Pennsylvania Grand Canyon?

[tempest68]

I may have some limited time this weekend to visit "The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania". There are two state parks, one on each side of the gorge: Colton Point State Park (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/coltonpoint.aspx) and Leonard Harrison State Park (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/leonardharrison.aspx).

Due to my schedule, I may have to choose only one of the two parks to visit.

I'm looking for advice from anyone that may have been to both parks to comment on which one would you choose between the two.

According to the park websites (if I have this right), Leonard Harrison offers the best "full view" of the canyon and has a trail that includes waterfalls (I've never tried a waterfall picture with long shutter speed before). Colton Point has four viewing areas that are supposed to be good for the fall foliage.

[tempest68]

UPDATE:

I did not get any feedback here, so I just gambled. I went to Leonard Harrison State Park on the Eastern Rim of the PA Grand Canyon. It wasn't a bad choice. However I was probably not there at the best time of day. This trip was just a stop on part of a longer day-trip. I arrived there around 2 p.m. and only had 1 hour to spend. I didn't know how busy it would be with the fall foliage being at or near peak in that area. There was literally no place to park. You had to wait for someone else leaving to get a space.

Anyways, I would probably suggest to anyone else that you chose Leonard Harrison on the east side if you would be there for sunrise/early morning so the sun would be at your back and lighting up the west side. For evening/sunset, it might be a toss-up. In the evening the light would be nice looking from Colton Point on the west side looking east. But from the east side, you might get a nice sunset effect at the very end of the day.

I didn't have time to hike down the Turkey Path trail. But I read there are two waterfalls toward the bottom of the trail. I really wanted to get down there and try my hand at a long shutter speed waterfall shot. But my overall schedule just didn't allow for it.

Trying to shoot at 2 p.m. was tough depending on the direction you were shooting. Shooting towards the north-west was fine. But trying to shot toward the south-west was not so good due to the strong sun that day. It was an almost clear sky with very few clouds and the sun was strong.

Anyways, I highly recommend stopping at either of the parks if you're ever in the area. Even with my limited time, I was not disappointed. And I was glad to have my camera gear with me at my stop in Wellsboro too, as I happened across an organized gathering of about 12 Dodge Viper's parked neatly in a row along the main drag next to a park.

[ObiDamnKenobi]

just wanted to say thanks for the info! I'm in Pennsylvania frequently so will keep this in mind. I'll see if you posted some pics. If not: do it! :)

[tempest68]

just wanted to say thanks for the info! I'm in Pennsylvania frequently so will keep this in mind. I'll see if you posted some pics. If not: do it! :)

I have not posting anything yet. I always shoot in RAW format, and I generally wait until the end of the month to work on all my photos at once for post-processing and categorization. Some of them look nice in Zoombrowser, though!

Now that I've been there once, I know that I want to better plan another trip where I'll have more time. And if I can shed a few pounds before then, I might be in better shape to survive hiking back up the mountain if I should venture down to the bottom of the gorge.

[rlcphotos]

was there only once and it rained the whole time,,,fog was the agenda but managed to get a few of those in. Cant wait until I make it back

[metjbb]

I'd love to see the pictures you took. I didn't know such places existed in PA.

metjbb

[engsetr1]

Also interested in seeing some pics.......

[tempest68]

I'd love to see the pictures you took. I didn't know such places existed in PA.

metjbb
As big as PA is, there are lots of places I have not seen yet; and I've lived here for all my life except for 2.5 years in Maryland (I turn 40 this month). I didn't know about the PA Grand Canyon until just a few years ago, and only last month found an excuse to get there. It was a shame it was only for an hour. I really wanted time to hike down the trail to the waterfall.

Anyways, sorry everyone for not paying close enough attention to this thread. I put up the best photos from the day on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchestertriplets/sets/72157608990229016/

Enjoy!

[piperrenee]

Jim
Thanks for your flickr link! I'm only a couple hours away and I have never been there. After seeing your beautiful shots, looks like I will be adding this to my list of places to visit!!

[idiggplants]

haha. this surprised me when i saw it here. (first post by the way)

i grew up vacationing at our cabin 5 miles away from there. grand canyon of pa is the touristy name for it. pine creek gorge is the real name. and colton point has some better views.. less touristy of a place. its real nice to get down to the bottom of the canyon as well. there is a rails to trails bike path, but canoeing is the best... the problem with the 2 lookouts is there isnt really much to frame your picture with.. there is a 30 mile canyon rim trail on the colton point side.

[DL64]

As big as PA is, there are lots of places I have not seen yet; and I've lived here for all my life except for 2.5 years in Maryland (I turn 40 this month). I didn't know about the PA Grand Canyon until just a few years ago, and only last month found an excuse to get there. It was a shame it was only for an hour. I really wanted time to hike down the trail to the waterfall.

Anyways, sorry everyone for not paying close enough attention to this thread. I put up the best photos from the day on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchestertriplets/sets/72157608990229016/

Enjoy!

you should make that trip down to the bottom there is a great flat trial that goes on for what seems like forever.