Ricketts Glen State Park, Winter Landscape Photography Hike - Part 1
I have spent many years visiting Ricketts Glen State park with my camera, for landscape photography, but I never ventured there during the winter. I have always heard of the amazing ice formations but never worked up the courage to try and hike the falls while there were sheets of ice covering every surface. This year however I decided I wanted to see the falls for myself.
Ricketts Glen is one of the most scenic places in Pennsylvania. The main falls trail takes you on a journey comprised of 22 named waterfalls with Ganoga falls being the tallest at a staggering 94 feet tall. Ricketts Glen State Park is 13,050 acres of pure God’s country.
Hiking Ricketts Glen Falls Trail
Corey and I have been talking about hiking the falls during the winter for a few years now and this year we finally said…screw it lets go. We both went online and purchased some much needed equipment for the trip. Since we were going to be hiking in late February, we both agreed, that we would not need to purchase ice axes and only get crampons. We had such a warm spell in our area that ice axes seemed like unnecessary weight. Sadly we were wrong…as usual.
Corey and I decided to start our hike at the top and work our way down but first things first…we stopped at the visitor center and signed in. After signing in we parked at Beach Lot #2, geared up and made our way to the trails. There was only a short connecting trail that leads right to the actual falls trailhead and it was very well labeled, just follow the signs.
Once Corey and I meet up with the actual falls trail we were meet with a sobering sign that the trail was still considered very dangerous, a yellow caution tape.
Like any normal, responsible adults, we thoughtfully considered the dangers…and we continued anyway. Making our way down the trail we were met with some deer on the trail. This was the first time I have ever seen deer on the falls trail. Normally I’m there during the summer, which every weekend is packed with people scaring off all wildlife that can’t fly.
The first composition Corey and I found was shortly after meeting up with the creek. We found a tree that had fallen down across the creek stretching from the adjacent bank. What drew me in was the way the tree seemed to have a twist to it without the bark on it. This seems so strange to me because it was unlike anything I have seen before…I had to have a photo.
While Corey and I were standing on the bank of the creek I could see a break in the ice. My very first thought was “that would make a nice black and white photo”. So BAM! I took one.
Shortly down the trail I found another fallen tree that was lying across the creek with a ton of beautiful moss covering it. The ice created a nice leading line with the water leading your eye to the fallen tree then to the distance.
After working our way down the falls trail we finally came up to our first named fall, Onondaga. During our approach we finally decided to strap on our crampons because we could not see around the corner and expected a little ice…good thing we did! The trail quickly disappeared and became just a thick sheet of ice. This was defiantly the star waterfall of the trip. The ice formations surrounding the fall was just breath taking.
Corey and I spent some time, well over and hour, at Onondaga taking different photos and video shots and just enjoying the scenery. Just before Onondaga there was a nice 2 foot fall the really drew me in. What I really liked was having the bridge in the background of the photos adding an extra dynamic to the composition.
I loved this photo so much that I had it printed on 16 x 20 aluminum and hung it up.
Unfortunately this is when Corey and I decided to turn back and cut the hike short. Looking ahead the trail only seemed to continue to be treacherous and no telling if it got worse. Though Corey and I agreed that we could make it down the first fall the problem was getting back up if we got stuck. Without ice axes we could have possibly gotten ourselves in a dangerous position hence the reason to turn back.
Conclusion
Ricketts Glen is an absolutely amazing place to enjoy nature and see amazing waterfalls. I would recommend visiting this place any time of the year and soaking up the beauty. If you are not use to hiking in general the falls trail can be very challenging. I would recommend hiking up from the bottom and turning back when you start to get tired.
Equipment list
Vangaurd Tripod
FStop Loca Backpack