Ricketts Glen is one of the great walks in the eastern United States. The Falls Trail follows a steep ravine where two branches of Kitchen Creek tumble down through old-growth hemlock forest, passing 22 named waterfalls within three miles. The biggest, Ganoga Falls, drops 94 feet in a single curtain; the smallest are shallow cascades just a few feet high. The whole loop takes most people four to five hours.
The trail is steep, often wet, and partly cut into the rock. Sturdy boots are essential and the descent is genuinely treacherous in winter without ice crampons. Beyond the falls, the park's plateau holds Lake Jean for swimming and boating, family campgrounds, and quieter trails through second-growth woodland. Day-use parking lots fill on summer weekends; arrive before nine.