Description: There are four waterfalls in Swallow Falls State Park and you can get to all of them via their own designated trails, all of which are easy, or you can make a shorter hike by following the Canyon Trail which makes a loop. Parts of the Canyon Trail are rocky and rugged, but none of it is all that hard really. When I visited, I hiked the entire Canyon Trail, first going to Muddy Creek Falls, then the two Swallow Falls', and lastly to Toliver Falls, and that is the route I will describe. Note that there is a fee of $3 per person for state residents and $5 per person for non-residents.

​

Hiking Description: Start at the large parking area here (39.499080, -79.418656). Head out on the wide crushed gravel trail under the large overhead sign that says "Swallow Falls Canyon Trail". Within just a few feet, you'll come to a trail split. You can go either way here, but we went left, hiking clockwise. Providing you go this way, you'll be heading north. The forest is very pretty here, with tall trees that reach for the sky. Being from Missouri, the trees here really caught me off guard. I was admiring the beauty of the forest when we came to another trail split about 0.12 miles from the trailhead. Keep right, now on a boardwalk. Follow for a short distance, and the boardwalk will end at the overlook of Muddy Creek Falls. The view is obscured from here, but if you head just to your left, the trail wraps around past the brink and goes down ~100 stairs to the base for the best views. It's pretty awesome down there, so enjoy. The hiking up to this point has been very easy, but it gets harder from here. From the base of Muddy Creek Falls, the Gorge Trail continues, but it is no longer flat and easy. The trail is rugged and rocky, but still somewhat flat. You will first be following Muddy Creek downstream, before wrapping around the bluffline, and then you'll begin following the Youghiogheny River upstream. You will be walking along the river for a little while, but it is very scenic so you won't bore. When you reach a boardwalk, you'll know you're getting close to the next falls, which is Lower Swallow Falls, reached at 0.5. There is really only one good view of the falls, and that's from the boardwalk near the brink. It's not very tall, but it is loud. From here, the trail decends some stairs to the top of Lower Swallow, then flatten out. It won't be far until your first view of Upper Swallow Falls, near 0.55. The falls is a bit distant, but the view is unobscured. If you hike a bit further, there is a bootpath that leads to the base of Upper Swallow, but I didn't think the views were very nice from down there. Near this spot, there is a trail split too. the right trail is a shortcut back to the parking area, and the left trail continues on to Toliver Falls. Head left. You'll pass the top of Upper Swallow, and then near 0.65, the trail will wrap around to the right to begin following Toliver Run. It gets pretty rocky for a short bit, and then you reach Toliver Falls at 0.7. the falls is small, but scenic. I waded across the top of the falls, for no reason other than that I just wanted to. The view was nice from the other side though, so I'm glad I did it. The picture attached was taken from the opposite side. Once you're done here, there's not much else to see, but you might as well finish the loop. The trail heads up a rather steep hill, and then turns right, headed back to the parking lot. The trail then flattens, and the remainder of the hike is very easy. You'll finish the loop clocking in at 1.1 miles.

​​

Total Mileage: 0.5 total for Muddy Creek Falls, 1.1 total for Canyon Trail to all four falls

Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy) to Swallow Falls, 4/10 (Moderate) for Canyon Trail

Date First Visited: August 9, 2024

Date Last Visited: August 9, 2024

Rank: A+