Hickory Run State Park, PA - Shades of Death to Lehigh Gorge Overlook (Southern Section)

ABOUT THE PARK:
Hickory Run State Park - Pennsylvania DCNR
The History of Hickory Run - Pennsylvania DCNR (see "Boom Time" for history of this section)

DIRECTIONS:
Parking at Park Office:  GPS Coordinates 41.024565, -75.709790

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TRAIL MAPS:
Hickory Run State Park Trail Map - Pennsylvania DCNR
Hickory Run State Park Campground Map - needed to navigate through campground on Beach Trail

HIKE DISTANCE:  10.5 miles

THE HIKE:

The Shades of Death Trail begins from the parking lot opposite the park office and follows along scenic Hickory Run.

A dam along Hickory Run.

Steam was rising from the cascades and freezing on the tree branches above since the temperature was in the teens and the water was still warmer than the air temperature.

Scenic Hickory Run

The Shades of Death Trail is blazed in yellow but in this park blazes are not used to distinguish trails, rather to distinguish uses.  Yellow is for hikers only and blue is for cross country skiing.  Orange is for snowmobiles but there are no orange trails in this section.  Signs at intersections identify trails by names.

Use the campground map to navigate the Beach Trail which is not blazed at all but references camp site numbers.

A rock hop on the Sand Spring Trail.

A blue blaze indicating this trail may be used for cross country skiing.

Sometimes the blue blazes are plastic diamonds.

The Pine Hill Trail starts out as a blue-blazed woods road...

... then becomes a hiker only yellow-blazed foot path.

The Pine Hill Trail ends at the Fireline Trail at the gazebo and railroad tracks; turn right here to continue on the FIreline Trail.  But almost immediately turn right on the Sand Spring Trail because...

... to continue on the Fireline Trail you would need to cross Hickory Run.  The water is deep, cold, and there simply is no way to safely cross over.  The log to the left does not reach the bank and was covered with snow and ice.

The Sand Spring Trail parallels Hickory Run and lets you cross over on a footbridge.

After crossing the bridge take the Skyline Trail which switchbacks up the side of the mountain.

At the top of the mountain along the Skyline Trail, a HUGE ancient pine tree with a diameter the length of my trekking pole, a good 36+ inches.  How did it survive the logging of the 1800's?

Part 2 of the tree since it won't all fit in one picture.

Glimpses of the Lehigh Gorge from the Skyline Trail

At the very tip of the park where the trail sharply turns in the opposite direction, a nice open field with a view of the Lehigh River.

Loop around the Skyline Trail back down the switchback to the Hickory Run Trail following next to Hickory Run.

As a short side trip continue a short distance beyond the park office on Route 534 towards a stone wall on the left.  Turn into the woods before the stone wall and climb to the top of the hill to a tranquil and peaceful cemetery with graves of the victims of the October 30, 1849 flood.

HIKE SUMMARY:
[  0.00]  Take the Shades of Death Trail over the bridge from parking lot
[  0.35]  Stametz Dam
[  0.75]  Trail veers right over small creek where it looks like it might continue straight
[  0.80]  Trail veers left up wood beam steps up to clearing, continue right then left at fork
[  0.90]  C.C.C. Dam
[  1.15]  Hop guardrail at Route 534, turn right and cross bridge, turn right on Beach Trail just after bridge (no sign)
[  1.35]  Turn right at camp site 152
[  1.45]  Turn right at camp site 158 and proceed between to posts on trail
[  1.50]  Turn right between camp sites 52 and 53 with playground on right
[  1.55]  Turn right at camp site 60
[  1.65]  Turn left at camp site 16 and cross paved road on to Sand Spring Trail (sign at beginning of trail)
[  1.70]  Rock hop over creek
[  1.80]  Left at fork
[  1.90]  Left on Blue Trail
[  2.35]  Long wet section on trail
[  2.80]  Turn right on Pine Hill Trail
[  3.40]  Pine Hill Trail turns right when umarked woods road goes left (not on map)
[  3.80]  Pine Hill Trail turns right uphill along no trespassing area
[  3.90]  Just over rise Pine Hill Trail leaves woods road as hiking only foot path
[  4.20]  Trail crosses over small boulder field
[  4.35]  Rock hop over small creek
[  5.00]  Right on Fireline trail at railroad tracks towards gazebo; right on Sand Spring Trail
[  5.60]  Turn left on Hickory Run Trail when Sand Spring Trail continues straight
[  5.65]  Cross bridge over Hickory Run and turn right
[  5.75]  Turn left on Skyline Trail and switchback up
[  6.45]  Rock hop over Gould's Run and take left fork of Skyline Trail (returning via right fork)
[  6.60]  Cross over Gould Trail staying on Skyline Trail
[  6.85]  Huge pine tree
[  7.10]  Rock hop over wet area and small creek
[  7.15]  Turn right briefly on Fireline Trail then continue left on Skyline Trail
[  7.50]  Left on Skyline Trail as it joins with Fireline Trail as woods road
[  7.65]  View of Lehigh Gorge; continue on trail around bend to the right
[  7.80]  Turn right on Skyline Trail as Fireline Trail continues straight
[  8.40]  Skyline Trail crosses over unmarked trail (not on map)
[  8.55]  Rock hop through we area
[  8.85]  Cross over Gould Trail
[  8.90]  Rock hop over Gould's run to left to retrace first part of Skyline Trail
[  9.35]  Skyline Trail switchbacks down
[  9.65]  At bottom of Skyline Trail, turn left on Hickory Run Trail (no sign)
[10.20]  Turn right on Route 534
[10.50]  Parking lot at park office

Appalachian Trail: Warwick Turnpike, NJ to Prospect Rock, NY with Cascade Lake Park, NY

ABOUT THE PARK:
Cascade Lake Park - Town of Warwick, NY
Appalachian Trail - NY/NJ Trail Conference

DIRECTIONS:
GPS coordinates for parking on Warwick Turnpike:  41.201500, -74.391610

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Roadside parking on both sides of Warwick Turnpike where the Appalachian Trail crosses over. (room for 8-10 cars)

GPS coordinates for parking on Long House Drive (parking not shown on NY/NJ Trail Conference map):  41.195653, -74.371032

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Roadside parking for about 3-4 cars on east side of Long House Drive where AT follows road before crossing over.

TRAIL MAPS:
North Jersey Trail Map #116 - NY/NJ Trail Conference
Warwick Trail Map (Cascade Lake Park) - Town of Warwick, NY
Some notes about the Cascade Lake Park trail map: This park makes a very nice loop in conjunction with the AT but the map appears to be outdated and not very accurate.  The red trail on the map is a woods road with old red blazes.  A newer red-blazed trail is a much more attractive footpath that runs along the banks of Long House Creek on both sides.  At the southern end of the park red blazes are confusing as they lead to a footbridge as well as through a washed out section of woods road at a creek crossing. Stay with the footbridge in that area and ignore the red blazes to the creek as it is not necessary to climb down into the creek and rock hop over.  The orange trail also has yellow blazes initially.  When starting on the loop of the orange trail, make note of where you are as multiple intersections along the loop make it confusing remember which one to take back to the red trail. Never did see the yellow, green or aqua trails. The pink trail appears earlier than it should, then meets back up with the blue trail for a while, disappears, then shows up again farther along the blue trail as a woods road crossing over so it appears to run differently than what is shown on the map.

HIKE DISTANCES:
8.5 miles - park on Warwick Turnpike
6.0 miles - park on Long House Drive
Note:  My hike was 11.8 miles with exploring other trails in Cascade Park Lake so additional mileage can easily be added.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL SECTION HIKING:
TrailHeadFinder.com - AT section miles 1345.2 to 1349.3 (for Warwick Turnpike start)

THE HIKE:

From Warwick Turnpike to Long House Drive, the Appalachian Trail crosses many swamp sections with boards and rock hops.

A creek between Warwick Pike and Long House Drive.

A white blaze of the Appalachian Trail.

A detour of the Appalachian Trail due to the bridge over Long House Creek destroyed by Hurricane Irene.

From the the detour point it would be about 1.2 miles to where the bridge is gone at the creek crossing if you were to stay on the original AT.  However, it is only .05 mile from where the detour meets back up with the AT on the other side.  So I suggest doing what I did - at this point, follow the detour and on the return trip, go on down to where the AT crosses Long House Creek and determine then if you can get across to follow the original AT back at the end of the hike.  If not, you have only gone .05 mile out of your way and can take the detour route back.

Detour along Long House Drive

Detour along paved part of Riverside Drive - residential on right with Long House Creek on left.

Ducks in Long House Creek off of Riverside Drive

Lots of Downy Woodpeckers along Riverside Drive

Riverside Drive becomes a gravel road and continues into Cascade Park beyond where it meets back up with the AT.

Red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park following the banks of Long House Creek.

The dam which forms Cascade Lake on Long House Creek.

Cascades spill over the dam at Cascade Lake.

Blue/pink-blazed woods road in Cascade Lake Park.

The blue-blazed trail splits off as a foot path called the Zig Zag Trail and ascends to the Appalachian Trail.

Turn right on the Appalachian Trail to Prospect Rock straight ahead.

From Prospect Rock views of Greenwood Lake, Sterling Forest, NY to the left and NJ to the right.

The AT brings you from New York into New Jersey or you can be in both states at the same time.

A short but steep rock scramble on the AT which some dogs might not find amusing. (She made it down with lots of coaxing and assistance.)

When you reach the detour point keep straight on the AT if you want to take a peak at the creek crossing just over the rise.  This is where the bridge was supposed to be.

A short distance to the right are a couple of stable logs across the creek.  I did not feel comfortable walking over them (I would have ended up in the creek for sure) so I straddled the logs and scooted over inch by inch. 

From the other side, the broken bridge along the bank of the creek.

The AT will come out at the parking spots on Long House Drive.  If continuing on to Warwick Turnpike, turn left and walk along Long House Drive for .1 mile watching carefully for the AT going into the woods to the right as blazes will keep going straight along the road for the detour portion.  The right turn into the woods will be before the 30 mph curve sign.

HIKE SUMMARY:
8.5 Mile Hike From Warwick Turnpike:
0.00    Head north (east) on AT from Warwick Turnpike roadside parking
0.50    Rock hop over swampy area, boards, bridge over creek
0.65    Cross woods road (not on map)
0.75    Swamp on right, rock hop through wet area, boardwalks
1.15    Boardwalks, rock hop over creek, boardwalks, keep right at fork
1.25    Right on Long House Road
1.80    Turn left on Riverside Drive
2.30    Continue straight when Riverside Drive turns to gravel
2.70    Cross feeder creek with small waterfalls
2.75    Keep straight when AT crosses over
3.05    Turn right on red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park; keep straight at footbridge following red-blazed trail along creek bank
3.55    Cascade Lake and waterfalls at dam; left on blue trail beyond waterfalls
3.60    Left on pink, also old green blazes at intersection, blue goes straight, red now gone
3.70    Keep left at intersection
3.75    Cross woods road
3.85    Keep straight when blue joins in from right, not blazed blue/pink
4.10    At fork keep left on blue/pink then keep right when woods road goes left
4.20    At intersection with two woods road, follow blue to left on footpath (well marked)
4.25    Cross woods road blazed pink to the right
4.50    Turn right on white-blazed Appalachian Trail to views at Prospect Rock
4.90    NY/NJ state line and trail register
4.95    Keep straight on AT when blue trail goes left
5.15    Surprise Lake to left as AT turns sharply right
5.20    Keep right on AT when yellow goes left
5.60    Rock hop over creek
5.70    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.80    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.85    Back at Riverside Drive gravel road detour, cross over and continue on AT
5.90    If bridge out turn right along bank of Long House Creek to logs that can be used to cross creek then left on other side back to AT
6.45    Cross bridge over creek
6.65    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
6.85    AT right right on woods road that comes in from left
6.90    AT leaves woods road to the left
7.05    Turn left on Long House Road at roadside parking
7.15    Cross Long House Road to the right and continue on AT into the woods
7.25    Boardwalks, rock hop over creek, boardwalks
7.35    Keep right on AT at fork
7.85    Cross woods road
8.00    Cross creek on footbridge, cross swamp on boards then rock hop
8.50    Back at car

6.0 Mile Hike from Long House Drive:
0.00    Right on Long House Road
0.10    AT comes in from woods on right
0.75    Turn left on Riverside Drive
1.25    Continue straight when Riverside Drive turns to gravel
1.65    Cross feeder creek with small waterfalls
1.70    Keep straight when AT crosses over
2.00    Turn right on red-blazed trail in Cascade Lake Park; keep straight at footbridge following red-blazed trail along creek bank
2.50    Cascade Lake and waterfalls at dam; turn right on blue-blazed trail (woods road) beyond waterfalls
2.55    Left on pink, also old green blazes at intersection, blue goes straight, red now gone
2.65    Keep left at intersection
2.70    Cross woods road
2.80    Keep straight when blue joins in from right, not blazed blue/pink
3.05    At fork keep left on blue/pink then keep right when woods road goes left
3.15    At intersection with two woods road, follow blue to left on footpath (well marked)
3.20    Cross woods road blazed pink to the right
3.45    Turn right on white-blazed Appalachian Trail to views at Prospect Rock
3.85    NY/NJ state line and trail register
3.90    Keep straight on AT when blue trail goes left
4.10    Surprise Lake to left as AT turns sharply right
4.15    Keep right on AT when yellow goes left
4.55    Rock hop over creek
1.65    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
4.75    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
4.80    Back at Riverside Drive gravel road detour, cross over and continue on AT
4.85    If bridge out turn right along bank of Long House Creek to logs that can be used to cross creek then left on other side back to AT
5.40    Cross bridge over creek
5.60    Cross unmarked woods road (not on map)
5.80    AT right right on woods road that comes in from left
5.85    AT leaves woods road to the left
6.00    Back at car on Long House Road