Bushkill Falls – The Niagara of Pennsylvania

I find it difficult to continuously think of fun ideas to explore when COVID is roaming the earth. This makes my summer bucket list almost impossible to tackle. Luckily, John and I are avid hikers, which gives us wiggle room on adventures. This past, long 4th of July weekend, we decided to go camping and head over to Bushkill Falls, PA. Being as Bushkill is about a 2 1/2 hour drive, having our dogs, and COVID still on the rise, we decided the safest route for an overnight was camping instead of a hotel. We decided to camp at Delaware Water Gap / Pocono Mountain KOA Holiday, which is only 15 minutes from Bushkill. Not too shabby!

If I’m being honest, I’ve never been camping before. I was really excited to try it for the first time but of course was nervous since we had our 2 dogs with us. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was actually a really pleasant experience and I’m already dying to camp again!

We even had a picnic table on our site all to ourselves. This gave me peace of mind knowing I could tie my dogs up to a table and not worry about holding their leashes 24/7. It also was useful for sitting and relaxing.

This is a place John would describe as “Glamping.” It had a store onsite which provided campers with food, drinks, gifts, etc. Additionally it had two bathrooms and amenities such as a playground, dog park, life size checkers/chess board, and a pool. You also had the option to bring your RV, sleep in a cabin, or even a wagon! I think this was a great experience being it was my first time camping. The pictures below will give you a sneak peak into what these amenities looked like.

Everyone here was super friendly and respectful of their surroundings and fellow campers. There was no late night partying, etc. It was a peaceful family fun experience. For camping you paid about $60.00 for a site with no hookups and $70.00 for a site with hookups, which is what we did.

Camping beware: If you do a site with hookups that is usually associated with an RV and they will put you on gravel instead of grass. I learned this the hard way waking up feeling like rocks were stabbing me all night in the back, but hey you live and you learn.

I felt, even though it was glamping, the store came in handy because we forgot to buy s’more ingredients, which they had! I mean, you can’t go camping and not roast marshmallows.

For all you non campers out there, this may sound weird, but there is nothing more relaxing then waking up in the morning inside of a tent. I’m not sure if it’s because of the fresh air but it’s simply the best feeling in the world. Even though rocks were digging into my back all night, I still woke up feeling amazing

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to make a new fire for breakfast in the morning because we wanted to arrive at Bushkill Falls as soon as they opened, which is 10:00am. So instead we did a quick drive through on the way there at a local Dunkin Donuts. I know, so lame.

Due to COVID, Bushkill is running on a 75% capacity of first come first served. We showed up at Bushkill by 9:30am and there was already a line of cars already waiting to get in. I knew this place was popular but I didn’t think everyone would have the same idea as us and show up so early. Glad we came prepared!

Bushkill falls is a park with a 100-ft. waterfall plus trails, fishing, boating & other family-friendly activities. Most of these activities were closed and the only adventure open was hiking the trails to see the falls. Admission to these falls are are $17.50 per adult, $8.50 per child, and $16.50 per senior. You can order tickets online or when you arrive.

Bushkill has a bunch of different paths you can take. The outer, longest path (red) is a trail through the woods. Other trails such as blue or yellow are on a boardwalk.

There are also SO many stairs here. It was a great leg workout and I was proud of my pooches for keeping up but man stairs plus humidity was a rough time! The nice part about these stairs are that design wise they are appealing to look at. Being as they look so unique it almost takes the soreness away, right? Probably not but I was still obsessed with them.

I think this trip taught us we truly have outdoor adventurous dogs. Our dogs tried to jump on every log, climb trees, and play in the stream.

Here’s Maverick laying down in a stream immediately as he saw it. I wanted to be so mad at him because we just went to the groomers but it was really hot out and he looked so cute lying in the water I couldn’t be angry!

This place has a bunch of little waterfalls along the way you can stop and look at. Some, even little, were so beautiful. This is such a unique place to visit and is really peaceful to walk around. I think the only true downfall to this location is how easily it can become a tourist trap with lots of crowds. With that being said, during these COVID times, bring your mask!

Even though there is a group of eight natural waterfalls inside this 300-acre privately owned park, the tallest waterfall is definitely the most heavily trafficked. It is packed for selfies and group shots. We were lucky we got to sneak in a view of the falls when it wasn’t immensely packed with a crowd of people.

This tallest waterfall is made to be seen from multiple angles, as it is the most popular. This waterfall can be seen high above and down below (where we are in this photo).

Here is a full beautiful shot of the tallest waterfall in this park.

Overall this was such a fun place to be, and of course my favorite, dog friendly! Key factors to keep in mind during this COVID season would be bring a mask, arrive at least 30 minutes before they open, and understand there will be heavily trafficked areas. It’s also good to know even though they have grills here for BBQ, miniature golf course, paddle boats, ice cream store, etc. this may be closed depending on when you come due to COVID.

I would just continuously monitor their website if you plan on going to keep an eye on their COVID guidelines and regulations. You can even give them a call as they are regularly responsive. This is definitely a family friendly location but keep in mind there are a lot of stairs and tight corners. If you feel comfortable with all of this I would definitely head on over and maybe spend a few nights camping! I wish we spent more than just 1 night.

Next week I am venturing out on a COVID safe vacation to Wildwood, NJ with my family. It will be interesting sharing this COVID perspective on a beach vacation but I am hoping it’ll be helpful to anyone who needs to plan for their upcoming trip.

I hope everyone stays safe and well and I can’t wait to post again soon. Stay tuned!