OHIOPYLE
Christy
and I decided to spend the final weekend of our trip in southwestern
Pennsylvania’s Ohiopyle State Park. The park features a number
of waterfalls and a nice stretch of the Youghiogheny River. It’s been on my to-do list for years, and it was
sort of on our way home. I booked us a
campsite at the Kentuck Campground for Saturday night
and planned out several short hikes.
We
left Clearfield Saturday morning and headed for Ohiopyle,
PA. It was a pleasant drive, mostly on
back roads. Our first stop in Ohiopyle was in town, for a short hike in the Ferncliff
Natural Area. We picked up the trail and
followed it downstream along the Youghiogheny River. It only took a few minutes to reach Ohiopyle Falls. The
waterfall isn’t tall, but it is wide and powerful. We arrived at the top, and then worked our
way downstream to two different viewpoints.
Next
up was our first stop at Cucumber Falls, the tallest waterfall in the park. It’s a freefall,
and there is a worn path behind the veil. It’s a popular spot, and it was way too busy
for photography. I decided to visit it
again later that day or early the next morning for photos.
From
there it was a short drive down to the trailhead for the Meadow Run
Waterslides. Water levels were very low
on Meadow Run and the other small streams in the park. It was too low for actual water sliding,
though we did witness one guy make a futile, comical attempt. Aside from that, this was my favorite part of
the park. The waterslides are a long run
of sliding cascades through a flume carved through open rock.
Our
next hike was a couple of miles upstream.
We could have hiked from the waterslides, but our time was limited, so
we drove up the road to a different trailhead.
Our third hike was a short loop that included several small waterfalls
and cascades on Meadow Run and an impressive cliff. We had lunch along the creek before finishing
up the loop.
Our
last big hike of the day was to the waterfalls on Jonathan Run and Sugar
Run. This was a nice, easy hike with
some cool scenery. Water levels were
very low. The waterfalls were still
nice, but they barely resembled the photos I had seen. Spring is probably a better time to visit
this part of the park.
We
continued down the Jonathan Run Trail to join the Allegheny Passage Trail along
the Youghiogheny River. The Allegheny
Passage Trail is one segment of a bike trail that connects Pittsburgh with
Washington, D.C. It was cool to walk a
short stretch of it.
We
left the bike path and hiked a short distance upstream on Sugar Run to Sugar
Run Falls. While water was low on Meadow
Run and Jonathan Run, it was nonexistent on Sugar Run. Sugar Run Falls was basically a damp rock. We had a good laugh before backtracking to
the car.
We
stopped at the Kentuck Campground and set up
camp. That evening, I made quick second
visit to Cucumber Falls to get photos.
Afterwards, we drove into town and had a nice dinner and a couple of
drinks at Falls City Pub. Then we headed
back to camp and enjoyed a pleasant night in our hammocks.
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