Hickory Run State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hickory Run State Park |
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IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
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Boulder Field at Hickory Run State Park, with people in the distance for scale
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 Hickory Run State Park
Location in Pennsylvania
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| Location | Carbon, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Area | 15,990 acres (64.7 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,647 ft (502 m) |
| Established | 1945 |
| Named for | Hickory Run |
| Governing body | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
| Website | Hickory Run State Park |
Hickory Run State Park is a huge state park in Pennsylvania. It covers about 15,990 acres (that's over 25 square miles!). You can find it in Carbon County, right in the Pocono Mountains.
The park is super easy to get to from major highways like Interstate 476 and Interstate 80. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) even named it one of the "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks."
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Fun Things to Do at the Park
Hickory Run State Park offers many cool activities all year round.
During the summer, you can go swimming in Sand Spring Lake. It even has a sandy beach! Just remember, there are no lifeguards on duty, so swim safely.
When winter arrives and the lake freezes, it becomes a great spot for ice skating. If you like hunting, it's allowed in many parts of the park during certain seasons. You might find white-tailed deer, black bear, and squirrels. There are also other hunting areas nearby.
Awesome Hiking Trails
The park has about 44 miles of trails for all kinds of hiking. You can find a trail that's just right for you!
One popular trail is the "Shades of Death" Trail. It's about 1.5 miles long and follows Sand Spring Run. You'll walk through thick rhododendron bushes that burst with color from mid-June to mid-July. The run has dams that create pretty lakes along the way.
If you enjoy cross-country skiing in winter, the Fireline, Gould, and Pine Hill Trails are perfect. For a shorter walk, try the Hawk Falls trail. It's only 0.7 miles and leads to a beautiful waterfall. Please note that biking is not allowed on any of the trails.
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Hawk Falls
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Stony Point Fire Tower
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After the leaves fall
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View of the Lehigh Gorge from the Fireline Trail
The Amazing Boulder Field
One of the most special parts of Hickory Run State Park is its huge boulder field. It's in the northeast corner of the park. You can drive to it on Boulder Field Road or hike about 3.5 miles on the Boulder Field Trail.
This field is massive, covering about 720,000 square feet (that's like 16.5 acres!). It's about 1,800 feet long and 400 feet wide. The top of the boulder field is almost flat with the path leading to it. This area, known as the Hickory Run boulder field, is the biggest of its kind in the Appalachian Mountains. It's a gently sloping area filled with rocks, surrounded by a forest.
The boulders vary in size, from less than 3 feet to over 30 feet long! They are made of hard, gray-red sandstone and conglomerate rock. These rocks come from the Catskill Formation, which also forms the nearby ridges. The boulders at the higher end of the field are usually more jagged. Those at the lower end are smoother and sit on top of smaller, polished rocks.
Scientists believe these boulder fields formed in a couple of ways, both involving very cold, icy conditions (called periglacial processes).
- One way is when large rock pieces break off from cliffs due to freezing and thawing. As these boulders pile up, ice and cold weather slowly push them downhill to form the field.
- Another way is when rounded rocks, called corestones, form underground. This happens when water and chemicals slowly break down the rock around them. Later, the softer, weathered rock (called saprolite) washes away, leaving the hard corestones exposed. Over time, these boulders are moved around by soil, freezing and thawing, and possibly even glaciers, to create the boulder field we see today.
Evidence suggests that this area was covered by ice sheets (glaciers) at least once, long ago. Some studies show that parts of the Hickory Run boulder field have been exposed for about 600,000 years! This means the boulder field has survived many periods of ice ages and warmer times. Its large size probably comes from many periods of cold weather activity over hundreds of thousands of years.
Nearby State Parks
If you're looking for more outdoor adventures, here are some other state parks within 30 miles of Hickory Run State Park:
- Beltzville State Park (Carbon County)
- Big Pocono State Park (Monroe County)
- Frances Slocum State Park (Luzerne County)
- Gouldsboro State Park (Monroe and Wayne Counties)
- Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center (Northampton County)
- Lehigh Gorge State Park (Carbon and Luzerne Counties)
- Locust Lake State Park (Schuylkill County)
- Nescopeck State Park (Luzerne County)
- Tobyhanna State Park (Monroe and Wayne Counties)
- Tuscarora State Park (Schuylkill County)
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