A Hike On The West Rim Trail At The Historic Skytop Lodge In The Poconos

A month ago I never heard of Skytop Lodge. Well I know about it now after spending my first stay t at this historic and beautiful environmentally friendly lodge. I first heard about Skytop Lodge when I learned the Wilkes Barre Law and Library Association, of which I’ve been a member for 42 years, was having it’s  175th Anniversary at the  lodge.  A friend told me about the beautiful hiking trails here so I signed up for the event. I  arrived at the impressive stone Skytop  Lodge early,  around 9:30 a.m.,  Friday morning.

I was surprised my room was available.  I only spent five minutes  in the room, dropping off my luggage,  before I was off exploring the  beautiful trails at the lodge. Skytop Lodge is  located in Barrett Township  Monroe County. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America and   was built in 1928.  It has  5500 acres of pristine woodlands and over 30 mile of hiking trails. 

After talking with the folks at the front desk I decided to hike  West Rim Trail. I left the lodge and walked through the well maintained grounds of the resort in the early morning sunshine.

I walked to Dutch Hill Road where I came to  the Dutch Hill Native Wildflower Meadow.

There weren’t many flower blooming in the meadow now ,

just a few Germander speedwell.

and slender yellow wood sorrel flowers.  I am sure as the Spring and Summer progress the meadows  will be filled with wildflowers attracting bees, butterflies and other insects which will also attract birds and other wildlife.

I did see this butterfly. I believe a Canadian tiger swallowtail butterfly,

and a few birds including this song sparrow and,

an eastern bluebird in the meadow.

I continued on the Dutch Hill Road and came to the Dutch Hill Barn.

Here I found the West Rim Trail which took me up  a mostly oak woodland,

with some maple, ash and tulip trees,

this is a flower from a tulip tree that were scattered on the trail.

The trail then  went up a ridge, and some parts of the trail  were very  steep,

and there were ropes to assist in climbing up some rocks, now slippery since they were wet from the recent rains.

The steep climb up  the trail was worth  the effort. 

I was rewarded with a beautiful view of the Skytop resort,

 the lake,

the  vasts foresst of the Pocono Mountains and the Delaware Water Gap in the distance.

As I sat on a bench above the resort I was also able to observe some  bird activity in the lush green canopy of leaves including a  great crested flycatcher,

a couple of eastern towhees and

this hermit thrush. I love hearing it’s beautiful haunting song on my hikes.

After taking in the spectacular views, I followed the trail south along the ridge.

I walked through a forest of white ash, oak and  black tupelo or gum trees,

hearing a lot ot different song birds the most common being the red-eyed vireos and

ovenbirds.

Bluet flowers bloomed on the grassy trail.

I followed the trail which made a turn and headed back north  on the other side of the ridge. Here the woodlands were more open and pitch pines grew along with white oaks and scrub oaks.

These woods, and the pitch pine trees reminded me of the woods on the ridge near my home in Luzerne County.

Pink azaleas still bloomed under the blue skies and bright sunshine.

In the woods I heard and saw a variety of warblers. I first saw this colorful chestnut sided warbler,

then a black and white warbler,

and a black throated blue warbler,

 and a common yellow throat.

My favorite was  the colorful but elusive Blackburnian warbler.

It was a great birding hike already and I still had a few mile to go.

I walked on the trail and came to  a clearing, where someone stacked rocks atop rocks,

creating a Stonehenge-like monument atop the ridge.

The trail was flat and grassy on the ridge top and I followed it as it made another turn and headed back south creating a loop around the ridge top,I didn’t see many birds here but did see this eastern chipmunk.

The trail stayed flat for about another half mile then began to descend  the ridge, passing through some wetter woodlands

where I found some platterful mushrooms and,

large patches of hay-scented ferns.

The trail  took me to the Adventure Center, where I heard and saw I group of youngsters ziplining through the trees.

I also saw this colorful scarlet tanager,

this American red start and,

this beautiful red-tailed hawk along  the trail. 

The hawk stared at my while I was taking it’s photo,

if flew to another tree branch, and then off into the forest.

The trail took me down a ski slope and I came to a gazebo with another view of the lake, the Skytop Lodge and the Delaware Water Gap,

It then led me back to the steep trail with ropes which I climbed down.

I came back down to the Dutch Hill Road and walked along the meadow where I saw my last bird on the five mile hike, a tree swallow perched on a fence.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web-page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my  five mile hike. Skytop Lodge birds May 30 2025.

It was now past 1;30 p.m. I had hiked for over 4 hours but the views and bird sighting were worth the effort, as it always is on my hikes. I finished my hike walking past the golf  course and the  beautiful lodge grounds of the lodge . Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web-page with some more photos from  my  five mile hike. Skytop Lodge  May 30 2025. 

I was  hungry and thirsty so I stopped in at the Taproom Restaurant at the lodge and had an excellent lunch starting with a Caesar’s salad and then a ahi tuna sandwich . It was delicious.  It was a great finish to a great morning. I already knew, after this short time, this would not be my last stay at the Skytop Lodge.  I returned to my room, and again,  didn’t stay very  their very long. I was off exploring more of the Skytop Lodge with some friends, more on that, and the rest of my stay, in my next blog.

We all move on the fringes of eternity and are sometimes granted vistas through fabric of illusion. Many refuse to admit it: I feel a mystery exists. There are certain times, when, as on the whisper of the wind, there comes a clear and quiet realization that there is indeed a presence in the world, a nonhuman entity that is not necessarily inhuman.   Ansel Adams