverthread Falls before reaching a 130-foot cascade that ranks among Pennsylvania's tallest waterfalls.
A loop trail follows Dingmans Creek through a hemlock gorge past three waterfalls, Factory, Fulmer and Deer Leap, with the stone ruins of an old woolen mill and shady picnic spots.
Pocono Plateau woods dotted with glacial lakes, bogs and natural areas such as Bruce Lake, with long trails, primitive camping and plenty of room for solitude.
By the National Park Service's measure, this is Pennsylvania's tallest waterfall, dropping in several tiers into a hemlock ravine a short, steep walk from the parking area.
Forty miles of the free-flowing Delaware River between forested ridges, with canoe and tubing runs, river beaches, waterfalls such as Dingmans and Raymondskill, and the Appalachian Trail at the gap itself.
A privately run chain of eight waterfalls in a hemlock-shaded gorge, linked by bridges and boardwalk trails, with the 100-foot main falls at the center; it bills itself as the Niagara of Pennsylvania.
A boardwalk through a hemlock ravine passes the slender ribbon of Silverthread Falls before reaching a 130-foot cascade that ranks among Pennsylvania's tallest waterfalls.
A 165-mile trail from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol; here it follows the Lehigh River through the steep, wooded Lehigh Gorge, and farther south it runs on old canal towpaths.
A loop trail follows Dingmans Creek through a hemlock gorge past three waterfalls, Factory, Fulmer and Deer Leap, with the stone ruins of an old woolen mill and shady picnic spots.
By the National Park Service's measure, this is Pennsylvania's tallest waterfall, dropping in several tiers into a hemlock ravine a short, steep walk from the parking area.
A 165-mile trail from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol; here it follows the Lehigh River through the steep, wooded Lehigh Gorge, and farther south it runs on old canal towpaths.
