June 1st, 2021 … Summer of Fun continues!

Ricketts Glen State Park harbors the Glens Natural Area, a National Landmark. The large park is comprised of over 13,000 acres in Luzerne, Sullivan and Columbia counties. The history of Ricketts Glen State Park can be traced to the American Civil War. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Robert Bruce Ricketts enlisted as a private in the US Army. Fighting for the Grand Army of the Potomac, Ricketts led Battery F during the Battle of Gettysburg. Ricketts swiftly moved up the ranks. When the war ended, he was discharges a colonel.

In 1868, Colonel R Bruce Ricketts bought land in northeast Pennsylvania to timber it. Fisherman exploring the lower reaches of Kitchen Creek discovered waterfalls. Exploration revealed that two branches of Kitchen Creek cut deep gorges in a series of waterfalls, then united at Waters Meet and flowed through a glen among giant pines, hemlock and oaks. Colonel Ricketts built trails to the area of the waterfalls, which came known as the Glens Natural Area.

A member of the Wyoming Historical Society and Geological Society, Colonel Ricketts named many of the waterfalls after American Indian Tribes. HE also names waterfalls for his friends and family. The lower glen came to be called Ricketts Glen. Many of the magnificent trees in this area are over 300-years old. Diameters of almost four feet are common and many trees tower over 100-feet in height. Southern and Northern hardwoods meet here, creating an extensive variety of trees.

The Glens became a registered National Natural Landmark in 1969. In 1993, it became a State Park Natural Area and will be protected and maintained in a natural state.

Colonel Ricketts at one time owned or controlled over 80,000 of land in this area. His heirs, through the Central Pen Lumber Company, sold 48,000 acres to the Pennsylvania Game Commission from 1920-24. This left over 12,000 acres surrounding Ganoga Lake, Lake Jean and the Glens Area. Although the area was approved as a national park site in 1930s, World War II brought an end to this plan for development. In 1942, the heirs sold 1,261 acres, the Falls and Glen Areas, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a state park.

Additional purchases from Colonel Ricketts’ son, William Ricketts, in 1943 and 1949, resulted in the park consisting of 10,000 acrea. Purchases from other individuals have brought the park to its present size. Recreational facilities first opened in 1944. In 1950, the former Department of Forests and Waters replaced the Lake Jean Dam with a larger earthen dam. This combined Lake Jean and Mud Pond, creating the current 245-acre lake.

Ricketts Glen State Park is as close to a Waterfall Mecca as it gets within the United States. Within the confines of the park are 24 named waterfalls and dozens of small scenic cascades in between, all but one of which can be seen via a relatively easy hike in one day. All of the waterfalls occur within the Kitchen Creek drainage, split roughly in half between two branches of the stream which originate in different lakes and marshes on the plateau above the glens, and 5 of the falls found downstream of the confluence of the two branches.

We took the Falls Trail. There are twenty-one waterfalls along this trail system. The full loop of this trial is 7.2 miles. To see most of the waterfalls a 3.2 mile loop can be taken by joining a few other trails. The trails follow along 21 beautiful waterfalls ranging in height from 11-feet to 94-feet. The trail winds through the Glens Natural Area via a series of steep rock staircases and packed dirt paths. The scenery is well worth the effort, but we had to be very careful. The terrain is rocky, slippery and descends quickly. We decided to only go part way down and see a few waterfalls.

Mohawk Falls is the first waterfall along the Ganoga Glen branch of Kitchen Creek. The falls plunge over an initial undercut ledge, and then spread outward across a broad shelf and cascade down across a wide expanse of bedrock with a small island of trees growing in the middle of the cascades. The falls cascade away from the trail. Park literature cites Mohawk Falls as dropping 37 feet.

Oneida Falls is the second waterfall we came to along the Ganoga Glen branch. The falls plunge a clean 15 feet over a heavily undercut ledge, and stretch out across an expanse of streambed perhaps 25 feet wide, if not a bit more.

The Cayuga Falls is the third waterfall along this branch of Kitchen Creek. The falls drop just over 13 feet, making it one of the two smallest waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park. The falls drop in side-by-side segments with one half plunging over a nearly sheer part of the ledge, and the other half stepping down two or three separate ledges and partially cascading among boulders which have broken off from the adjacent cliff face.

The most spectacular is Ganoga Falls, at 94 feet. We stood near the base of Gonoga Falls and gazed up in wonder at the power of nature as they feel the cool misty breeze coming off the falling water. It is the fourth waterfall, as well as the tallest waterfall in Ricketts Glen State Park, and probably one of the top five tallest waterfalls in the state of Pennsylvania. The falls drop in two distinct steps, first tumbling down a stairstep ledge, veiling outward as it falls, and then after a very quick pause on a shelf, plunging in a broad curtain form over the second half of its descent.

The drainage area for the Ganoga Glen branch of Kitchen Creek covers about 4 square miles upstream of Mohawk Falls at the top of Ganoga Glen, and includes several lakes and areas of marsh which retain ground water well even in dry periods. Though the basin is of moderate size, the volume of water in the creek can vary substantially as the seasons progress, or as severe weather moves through. In general the streamflow will be at its lowest from late July through the end of September, but water will be present year round.

After we enjoyed these four falls, we had to turn around and take the same trek back to the parking lot. Maybe another time we can come back and do the whole loop!

On our way home, we saw a huge complex. The sign indicated it was Red Rock Job Corps. Job Corps is the nation’s largest federally funded vocationally focused education and training program for economically disadvantaged youths. Job Corps was established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and currently operates under the provisions of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Job Corps delivers intensive education (academic and general health) and training (vocational and social skills) to participants enrolled in its nationwide network of residential campuses. This training is delivered through a combination of classroom and practical hands-on experiences to prepare youths for stable, long-term, high-paying jobs. Training approaches and methods vary to allow for individualized instruction to meet the needs of each participant. The Red Rock Job Corps Center has been recognized as one of the top Job Corps centers in the nation. Red Rock Job Corps Center is a Job Corps training center in Colley Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. Like all Job Corps centers, it provides vocational training and education at no cost to participants, who are 16 to 24 years old. 

The center opened in 1978 and uses the buildings of the former Benton Air Force Station, a Cold War radar facility which operated from 1951 to 1975. It is still the site of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar used for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. In 1950, construction began on the 98-acre Benton Air Force Station, which was completed on September 21, 1951. In addition to the radar, there were barracks for airmen of the 648th Aircraft Control Squadron, based at Fort Indiantown Gap. In 1963 the Federal Aviation Administration began jointly operating the radar facilities. The Benton Air Force Station closed in 1975, though the FAA continued to operate the radar as an auxiliary service for the nearby Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. The remaining buildings and barracks were converted to the Red Rocks Job Corps Center, which opened in 1978.

We did see more wildlife along the side of the road!

Stay tuned for our next leg of our #TwoLaneAdventures