Adams Falls

The main entrance to Ricketts Glen State Park at Lake Jean is located along PA Route 487 between the towns of Lopez and Red Rock, about 25 west-northwest of Wilkes-Barre, or 37 miles east of Williamsport (as the crow flies). However the falls below Route 118 are most directly accessed from the Evergreen Trailhead, located on the south side of Route 118 just west of the Kitchen Creek bridge, about 1.6 miles east of the junction with PA Route 487 in Red Rock. The larger Route 118 Trailhead parking area is located just to the east of the bridge on the opposite side of the road. Adams Falls is located just a stone's throw downstream of the Evergreen Trail parking lot. A staircase leads quickly to the top of the falls, and a secondary set of stairs descends to the primary viewpoint of the falls atop a large rock promontory along the rim of the gorge. The lower tier of the falls can be seen by continuing downstream on the Evergreen Trail for a few hundred feet to a footbridge, crossing and then doubling back upstream on an informal path that leads to the basin below the falls.Ricketts Glen State Park is as close to a Waterfall Mecca as it gets within the United States. Within the confines of the park are 24 named waterfalls and dozens of small scenic cascades in between, all but one of which can be seen via a relatively easy hike in one day. All of the waterfalls occur within the Kitchen Creek drainage, split roughly in half between two branches of the stream which originate in different lakes and marshes on the plateau above the glens, and 5 of the falls found downstream of the confluence of the two branches. Adams Falls is the final waterfall along Kitchen Creek, and in our opinion, perhaps the most scenic and geologically unique waterfall in the entire park. Here Kitchen Creek spills down the short but highly interesting Kitchen Creek Gorge, first plunging into a narrow slot at Kitchen Creek Falls just upstream from Adams Falls, and then after slowly simmering in a large eddy, funneling into the main drop of Adams Falls. The water pours into a fairly narrow pothole which quite literally seems to resemble a funnel of sorts - wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, and then breached near its base on the downstream side, which creates the appearance of the falls squirting out of an extremely narrow crevice in the rock when viewed head on. Before the bottom of the 24 foot main drop however, the creek impacts on a ledge and explodes up and outward (at least during periods of heavier flow) in a unique fan-shape. Below the main drop, the creek flows through more calm potholes in the bedrock, with fascinating striated cliffs lining either side of the gorge. The second tier follows quickly, dropping only 4 feet but over a very eye-catching ledge which resembles a clamshell. During periods of low flow the stream funnels to the far left side of this ledge and the majority of it becomes dry. The final tier is found immediately below the second, which sees the stream split into parallel channels and flume another 10 feet into a large swirling basin below. It did not appear possible to view all three tiers collectively, though we didn't try to do this during our survey of the site in May 2018. The Kitchen Creek drainage above Route 118 covers an area of approximately 9 square miles in size, and includes several lakes and areas of marsh which retain ground water well even in dry periods. Though the basin is of moderately large size, the volume of water in the creek can vary substantially as the seasons progress, or as severe weather moves through. In general the streamflow will be at its lowest from late July through the end of September, but ample water will be present year round to make this waterfall presentable.Ricketts Glen was named for members of the Ricketts family who settled near Lake Ganoga in the mid-1850s and built a small hunting lodge and tavern on the shore of the lake. The family was not aware of the presence of the waterfalls on Kitchen Creek until 1865 when guests of the hotel wandered down the creek to go fishing. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Robert Bruce Ricketts purchased most of the land which now makes up the park, expanded the hotel, built a lumber mill, and developed trails in the area to allow the waterfalls to be visited as attractions. In 1913 the area was opened to the public, and operated as a private park until it reverted to state control after the Ricketts family sold the land and opened as a state park in 1943. A plan was in place in 1935 to convert Ricketts Glen to a National Park, however funding was sidetracked and thanks to financial hardships of the Great Depression and World War 2, and the National Park never came to fruition. Twenty-two of the named waterfalls in the park were thought to be given their titles by Robert Bruce Ricketts. More than a dozen of the waterfalls were given Native American names, and several others bear the names of members or friends of the Ricketts family. This waterfall was named for Adam Kale, a watchman on Kitchen Creek employed by the North Mountain Fishing Club.