Back to Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

East Stroudsburg, PA  High: 85  Low: 62
We decided to take Trevor and Cate back to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in the Pocono Mountains to see Pennsylvania's tallest waterfall--Raymondskills Falls, the one we couldn't find yesterday. The falls are only four feet shorter than Niagara Falls, and are 165 feet in a multi-tiered drop. This photo is just the upper tier. There's a middle tier, and a lower one as well.

We found it! It wasn't easy....The narrow road to turn onto off route 209, wasn't marked, and there were no signs for the falls but after talking to the ranger yesterday,  we got some better directions with landmarks to watch for, and managed to get there, finally! The waterfalls weren't the only things we managed to find.

We saw some kind of snake...Sparky doesn't know what in the world made her look up into the rafters at the entrance to the comfort station, but she did. Must have been her "snake radar" working 100%. Because there it was, sitting in the top of the rafters just watching all of us come and go. Yuck! All black except for the mouth....very sinister looking!

the easy part of the trail down to the falls

The path to the falls was short, but rocky and steep for the most part, we should have used our hiking sticks, but there's a heavy log railing all the way...There's an upper falls, a middle falls and a lower falls.

On to Smithfield Beach in the Delaware Water Gap...a more unusual beach setting than normal...it's a beach on the Delaware River, not so unusual, but it's a lifeguarded beach! You drive a long, winding road to get back to the beach, you think you are never going to get there! And finally, a clearing, lots of nice picnic benches, a really nice shower house and the beach itself....Lots of standup paddleboarders going by, kayaks, canoes...the river is way down, so it's perfect for canoeing, kayaking, and doing the paddleboarding. Lots of rental places nearby....

Here's another view down from the beach....It was a beautiful day today....We really enjoyed our picnic at the beach.....Tomorrow it's the grandkids' last day with us, we'll see what we are going to do!