So, this is actually going to start out with a lament and a rant. A rament? A lant? Anyway, here’s my issue. Blue Hen Falls was one of my favorite places to go hiking with my kids, largely because we didn’t have to walk super far to get to the main attraction and once we got our fill of the falls, we could continue on for a bit on the Buckeye Trail, check out Buttermilk Falls, or just turn around and head home (particularly helpful when they were very little and hit their wall suddenly). All we had to do was park, cross the street, and walk roughly 1/6 of a mile down to the water.
When the pandemic hit, a lot of other people decided to check out the area as well. And that’s great! I want people to get out and enjoy the trails. But here’s my rant – we need to be respectful of the trail when we go. Stay on the path, even – especially – if it’s super muddy. Stepping off the trail to skirt around the mud just erodes more of the path, which will then become muddy itself, which will lead to more people going off that section and so on and so forth. If you’re bringing plastic water bottles or food in wrappers, take all the trash back out with you. If you walk with your dog(s), which I do as well, please make sure to pick up their poop and then take it back out to a trash can – don’t just leave a little plastic baggie sitting around. And please keep your dog on a leash, no matter how great and wonderful they are. There’s no guaranteeing they won’t get hurt and everyone – including people with fears of dogs – should be able to use the trail without having to wonder if the dog running at them is friendly or not.
But that’s not what people did. They trashed the area. So the National Park Service closed off the falls in May 2020 to try to fix what they could. It has now been reopened, but the parking areas are permanently closed. In order to reach the Falls, the closest parking is the Boston Mills Visitor Center on the Towpath Trail, and from there you follow a roughly 1.5 mile trail. I don’t blame the park service for this at all. I’m very grateful for everything done to protect our natural resources and trails. But it does get infuriating to see people treat our parks as a trash pit.
Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to going back to the Falls and after the immense amount of rain we had last week, and a fortuitous scheduling alignment that gave me a morning to myself, I made the trek out there on Saturday. After parking in the overflow lot at the Boston Mills Visitor Center area, I started walking toward the Buckeye Trail.
I’ve hiked the Buckeye trail between Blue Hen Falls and Jaite, but this was my first time hiking the section from Boston Mills to the Falls. In hindsight, it’s probably not the best idea to try out a new trail section in the winter after a significant ice fall and snow, but I survived! After you cross the road, you’ll head up some steps. At the time, they were pretty icy, but I’m sure they’re great to have during the muddy season.
Another downside to this segment of the trail is how close you are to the freeway. Eve with minimal traffic at the time I was there, there was still a lot of noise. But the trail continues for awhile along the freeway and then you come across another set of stairs.
This was where I was doing a very cautious shuffle, but I made it back down to the water. Then it was across the bridge and back up again.
Once at the top, you come out along Boston Mills Road and walk along the shoulder for a bit. Technically speaking, walking Boston Mills Road is a straight shot up to the entrance to Falls area, but I strongly recommend NOT doing that (and the Park Service warns against doing so as well). The road is filled with curves and there’s very little shoulder, meaning drivers don’t have a whole lot of time to react. This segment has a trail alongside the road, but not on the road itself, so it’s a safer path, if not the most visually stunning one.
After a bit, you’ll cross the street (be very careful at this juncture), walk through the trees, and then arrive where the original parking options were. From there, it’s a short 1/6 of a mile down to the bridge.
Cross that, and you’ll see another fork to continue following the Buckeye Trail, which is also a great path to follow. But keep going straight and you’ll be at the top of the falls.
One of the things I love about these waterfalls is how they change so much from visit to visit, depending on the season and the amount of recent precipitation. On this day, the water level was high, but a good percentage of the water had frozen, creating beautiful ice formations as the water fell over it.
Despite (or because) of the wind, the cold, and the ice, it was a beautiful hike. I originally hoped to continue on to Buttermilk Falls, which isn’t far past Blue Hen, but that’ll have to wait for another day.
So in sum, if you haven’t had a chance to visit Blue Hen Falls recently (or at all), I recommend spending some time there. The Boston Mills portion of the Buckeye trail is the quickest route, but if you have the time and ability, I strongly recommend taking the Jaite segment of the Buckeye trail. It’s 5 miles one way, but it’s a great hike. I’ll have to try again myself at some point. And when I do, I’m sure I’ll share it here!
Until then, happy hiking!
