Known as the “Niagara of Pennsylvania”, this scenic natural attraction is every outdoor lover’s dream. It has eight waterfalls, four hiking trails, walkways, bridges, and a 100-foot drop to Main Falls. While many experienced hikers love the area to hike the Red Trail, there are other less-strenuous and laid-back activities you can enjoy.
From hiking, bird watching, sweet shops, mining for gemstones, fishing, and cooling off at the waterfalls on a hot and humid day, what more could you ask for?! Get ready to discover why Bushkill Falls is one of my favorite places in my husband’s home state of Pennsylvania!
Hike the Red Trail
We started hiking the Red Trail early since it’s a 2-hour hike and would take up the most time. We were impressed by this hike, as it was very well-maintained and marked (if you’re a hiker, you know how essential that is, especially with challenging hikes). There were plenty of rocks and tree roots to step over, which is one of the reasons we always bring hiking boots whenever we travel.
As we hiked about, the sounds of the water were soothing from the streams and crashing waterfalls, eight in total. There’s a lot of wildlife in Bushkill Falls, but they do a great job staying hidden. We noticed some shorter trails had boardwalk areas, but others had rocky terrain.
Pro Tip: There are four trails at Bushkill Falls: the Red Trail, Green Trail, Yellow Trail, and Blue Trail, so you’ll have other shorter options that take less time to complete.
Bird Watch on the Trails
Even though a lot of the wildlife stays hidden and out of sight, you’ll see plenty of birds along the way, so if you’re a nature enthusiast like us, you’ll enjoy this. Employees in the area actually told us there are more than two hundred species of birds in Bushkill Falls.
While visiting during the summer, we saw many birds building their nests and about four species of birds, including woodpeckers, American redstart warblers, black-capped chickadees, and Easter kingbird flycatchers. If you’re looking to spot a Bald Eagle, you’ll want to visit in the spring.
Visit the Fudge Shop
I usually try to avoid sweet snacks if we’re spending time outdoors, but I have to indulge every time I see a fudge shop. We stopped in to the Sugar Mountain Sweet Shop, where they had a large variety of fudge flavors. We bought a small block of chocolate and caramel fudge, just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth, before heading back out.
The sweet shop didn’t just have fudge, but they also offered candy, gourmet chocolates, and Hershey’s ice cream. If you want other options nearby, there’s a snack area with popcorn, pizza, wraps, and burgers.
Mine for Gemstones
Next, we found a fun and affordable activity that you don’t see in many areas these days. While there were a lot of families with their kids here, we really enjoyed pretending to be miners, learning how to find gemstones, and the proper techniques it takes to find lucky nuggets!
We paid $10 for a mining rough bag and got to uncover all types of gemstones that we were allowed to take home. With each gemstone you find, you received a card to teach you about its background.
Pro Tip: When you’re finished, head over to the Mining Co. Maze, where you can rush to complete checkpoints and be the fastest out of competing visitors to have the best finish time!
See the Pennsylvania Wildlife Exhibit
As nature enthusiasts, the Pennsylvania Wildlife Exhibit was one place we were really looking forward to visiting when planning our trip. We first went to the Native American Exhibit, where we explored a longhouse, where we got to imagine sleeping and cooking to see what life was like. They had displays of hunting equipment and cooking utensils to show how Native Americans were able to get food.
This exhibit is located at the entrance, so if you want to see it, I recommend putting it at the top of your list. If we didn’t plan our hike so early in the morning, we would have stopped here first since it was on the way.
Go Fishing
Also near the entrance was Twin Lakes, a spot where we decided to take a little time for fishing, my husband’s favorite summertime activity. You don’t need a fishing license here, but you do need a permit, which you can get at the Boat House. To our surprise, we actually had luck with catches that day, hooking a pumpkinseed sunfish and a few bass.
If you plan to go fishing, I’d recommend bringing your own fishing gear. We always have ours packed since my husband doesn’t travel without it. If you don’t have your own, they do have rental fishing gear available.
Cool off at the Waterfalls
Bushkill Falls doesn’t have one, but it has eight waterfalls that are perfect for cooling off in the summer heat. Pennsylvania summers can become very hot and humid, so when you have the opportunity to make your way to a waterfall, you take it.
As we walked along the Green Trail (a much shorter trail than the Red Trail we took earlier), we came to a massive drop of the Main Falls. If you have more time in your schedule, take the blue or yellow trails, as they’ll lead you to the other seven waterfalls in Bushkill Falls.
Visit the Frazetta Art Museum
One of our last stops was the Frazetta Art Museum. This was a smaller museum compared to others we’ve visited in the past, but it did have drawings and paintings that belonged to Frank Frazetta. We also saw many of his photographs that he took with celebrities and even sculptures.
For $15, we could do a tour guided by Frazetta’s daughter-in-law. We spent about an hour here since it was a smaller museum, but I enjoyed the unique pieces of artwork. On the way out, we stopped by the museum’s shop to purchase one of Frazetta’s art books.