Bear Run Falls

Bear Run Falls is located on State Game Lands No. 13, just west of Ricketts Glen State Park. From the main entrance to Ricketts Glen State Park at Lake Jean, follow PA Route 487 north toward the town of Lopez for just one-third of a mile, then turn left (west) onto Sullivan Falls Road (also sometimes referred to as Bear Run Road or Jamison City Road, but the sign at PA 487 says Sullivan Falls Road). Follow this gravel road downhill for 1.85 miles to just past a small bridge which crosses Bear Run. The falls will be visible in the ravine to the right of the road.Bear Run is a small tributary to the Sullivan Branch of the East Branch Fishing Creek within Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 13. The small stream tumbles down a narrow gully and near its bottom drops over a moderately scenic fall of 20 feet in height, immediately adjacent to a gravel road which serves as access to trails along the Sullivan Branch and the small hamlet of Jamison City further downstream. As of our survey of the falls in May of 2018, a clear unobstructed view of the falls was available from immediately along Sullivan Falls Road, however brush growing along the road may at some point begin to obscure the falls in part. Scrambling to the base of the falls is possible, but may require walking downstream for several hundred yards in order to find a safe access point to descend to the creek.
Bear Run drains from a small basin covering approximately 1.3 square miles upstream from the falls. When surveyed in May of 2018 the flow at the falls was small but adequate to allow the falls to present itself. Expect the volume of the stream to diminish considerably going into the summer months, and potentially run dry entirely without the aid of continued precipitation to replenish the small bogs and marshes that serve as its headwaters.USGS topographic maps label this stream as Big Run, however all most sources including Scott E. Brown's excellent Pennsylvania Waterfalls book identify it as Bear Run.