Waterfalls, woods & a picnic in the Poconos

Breakfast before the waterfalls 🍳

Plan A: stop near the I-80 / White Haven area shortly before entering Hickory Run. A sit-down breakfast gives everyone a proper start without forcing an extremely early breakfast at home. Aim to keep the stop to about 30 minutes so we can get to Hawk Falls before the late-morning crowd.

Plan B: for maximum trail time, pick up bagels, egg sandwiches, coffee or chai near home and eat during the drive. This gets us to Hawk Falls earlier.

Hawk Falls

Start with the park’s signature natural waterfall. The official park description puts Hawk Falls at 25 feet, reached on the short yellow-blazed Hawk Falls Trail through rhododendron forest. The official trail listing is 0.6 mile and rates it “more difficult.” Swimming at the falls is prohibited.

Shades of Death Trail

The name is theatrical, the scenery is lovely. This trail follows Sand Spring Run past small natural cascades and larger waterfalls at historic man-made dams. Pennsylvania DCNR calls it one of the park’s most picturesque trails. The official route is 1.0 mile out-and-back and rated “most difficult,” so we can simply turn around whenever we’ve had enough.

Picnic at Sand Spring

This is our deliberate slow-down point and the main lunch stop. Pennsylvania DCNR says the large picnic area near Sand Spring Lake has hundreds of picnic tables, grills, restrooms, playground equipment, drinking water and trash containers. A food concession is also open during the summer season.

🥪 Picnic lunch idea

Bring lunch from home in a small cooler rather than spending the middle of the day driving to a restaurant. Easy options for the three of us: vegetable or paneer wraps, sandwiches, lemon rice or puliyodarai, fruit, chips, yogurt, something sweet, and plenty of cold water. Pack a picnic blanket too, even though tables are available.

Give ourselves a full hour here. Shoes off, lunch, lake views, restroom break, and absolutely no requirement to be productive. Then we start the gentler afternoon portion of the day.

Boulder Field

Finish with the geological plot twist. Boulder Field is a National Natural Landmark, roughly 400 × 1,800 feet, nearly devoid of vegetation, with some boulders reaching 26 feet long. Rather than taking the long Boulder Field hike, drive the park’s approximately 5-mile one-way dirt loop to it and save your legs for exploring the rocks.

Lake Trail — the final hike

This one is now part of the plan, not an optional add-on. Pennsylvania DCNR lists Lake Trail as 0.6 mile and “easiest”. The orange-blazed connector runs around the back of Hickory Run Lake and connects with Stage Trail. After the rock-hopping at Boulder Field, this gives us a short, calmer waterside finish before the drive home.