Fourth Run Trail

The Fourth Run Trail explores the quieter northwestern corner of Hickory Run State Park, following the Fourth Run stream corridor through a hemlock-dominated ravine before climbing onto a forested plateau and looping back through mixed hardwood. This trail receives considerably less traffic than the Boulder Field and Shades of Death routes, offering a more solitary experience in equally beautiful terrain. Fourth Run itself is a clear, cold stream that supports wild brook trout through its upper reaches, where streamside hemlocks shade the water enough to maintain summer temperatures below the thermal tolerance threshold for the species. A small but picturesque waterfall on the stream is the trail's highlight, dropping over a sandstone ledge into a mossy pool surrounded by old-growth hemlocks. Several of the hemlock trees along the stream corridor are among the largest in the park, with trunk diameters exceeding three feet and heights approaching 100 feet. The understory in the old-growth sections is open and parklike, with thick beds of partridgeberry and Christmas fern covering the forest floor. The plateau section passes through younger forest recovering from the chestnut blight of the early 20th century, where ghost-like chestnut sprout stumps still push new growth before succumbing repeatedly to the blight. The trail is recommended for fall visits when the mixed hardwood canopy turns against the dark hemlock backdrop.