Day-Tripper, Nockamixon Waterfall Tour

One of our favorite day trips is a drive up route 611 to check out the waterfalls. There are 3 within a few miles of one another: High Creek Falls in Ringing Rocks Park, the falls on Rapp Creek near the state game land #56 and the falls at the spill-way of Lake Nockamixon. This a half day trip. Below we have the order of the tour we like to take but you may want to mix it up depending on which way you are travelling into the area. Of course, the best time to see each of the falls is after recent rainfall. We hope you like the tour.

High Creek Falls: The falls are located within Ringing Rocks Park. The trail back to the gorge is about 1/2 mile long. The slope down to the falls can be slippery and the area surrounding the falls is filled with boulders so extreme care needs to be taken when you are exploring the gorge. The drop is about 30 feet high and the water truly thunders off the drop into the valley below when at full force. There are picnic tables and a porto-potty at the parking area. The main attraction of the park is a boulder field of rocks that do indeed ring when you hit them with something hard. It would be easy to spend most of the Nockamixon Waterfall Tour at this park alone. See the Ringing Rocks Park post for a full review of the site.


Rapp Creek Falls: This waterfall is visible from Beaver Run Road http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=rapp%20creek&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl You can't get to the falls to explore because they lie on private property, but there is a good view from the road for a quick stop and a photo. This photo is from the Scenic Bucks County website. http://scenicbuckscounty.com/Tinicum/RappCreek.html

Nockamixon Dam Spillway: The spill-way for the Lake Nockamixon Dam can be seen from State Park Road. There is a pull off on the dam side of the road. Be careful getting in and out of your car here. Cars go whizzing by at a good clip. The view of the spill way is most of what you are able to explore here. The park service has fenced off the entire area around the dam and has made it very clear that they don't want anyone getting too close to the dam and the spill-way. It is still worth driving by to check out. It is an impressive sight and if you're a little more adventurous you can follow the fence around to the left of the dam to get a closer look. You'll need to cross over a creek and head up a steep slope to get a view from above the falls. If you continue along the fence you will come to a parking area that is accessible from Mink Road and Interior Park Road. This area is located in the top-center of the photo above where the trees are. It provides a nice view of the lake and the dam breast. It is slightly more than a 1/4 mile hike from the parking pull off on State Park Road.

As we mentioned before, we like to do the tour in this order with the High Falls Creek Waterfall first so that we a fresh for the trek. If you are travelling with small children this is especially important because the afternoon tends to approach nap time and small hikers will get fatigued quickly. We hope you enjoy to the tour as much as we do. If there are more falls in this immediate area please let us know.

@home.outdoors

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Review: Ringing Rocks Park, Bucks County PA

Outdoor Ambiance: 10

Setting: High Forest, Several acre boulder field, easy hiking trail, impressive waterfall depending on recent rainfall.


Explorable Op's: A ton!


Difficulty: Tough exploring, Easy trail. The hiking trail is wide open and clear of roots and rocks for most of the trail. The trail is about a half mile long. Once you start the descent into the gorge the terrain gets steeper and rocks make a maze of the trail. The ringing rocks boulder field is for people who have some agility. The waterfall and the area surrounding it is also strewn with boulders. If you keep to the trail this is rather easy place to manuever and enjoy. Once you head onto the rocks and waterfall you need to realistic about abilities, especially in wet weather.


Facilities: Rustic. The parking lot is paved and their are plenty of picnic tables. The formal restrooms are closed and there is a port-o-potty in front of them. It's a bit less than comfortable inside.


Review: This is without a doubt one of the most spectacular natural settings to visit in Bucks County. Even if you are trekking with small children that can't get out to the boulder field or scale the side of the waterfall gorge, there is plenty to see. Our most recent trip started out with a picnic at one of the picnic tables. Max, 2 and a half years old, walked the path while Frank, just one year old, rode in the backpack. We made it down to the falls without too much trouble. Max does like to meander and I let explore for long as Frank's patience will allow. The day we went the falls were at about 50%. We took in the view from a boulder on a ledge just below the falls and then climbed back up stream to throw rocks, sticks and leaves in the creek. The whole area near the creek is loaded with small and large boulders so you need to be extremely careful and sure of yourself. After 20 minuteds Frank wanted to explore the creek and boulders more than I would let him and his mood turned quickly so we headed back. Max didn't want to make the climb back up the slope leading back to the boulder field but I was lucky enough to be able to trick him into walking most of the way by pretending to be in awe of every new boulder that came into view. Once we got to the ringing rocks Max had finally had a enough and I was stuck with Frank on my back and Max in my arms. But he really did a fantastic job considering his age. It's amazing how curiosity can spur stamina. We made it back to the car and we had a "treat" which was really just Max's juice. Frank doesn't need treats yet. We were there for about 2 hours and I think that is about normal if you travelling with kids under the age of five. If you are going with older kids you could easily spend and hour or more in the boulder field ringing rocks and another hour or more exploring the falls and the gorge. Max, Frank and I have only begun to explore this area and we're looking forward to making it part of a monthly or semi-monthly trip.


Recommendations: Bring a hammer to tap on the rocks. They really do ring! If you want to see the full force of the waterfall, go while it is raining or shortly after. It shakes the earth! Carry your cell phone on you in case you get hurt. It's not the kind of place you can easily limp out of. Avoid going alone.