Glen Onoko Falls Dayhike

“Dare and I did a great dayhike this weekend to Glen Oko Falls, near Lehigh Gorge. The trail is actually located entirely in State Game Lands, but it is adjacent to Lehigh Gorge, with great views of the river and all.

The trail is a loop...first we hiked up the mountain through the gorge. The creek was mostly frozen and had overflowed to cover the trail, so most of our journey was trekking on ice. Naturally, we took advantage of our crampons and had a blast playing on the ice! >:D

When we got to the top, the frozen falls were awesome to see, sparkling in the sunlight in some exposed places. There were a few ice climbers up there, which we enjoyed watching.

The return hike was along a trail on the upper ridge along the gorge. It was pretty smooth sailing back to the trailhead. The temperature hovered in the single digits, but the sun was shining and it made for a great day.

Check out the pictures”

“"Cool" looking place.”

“Nice pics, nice crampons...

Thanks for sharing...”

“Sounds like fun and looks cold!

The pic with the ice climbers is awesome.”

“Amy/Dare,

Yeah, how romantical!

Great shots! Thanks.

I've done some hiking in that area myself ...though not in winter, and mostly along the Lehigh River bed.”

“Pictures look very nice. How long is that loop trail? I did a bushwhack hike down in the Lehigh Gorge about 10 years ago starting from the top of Bear Creek which flows into the Lehigh river. It was a really rugged gorge most of the way. We went there to fish Bear Creek, but the going was so tough we didn't even fish it.”

“Sounds like the Yoko Ono hike went well. LOL! ;-P”

“AmyG...nice pics. Thanks for sharing. I've mountain biked every trail in the Jim Thorpe area but have never hiked there. The Falls look much nicer with all the frozen stuff. Glad you both had a nice day.”

“i love glen onoko, awesome view from the top of the biggest falls. there's a jeep road at the top, follow right for about a mile to an amazing vista of the lehigh gorge. great pics!”

“Thanks. Putting this in my file of places to visit.”

“Nice,I need to get down there some time.”

“jmitch and anyone interested in the Lehigh Gorge area...there is a 12 mile loop on Broad Mtn. which has 2 very scenic views of the Gorge. The loop is used heavily by bikers during the warmer months. This would make a great fall day hike.”

“the loop was about 3 miles round-trip. It was slow going, since we were walking on ice most of the way up, but we had the place all to ourselves until we reached the falls climbers.

It was a very cool place. :o)”

“Cool pics kids. I've been up to the falls during summer but never in winter. I've only gone up and back the same way so tell me about the loop please.”

“Bump to the top.
Amy, I might shoot up there early Sat so how did you make a loop? I assume you started at the parking area on the other side of the train trestle in Lehigh Gorge park?”

“if i'm not mistaken, at the top of the glen there is a blazed trail to the right that leads down to the bike trail. i'll check my guide to make sure.

make sure you get to the vista along the jeep road.”

“Pennsy...yep, we parked near the tracks and hiked up the creek the whole way to the falls. There aren't any markers, of course. :o)
(we wanted to play with our crampons and what better place than a frozen mountain stream)

Walk along the Lehigh River until you hit a stream, running down the mtn. Bang a right.

From the top (at the falls) we headed back down a "real" trail, which ran along the top of the gorge,as opposed the route up through the hollow.

It's not a lengthy hike, but it was purdy. Have fun!

>:D”

“I took the hike yesterday with a friend of mine.The hike up was fine(35F)but the way down(40F)was dangerous due to melting ice and snow.The trail became very slippery and at one point my friend almost slid off a 30ft.drop.Next time I will make sure to bring a rope and crampons.”