This is the best map I was able to find. It is from a 2017 Delaware Water Gap recreation brochure. The trails to the falls aren't on any maps; I drew those in with red.
HIKE DISTANCE: 8.5 miles with exploring, 6.2 miles without exploring, below.
THE HIKE:
I found that while all trails are clear and easily followed and can be linked with a little lightly traveled road walking, blazes and markers are old and very rare if they exist at all. I had loaded a track from The Hiking Project to my Gaia app and that was very helpful in keeping with the trails. (Note that the on The Hiking Project it says dogs are not allowed - that is incorrect, leashed dogs are allowed.)
Mount Tammany from the parking lot.
Heading up the Arrow Island Trail.
It switchbacks up steeply at first.
The Arrow Island Trail is blazed white.
The Delaware River down below.
Just before this rock hop a yellow-blazed trail that is not on any map starts on the right. It goes back to the parking lot so we took that on the way back. For now, continuing on white ...
... or so I thought. With the sun in my eyes I did not see the left turn blazes but never realized I was on a different trail ...
... until it met back up with white at that rock pile. We'll just take white on the way back.
Old stone walls that might date back to the 1800's.
The trail on the right leads to Slateford Farm. First the waterfalls so we continued straight to the end of the Arrow Island Trail a few steps ahead, through the parking lot, then left on ..
... National Park Road.
It's about a 1/2 mile road walk downhill around a big curve. When a tight curve goes left, watch for the obvious trail on the right into the woods in the bend of the road.
This trail is always well-defined and easy to follow.
There are even some old blue blazes.
Some cascades down below.
Looking back down Slateford Creek.
Almost at the end of this trail you start to see it through the trees...
That was the end of the trail so we headed back.
This drainage just a short distance back didn't look very steep and would eliminate the loooooong uphill road walk back so we gave it a shot.
It was doable ...
... and put us on the National Park Road where we turned right a short distance then left into the parking lot and back to ...
... the Arrow Island Trail. We turned left at the intersection a short distance in heading to the Slateford Farm Trails.
At the next fork we turned left; right would be our return route.
Some markers! The trails are sometimes (not often) marked with orange cross country ski markers. And sometimes (not often) an NPS post with arrows indicates the direction of the trail.
Mount Minsi up ahead. I had printed out some of the historical photos from the NPS web site and tried to grab a shot in about the same place. The caption of this photo is "1930s view of
Slateford Farm. Charlotte Cyr Jewell Collection."
Here is where things get tricky. I needed to take the Slateford Farm Trail to the left to get to National Park Road (which is a stretch of the trail) to get to the upper waterfalls. The map says the trail is straight ahead but that goes through the residence on the property so I did not want to cut right through someone's yard (although I saw others doing it). I turned left on the paved drive then cut across a field on the right coming out on the unpaved part of National Park Drive where I turned right. It wasn't until later in the hike that I found the proper way in the next picture.
This picture from later in the hike is where I found the correct trail turning right before that round structure on the paved drive then left on this trail at the NPS directional post. This is not shown correctly on the map or The Hiking Project track. That trail goes behind red barns and over a bridge then becomes somewhat overgrown so might be hard to navigate with foliage. It goes past a pond to a
woods road that comes out on National Park Drive where a left brings you
to the bridge where the trail to the waterfalls is.
Back to the way we went turning left at the round structure then cutting across the field to the right, it is a right on National Park Road then a left turn before the bridge on the unmarked trail.
Trail to the upper falls.
An old collapsed dam.
The trail goes a bit farther but it becomes washed out and sketchy looking so we turned back ...
... to get the full effect of the two falls at the old dam.
Back on the National Park Road, left over the bridge. This road walk is now part of the Slateford Loop.
At the fork there is a woods road to the right that takes you off of National Park Road.
When it touches on National Park Road again, right at the gate ...
... on a mossy woods road.
A side trail leads to a small pond.
Farther ahead those orange cross country ski markers indicate a left turn. It did not look promising but we went in as far as we could.
When I checked the track I had loaded to my phone, we were definitely not on the trail so those markers must be very, very old as the trail no longer exists. I did find the other end of that trail a little later. For now, back to the woods road.
At the T-intersection, left ...
... to Slateford Farm. On the left I believe that is an old barn/garage foundation according to this map.
A look inside.
Just before the main house, something caught my eye to the left.
A bridge ....
... to nowhere.
Looking at my track, it appears this is the other end of that old obliterated trail. Dan and Laura Balogh had noted back in 2012 that they ran into an impassable trail west of the farm and I have a feeling this was it.
Main House built in 1833 - Historical photo caption: "Slateford Farm
early 1950s. Charlotte Cyr Jewell Collection."
Historical photo caption: "Louis Cyr on
Slateford Farm house porch early 1930s. Charlotte Cyr Jewell
Collection." (The porch has been removed but you can see the same door frame.)
Samuel Pipher's house called the Slateford Cabin built in the early 1800's.
A peak inside the cabin from a broken window. A National Register of Historic Inventory Nomination Form I found online stsated that during post-1924 renovations, "Munsch and his family changed the cabin's interior by adding a fibre board paneling system with wallpaper and a fake chair rail with painted graining..." I think this picture is what is being described.
Apparently there were views of the Delaware River from the front porch of the Main House back in the day but now it's all trees. Historical picture caption: "View Southeast
from Slateford Farm, August 1936. Charlotte Cyr Jewell Collection."
Here we did some looping around looking for that trail around the residence so after all of that time for a break with Mount Minsi in the background before heading on.
On the northern side, the trail skirts a field ...
... before entering the woods back to the Arrow Island Trail.
Arrow Island Trail.
Nice winter views of Mount Minsi and Mount Tammany along the way.
Just after the rock hop ...
... a left on yellow. (Note the yellow circle on the tree.)
The yellow trail goes right by an old slate mine.
The yellow trail comes out on the white Arrow Island Trail where a left goes back to ...
... the parking lot.
View of Mount Tammany from the overlook on the other side of Route 511.
