As you probably can tell, I love checking out waterfalls! When I ventured into Eastern Pennsylvania I had a variety of falls to choose from! One of the places I stopped at was the "Niagara of Pennsylvania"; Bushkill Falls.

The Main Falls aren't quite as big as Niagara Falls but there's a handful of other waterfalls to check out too.  There's a lot to do here but I'm going to focus on the 8 cola-colored waterfalls.  I had a good time here even though this place was a lot more commercialized than my other stops. 

First and foremost, I want to make sure that you know how to get here so that you can see it yourself.

I'm going to direct you to the parking lot at Bushkill Falls. You'll probably see people fishing or playing around in paddle boats before you get to the parking lot. If it's busy, you'll probably be directed to a side parking lot.

Click THIS LINK to open a map to the parking lot. This will show you exactly where you want to go and you can even enter your address to get directions to Bushkill Falls from your house. The GREEN ARROW is where you want to go, not the red balloon on the map.

Now you can chose to read the text below and look at the pictures first or you can "hike" the Bridal Veil Falls Trail through the video to the right.

To start, you're going to have to go pay for a ticket! That's the biggest downfall of this place; it cost $10 per person when I went. So you may have to wait in a line before you get your ticket. Then you'll hand your stub to someone as you pass through the building and you're off to explore!

There's a few different trails you can take, depending on how far you want to walk and how many waterfalls you want to see. I came to see them all; I had to get my $10 worth! So I decided to hike the Bridal Veil Falls Trail, which they say is 2 miles long. You'll start to hear the sound of moving water as you walk down the steps toward the trails. Don't worry about getting lost, although it seems like you could, because they color code the trails for you.

Since I was set on following the Bridal Veil Falls Trail, the trails I followed were marked with orange.  If you click the picture on the right, you'll see one of the orange markers on a tree.

To start, I walked up to check out the Upper Canyon. There's some smaller falls up above the Main Falls. They're still a good size, but small compared to the others.

You'll notice, as you're walking along, that the wooden walkways make it seem like you're in a jungle. Which is actually pretty cool, but odd for Eastern PA.

 As I continued down toward the Main Falls I passed through an area called Laurel Glen. 

I guess I can understand the price with all the upkeep of these walkways, but be smart and don't come on a holiday like I did!  I came on the 4th of July and its location makes it a prime tourist attraction for many states.

That being said, if you can beat out the crowds, you'll have a nice calm walk through this area.  Otherwise expect to pass tired travelers and to wait to pass those taking pictures. 

 Soon I came to what I assume makes this the Niagara of PA; the Main Falls!

You'll get to see this 100 foot high waterfall from all angles.  If you follow the path I took, you'll see it from the crest first. 

Then you continue on to stand directly in front of it.  This is a great spot because, on sunny days, the mist from the falls will create rainbows!  If you look at the first picture, at the top of this blog, you can see I came on a good day.

Then you can go even lower to get a nice side view of the waterfall.  This spot gives it even more of a "jungle feel" because of the plants all over the rocks.

Continuing on, you'll get to stand on a bridge right over top of the Lower Gorge Falls.

Now things will start to get less crowded as you get farther from Little Bushkill Creek. The hiking gets a little "rough" since you're not on wooden pathways anymore and I think that scares a lot of the tourists off.

You'll be hiking along side Pond Run Creek before you'll come to the next named waterfall; (Lower) Bridesmaid's Falls. It's a 20 foot high waterfall and is a nice spot to rest before you continue on the stairs ahead.

As a treat for walking up those stairs, you'll come face to face with a bigger waterfall called Bridal Veil Falls.

It's a little easier to get closer to the base of this 25 foot high waterfall.

A little farther up the trail you'll come to (Upper) Bridesmaid's Falls.

As you continue forward, you'll soon come to a fork in the trail. You'll want to stay to the left to take Pennell Falls Trail to see Pennell Falls. Otherwise, you can go right and check out the Delaware Valley Lookout.

Since I was here for the waterfalls, I opted for Pennell Falls Trail. This trail will be even less crowded, which will give you time to relax as you stroll towards 8 foot high Pennell Falls.

You'll go over a bridge right at the falls and then you'll pass through Pine Grove and Adams Flats as you head back to where you began your hike. This is a nice calm hike back to the start. I'm sure by now you'll be glad that you came to Bushkill Falls.

You don't have to come here just for the waterfalls. The fact that this place is a bit touristy means that there's a bunch of additional things you can do.

You can take a look at the Native American and Wildlife Exhibits - you walk through this exhibit before you start your hike. There's gift shops where you can buy gifts, snacks and clothing. There's also a fudge kitchen, ice cream parlor and picnic pavilions. You can explore the water in a different way by fishing or exploring a pond with a paddle boat. And they even have miniature golf!

So you can see, if the waterfalls aren't enough, you won't run out of things to do at Bushkill Falls. If you can't make it to the true Niagara Falls, then head on over to Pennsylvania's version!