Dingmans Falls

We spent the summer on Silver Lake Road in Dingmans Ferry, so our first hike was Dingmans Falls.

The town of Dingmans Ferry doesn’t really exist any more — much of it was purchased and condemned by the federal government beginning in the 1960s as part of the Tocks Island Dam project. The dam generated fierce opposition and was never built, and the land eventually become the Delaware River National Recreation Area.

In Dingmans, we discovered a small collection of stores at the intersection of 739 and Milford Road (including the amazing Asian grocery Mori), the toll bridge (scenic, historic, and privately operated), George Childs Recreation Site (closed since 2018), and — the main attraction — Dingmans Falls.

Dingmans Falls

• This is a pleasant and easy hike, suitable for all ages, with all walking on either a paved road or wooden path. When we visited, Dingmans Falls Road was closed to traffic, so we parked at the entrance on 209 and walked to the visitor center and the proper trailhead.
• The forest is cool and dense, with large trees and two waterfalls.
• Or more the more detailed description from the National Park Service, “This flat boardwalk trail meanders gently through a pristine hemlock ravine. Almost immediately after starting the trail, Silverthread Falls gracefully drops 80 feet in a thin ribbon of water through a narrow geometric chute. The boardwalk winds through dense rhododendron shrubs, past tall hemlock with dense canopy, and the sound of a powerful waterfall just around the corner. The boardwalk ends at the base of Dingmans Falls, the second highest waterfall in Pennsylvania. The final tenth of a mile is a staircase that leads to a birds-eye view from the upper falls.”