July 1 – To The Poconos and The Seven Tubs

Yesterday we moved a little farther east and north to a state park in The Poconos region of Pennsylvania.

The forecast had called for thunderstorms so we got an early start and arrived at Hickory Run State Park just after 11:30 am.

The road in from the interstate to the park was a bit of a challenge. It was narrow and had many steep hills, up and down, with one 14% grade. There were also a few 15 mph hairpin corners. Slow and steady was the pace.

The rain began as we were setting up and then we got dumped on for the afternoon and early evening. I didn’t think it could rain that hard for that long. The roads turned into rivers and the grass was a giant puddle.

I was really glad I didn’t have to drive the RV in it. The wind alone would have made it scary. Needless to say that we spent the rest of the day indoors.

We have a full hookup site which is unusual for a state park. I was a bit worried when I checked the booking yesterday and noticed that it said the maximum equipment size was 30 feet. We are 38 feet. The photo on the reservation site made it look like we would fit so I crossed my fingers. If we did not fit we would have a very hard time switching sites as everything is booked for the July 4th weekend.

Thankfully we did fit but we just have to park the car sideways rather than straight in. These pictures are from today when the weather was much nicer.

The full hookup sites are around the edge of a large field.

In our eastern section of the park there were only 5 occupied sites last night.

Today we went to a really beautiful place. I can’t even remember where I heard about the Seven Tubs Nature Area but it was on my list of potential things to do here. When I searched online for more information yesterday there was very little. I just knew it was an eroded rock formation where a creek had created many tubs by swirling around as it went down the rocks. I knew there was some hiking but I couldn’t find any maps or descriptions.

It is not even well marked. It is only after you turn into a very non-descript road that there is a sign telling that that you are in the right place. Even the sign is a little worse for wear.

After we arrived we figured out why it wasn’t promoted more. It is very undeveloped and kind of dangerous. There are two bridges so you can make a looping trail up and back down the creek but the trails themselves are barely there and to get good views of the gorge you need to climb down some slippery moss covered rocks and hang out over the edge.

I was worried about Jennie but she amazed me today. Her love of the swirling water overrode her fear of heights.

Now we knew that this was going to be a great place to explore.

She is already getting adventurous.

With all the rain yesterday the water was really blasting through the tight gorge.

The gorge widened and there were some steps to get down the cliff.

The bridge at the other end.

We noticed that the trail continued up stream on the other side.

Why is there a tunnel here?

These guys used the hard way to see through. The water was frigid.

There was a trail up over the top of the tunnel to the other side.

Down on this side I could see through.

Jennie tried to peek through from her side.

Then I noticed all the rotting rail ties littering the hill. We climbed to the top. Only one of the tracks was in use because the ties on the other were falling apart.

We followed the trail down the other side.

Around a corner was a nice cascade beneath a cliff.

And above it another tub.

We turned around here and headed back to find a place to have lunch.

With all the rain and lack of sun this morning it took us a while to find a rock that was dry.

Pretty nice place though.

Jennie is just leaning on the tree. All the rocks around here are very slippery.

We eventually pulled ourselves away and headed back to the car.

When we arrived there were 3 other cars. Up until we had lunch we only had only seen 7 other people. As we packed up at the car more and more people were arriving, probably because it was starting to get sunny.

Some people even brought little kids. I don;t think I would risk it. There were just too many slippery rocks and long falls.

Another unexpectedly great day. It was much better than the pictures show.