A few weeks have passed already but Stef and I decided to use Independence Day to take the kids hiking at Ricketts Glen State Park. We have both hiked this 3+ mile trail a few times before, but not in a few years
An overview of the day
We left home around 8:30 in the morning with a packed lunch in the cooler. Arriving at the park we found a table in the shade and enjoyed food together.
We then started hiking shortly afternoon and finished about 4 hours later. The kids were amazing and really seemed to enjoy seeing all the different waterfalls.
Both I (>3) and C(5) were a little on the nervous side going down and I ended up carrying I often while Stef held C’s hand.
By the time we hit the bottom and started back up there as no stopping our little man. He wanted to climb…and sometimes made his parents a little nervous. He recently decided it’s fun to jump off things and there is no shortage of rocks along the trail.
The last stretch of the falls loop is railroad grade trails and at that point everyone was tired. We had to take a few breaks and did a good bit of carrying and encouraging to finish everything out.
Reflecting on the experience
As we finished out the hike and drove to my mom’s for dinner Stef and I discussed whether or not our decision to do this hike was foolish. It pushed the younger two and Stef hard. A and I were the only two that didn’t fall, get scraped up and bleed. Yep, you read that correct, my pregnant wife fell on her arm pretty hard on a slippery rock and almost slid into the stream. She is totally fine now, but it definitely had me worried at the time.
I would not encourage doing this with multiple kids unless you have more than one adult.
Because of time limitations, we didn’t explore anything else at Rickett’s Glen, but they do have an amazing lake and swim area also.
Here are some highlights from the experience.
Have you ever been to Ricketts Glen State Park? What was your favorite thing to do there?
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