Bushkill Falls

Everyone calls Bushkill Falls "Pennsylvania's Niagara" and I want to get this out of the way first: it isn't, not even close, and if you go in expecting Niagara you'll leave a little let down. What it actually is, is a walk through the woods that happens to have eight waterfalls in it. That's honestly a better thing to be. I first went years ago and did the long version, the loop that hits basically everything. Went back this spring, on a Monday, right after it had rained, and only bothered with the short Yellow trail. Both trips were good for completely different reasons. The first time The first visit I remember mostly as stairs. Good stairs, well-built, nothing sketchy about them, but there were a lot, and by the time I got back to the parking lot my legs knew about it. I'd pieced together parts of the Red, Blue and Yellow trails, maybe an hour of walking total, and saw the Main Falls along with most of the smaller ones tucked further into the gorge. It's the kind of tired that feels earned rather than annoying. The Main Falls gets billed at around 100 feet, though I've since seen a survey that puts the real drop closer to 75. Doesn't really matter when you're standing at the bottom of it looking up. From the top of that first drop down to the bottom of the whole gorge you're losing something like 300 feet, and the boardwalk more or less follows the water the entire way. The second time This visit was quieter, and I mean that literally, not the vibe kind of quiet. It rained that morning so the boardwalk was still damp and the creek had more push to it than I remembered. Monday meant almost nobody else around. I only did Yellow this time, about 45 minutes, and skipped the deeper trails on purpose. Still got the Main Falls, still got enough of the canyon walk to remember why the place is worth the drive. Funny thing about coming back years later is you notice different stuff. Last time it was the stairs. This time it was how much cooler the air gets once you're under the trees, even though it wasn't a hot day to begin with. And the water sound. It just doesn't stop the entire way through, which sounds like a small thing to mention but it's what actually sticks with you after. Trails, if you're picking one There are four, all color-coded, all starting from the same spot near the entrance so you're not locked into anything before you've even seen the canyon. Green is the short one, maybe 15 minutes out to the Main Falls overlook and back. Yellow is what I did the second time, around 45 minutes, still gets you the Main Falls plus a real stretch of the canyon. Blue pushes further in and picks up more of the smaller falls. Red is the whole thing, close to two miles, all eight falls, somewhere north of a thousand stairs (closer to 1,200 by most counts, so if it felt like more than that to your legs, you're not wrong). Give Red two to two and a half hours if you're doing it properly. You don't have to pick just one either. The trails cross enough that you can build your own version, which is basically what I did on the first trip without really planning to. A few things worth knowing before you go Admission's around $22 for adults, $20 if you're a senior, $12 for kids 4 to 10, free under that. It's steep for what is, at the end of the day, a walk in the woods, and it's the complaint you'll see most in reviews. But the place is privately owned, not a state park, and the boardwalks are kept in genuinely good shape, so the fee is going somewhere. It's only open seasonally, roughly April through November, so don't just show up in January expecting anything. From New York it's about two hours by car. Philadelphia's a bit further, closer to two and a half. If you're coming in summer, get there early. The lot fills and the boardwalk gets crowded fast on weekend mornings, and honestly the difference between that and a quiet weekday like my second visit is night and day. Also don't let rain put you off going. If anything the falls look better right after, more water moving, more noise. Wear real shoes. The boards get slippery when wet and there's no version of this walk without stairs. Pair it with something else nearby If you're already out that way, don't stop at just Bushkill. Raymondskill Falls near Milford is free, run by the park service, shorter walk, and honestly one of the better multi-tiered drops in the area. Mullet Falls is close enough to fold into the same day too. Do all three and you've got a proper waterfall day out of it, not just one stop and a drive home.