Today we go to the Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area in Tobyhanna, PA to see Tobyhanna Falls, a stunning set of falls on a creek that is almost the size of a small river.
The organizers of Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area do the right thing with this community and natural asset in this region of immense natural beauty. A network of trails zigzags through this gorgeous park area. In the midst of the boom times in the Pocono Mountains, the local government purchased and preserved this land. Thankfully they were able to pull this off, for just a few miles up the street is the Great Falls of the Lehigh River, a fabled set of waterfalls said to rival the river falls of Ohiopyle Falls on Youghiogheny River in the western part of the state. The Great Falls of the Lehigh are also surrounded by a village that was given National Historic Designation, Stoddartsville, of which the unincorporated town acts as a gated community and prohibits access to see what should be a public community asset and attraction.
The Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area is a gem for this area. The creek area is used for recreation in sight-seeing, hiking, and fishing in that it is an excellent trout fishery. At one point it was home to an amusement park, Harrison/Toby Park, that consisted of some rides, a roller rink, dance hall, penny arcade, and swimming areas. Postcards from nepalostparks.org A great article about the park can be found there as well.
The carousel that was at the park was created by the E. Joy Morris Company, the same company that built Lakemont's Leap the Dips Roller Coaster. The carousel was purchased second hand from Knoebels. The last remaining horse from this carousel can actually be found in the awesome Knoebels Carousel Museum. The park closed due to disastrous floods in 1955.
We get started by heading into a beautiful grove of Hemlocks, the Pennsylvania State Tree.
The view from the top of the falls.
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