Highland Trail

The Highland Trail traverses the broad ridgetop plateau above Ricketts Glen's famous waterfall glens, offering a dramatically different experience from the gorge-bottom routes. Rather than cascades and hemlocks, this trail moves through upland habitats including red maple swamps, sphagnum bogs, and open heath communities dominated by blueberry, Labrador tea, and sheep laurel. The route climbs from the lower parking areas onto the Allegheny Front, where shallow, acidic soils support plant communities more typical of boreal Canada than mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania. Carnivorous sundews and pitcher plants appear in the wetter sections of the bog. The ridgetop is exposed and windswept in places, providing views westward into the plateau country. Wildlife observation is excellent here: black bears forage the berry patches in late summer, and migratory warblers concentrate in the shrub layer during May. The trail is well-blazed with orange markers but can be wet underfoot through much of the growing season — waterproof footwear is recommended. In autumn the red maple swamp ignites in brilliant scarlet weeks before the lowland hardwoods turn, making late September a particularly rewarding time to visit. The Highland Trail connects to the Falls Trail for those wishing to combine ridge and gorge in a single extended outing of 10 or more miles.