Ferncliff Trail

Perfect warm up trail. Bit muddy when I hiked but the group I was with started at ferncliff, and it was a great trail to stretch the legs on and enjoy the forest scenery.

Nice, easy trail. Very little traffic until I got near the falls. This was my 1st hike at Ohiopyle, looking forward to alot more.

Nice view! Super easy to get to.

Easy, fun hike. The sites are beautiful and you can hear the river even if you can't see it. It gives a great view of the river when you can see it.

The trailhead for this is right off of Main Street. After enjoying the temptations of greasy pizza we decided to walk off the indulgence. The trail takes you along the other side of the Youghiogheny River. This is a great trail because you get the views of the Ohiopyle Falls without all of the mouth breathers ruining the view. This is classified as an easy trail, and doesn’t take too much energy to complete. However, if you have trouble walking on uneven slippery terrain, then think twice before going on this trail. The trail is lined with bushes of rodadendrain and ferns with rocky terrain. The highlight of this trail was towards the end, there’s a large rock were you can relax to the sound of water rushing by you. Follow us at sleepydog.dog to learn more about Ohiopyle!

The trail is an easy hike, although there were several rather muddy areas and some slippery rocks. While you could hear the Youghiogheny River for most of the hike, and could see a great deal of it at the beginning (or end) of the loop - depending on which way you started - for most of the hike the views of the river are mostly blocked by trees. There are interpretive plaques along the way which have some information on the local wildlife and habitat management. It smelled wonderfully fresh as I walked and for as busy as the falls were on a Sunday afternoon in August, I only came across about 10 other hikers. The hike is almost all shaded, so for a hot day, that was a plus. The trail is in Ohiopyle State Park and there are LOTS of things to do in the area. This is a lovely, child- and dog-friendly hike, if you don't mind the woods and a little mud :).

Great views of the falls

Go counterclockwise for the best progression of scenery.

Buggy, but beautiful.

Gorgeous! Leave the path and find the water. This trail will not disappoint!

I may be biased but it's because I love Ohiopyle in general... This is a great trail to circle the peninsula by the falls. You can hear the rush of the river rapids on one side and feel the cool forest breeze coming down off the hill on the other side.
At several points you can go down to the river's edge and put your feet in as you watch panicked first-time rafters go screaming by~

This trail is great for kids! It is well maintained and has many side trails for the kids to lead the hike and choose which way to go and explore a little on their own.
This is also a great trail for those starting out to hike, the incline and declines are light and the blazes are clearly marked.

This trail is very well maintained and enjoyable to walk. You have a great view of the river from various locations along the trail... The trail is not busy, but you will see other hikers on your walk. I missed the changing leaves this year but this would be a spectacular color display in the early fall!

I also kayaked this 8 mile stretch of the river in the early spring. The waters were higher than normal but still "doable" if you have kayaking experience. There are a few white water Rapids that require maneuvering around boulders...I have quite a bit of kayaking experience and still somehow managed to dump my kayak twice on this trip down the river??://

Great place to visit!!

I've been hiking this trail for years on every visit to Ohiopyle in every season. It has become a family tradition. Ferncliff is a peninsula created by a horseshoe turn in the river and the trail runs the perimeter of the peninsula providing river views and access otherwise only experienced by raft or kayak. Unless you are ready to board a white water craft you will never see more of the river gorge than by hiking this trail making it is a “must do.” It has everything, spectacular views of the Falls, river and gorge, riverside access, embedded fossils in the rocks you walk upon, rhododendron tunnels, old growth forests of oak, white pine, hemlock, and it is a loop. Although the trail is easy, sections along the river are very rocky, uneven and at times slippery, so wear appropriate footwear. River access is abundant and precipitous at points as are the rocks so keep a close eye on the kiddos and hold little hands. There are several steep steps down to optional overlooks but the views are well worth the climb. It begins at one end alongside the river tempting you to tarry, wade into the river or sun bath on one of the many large rocks. The trail then moves along to an incline and river overlooks, and eventually a forested area, where you can again wander off path down to other points on the river. The river drops over 100 feet as it courses around the peninsula so make sure you visit both low and high bridges, both near the beginning and the end of the trail.

A very nice relaxing hike, we finished up down by the Youghiogheny river, a little off course, but well worth hiking the river bed.

Easy loop but interesting features with the sounds of the Yough river always in the distance. Lots of places to perch along the river and watch life go by!

Ferncliff is a sea of green in early summer. Lots of easy hiking trails that connect with one another. Impossible to get lost.

The trail sights near the falls are beautiful. The trail on the rocks near the river aren't marked well. I hiked it today and the trail blazes are painted in black and when the trees were wet it was hard to see. The trail is not difficult to hike but there are a ton of roots and rocks to step on. Very easy to roll an ankle. some trails that branch off the main trail are marked pretty well but either DCNR blocked them off or the trees just fell on the Trail. Large trees were cut or fell on the trail blocking a few side trails.

very easy trail to hike with the family. hiked with a 4 year old and enjoyed thoroughly.
there is a little confusion towards the end where it splits off to "railroad rapids" (i believe?) signage is confusing and it veers off the main loop and the trail just abruptly ended. Luckily someone came along with a map or else we wouldve taken deer trails and ended up lost... nevertheless ... BEAUTIFUL!

Great little trail for the whole family...

This was a great trail for a family hike. Fercliff Peninsula is the site of a once popular hotel that has since been taken back by nature. You can barely tell there ever was a building on the site. The trails are well kept and give beautiful views of the Yough river.

Awesome trail...Access to the Yough river..

A fun loop trail hike. There are several places where you can get to the Yough from the trail. There is a lot of unusual flora for this section of the Laurel Highlands because the Yough flows North and carries seeds of more southern plants. Location graced with healthy Eastern Hemlocks. Not too strenuous, however you should avoid making plans to whitewater raft when you go hiking because there is so much to see. Ohiopyle Falls is very impressive.

Easy Loop trail. Does have changes in elevation (70ft if you go to the river basin)

Little amounts of litter, however there are numerous places where people have decided to carve initials into trees.

Not Handicap Accessible for the whole trail.