The Pine Creek Gorge is about an hour and half drive from Lock Haven, PA. You take 220 N, then go north on PA 287, and then follow the PA Grand Canyon signs. We went to the East Rim of the canyon–the Leonard Harrison State Forest and you can reach this by taking 660 W from the little town of Wellsboro, PA. The gorge itself is 1450 feet deep at its deepest point and one mile wide and was cut out over time by the Pine Creek river.

The steep walls of the gorge are now covered with a beautiful deciduous hardwood forest, rock faces and waterfalls. It is a true old growth forest. The Park is at an elevation of 1833 feet and the views from the top of the gorge are breathtaking.

The mountains surrounding the gorge appear to you like twined fingers, the green mounds rolling one over the other. We reached the Park around 4 in the afternoon and we decided to hike the Turkey Path Trail–it was a little over 2 miles both ways. The girls–my daughter and my niece–were excited even though they were not wearing proper shoes and we could hear thunder in the distance. The trail is really steep and in places very narrow. So Krish walked ahead the girls in between and I walked behind. We were not sure we could bring the dogs but we saw another family with their dog so we will take the pooches the next time. (Well maybe not–Sally will bark at everything and anything.) We started down the trail and as we went down the light became greener and greener. There were birds all around–we couldn’t see them. But we heard them. We could also hear the waterfall, the steady rush and trickle of water. We walked in silence–even the girls who normally chatter continuously. Krish pointed out to the girls how to tell the north inside a forest–look for which side of the tree the moss grows–that is the North–and we stopped to look at the huge birches that had keeled over. They had built wooden handrails in the steeper parts of the gorge and part of the way had even built steps because it was a steep drop down. About halfway down the trail we saw the waterfall–not a big one–a gentle cascade down the black rock face. The girls loved to discover rocky ledges they thought would be the best places to hide should it rain. We kept walking and at some point we felt the rain drops that had started falling a while ago but which were held back by the canopy of leaves above us. Should we turn back? Nah–we said. Let’s keep going. About 100 feet from the bottom of the gorge and the riverbed we came upon a clearing and felt a sudden whiplash of wind on our faces. Krish looked up and asked–do you feel that wind? It was rattling and roaring. And then a second later, the downpour started. It was immense. The kids ran back and we went up in reverse–me first then the girls and then Krish. I gave Dayani my big shirt–so she could cover her head; Ketaki covered herself with her vest, and Krish covered the camera with his shirt. We had joked that coming back we would be tired–but there’s nothing like a massive downpour to quicken your steps. We climbed back and back and back and surprisingly the trail did not become as muddy as we thought it would which helped us out. We ran under that rocky ledge that the girls had discovered earlier and waited the rain out. Steam rose from the mud when it cleared up and we trudged back up the trail. Dayani discovered a beautiful eastern newt–a red spotted one–the rain had brought the newts out. We were all completely soaked by now and hungry but we didn’t care–what a fantastic place! And that isn’t all–the drive on 287N is absolutely gorgeous. Mountain Laurel, the state flower of PA which blooms only for a short time in June is having a spectacular season this year. For miles and miles and miles you see hardwood forests with a groundcover of lavender-white flowers. It is incredibly beautiful. (Do not eat: highly toxic.) Just these flowers as far as eyes can see, scaling up the hills!