Back At Hickory Run State Park : A Shaky Walk On Boulder Field And A Hike On The Boulder Field Trail

I returned to Hickory Run State Park  in Kidder  Township Carbon  County  on Saturday morning.  My hike the previous week brought back many wonderful memories,    and reintroduced me to this 16,000 acre park  and it’s natural beauty.  I decided to first  visit Bouder Field,  a National Natural Landmark and a Pennsylvania State Park Natural Area. I first saw this natural wonder when I camped at the park with my Cub Scout  Pack when I was 10 years old. I was amazed then just as I was on my return visit on Saturday. I visited Boulder Field a  few time  over the years but I think  it is at least 15  years since I was last here. 

It was a 35 minute drive to  Hickory Run from my home in Luzerne County. It was another 15 minute drive, 3 mikes on dirt roads,   to Boulder Field. I enjoyed the ride on the rutted dirt roads  under a the canopy of  dense forest of hemlock, spruce and pine trees. The sun filtered through the dense foliage.

It was there early, around 8 a.m.,when I arrived under partly sunny skies.   I was the only one driving on the dirt access road and in the parking lot.

I walked to Boulder Field and enjoyed viewing the 16 acre field of rocks and boulders . I was  only one there and reflected on the what the   Native Americans and European explorers thought when the first seen this natural wonder.It is an amazing  natural sight created by nature.

 Contrary to popular belief  it was not formed directly  by a glacier,  but by the repeated freezing and thawing of water within the bedrock during the cold conditions that existed during the last ice age. The glaciers advanced to a few miles form the boulder field.

I decided to hike on the Boulder Field Trail, which on my AllTrails map started on the other side of the Boulder field. I started out on walking on boulders but it was hard on my old legs and ankles. The rocks were  wet and slippery from some showers earlier in the morning. With no one around should I fall I decided to walk around the edge of the boulder field.

Walking through the woods around Boulder Field wasn’t much easier since there were still rocks hidden under moss and leaves, roots and thickets of hemlock rhododendron and mountain laurel.

I scrambled and stumbled through the thick woodlands and eventually found the trail with yellow marks.  It was also rocky and covered in tree roots and, at first, wasn’t easy walking,

Although it was sunny  above the trial , little sunshine reached the forest floor under through the large eastern hemlock, red spruce and white pine trees. 

There were not a lot of plants and no wildflowers blooming in the shade of the trees. I did see some partridge berry plants ,

intermediate ferns,

and hay-scented ferns along the trail but not a single wildflower on my five mile hike.

There were large patches of common hair moss along the trail,. 

Young white pine and,

spruce trees were competing for sunlight in the dense woodlands. I  realized how inhospitable these areas must have appeared to the early explorers.

There were a few mushrooms growing on the pine needle covered forest including a poison pigskin puff ball,

this , I believe, a species of none edible lactarius mushroom,

and  a few firm Russula mushrooms.  I enjoy foraging for edible wild mushrooms but soon realized the species  I look for won’t be found here.

Pine cones were scattered all along the trail.

The forest was almost exclusively red spruce, eastern hemlock and white pine for the first mile. There was only an occasional sweet birch tree growing in the conifer forest.  I felt I was walking back in time on  the trail before the large forest were timbered in the 19th century.  I was hoping to see a bear in the dense woodlands.

I did hear a few  birds of  a conifer forest, including red-eyed vireos, black capped chickadees, brown creepers and  a lot of red breasted nuthatches, but they were difficult to see and photograph in the dim light and with all of the branches from the thick forest. I was able to get a few photos of this red breasted nuthatch.

I also saw a couple of folks walking two beautiful huskies.  After about a mile the woodlands changed and I walked into a thicket of mountain laurel . The trail was surrounded by our State Flower. I am going to have to return next Spring when it is in bloom.

The trail continued through the thick mountain laurel. with some red maple, yellow birch , common sassafras  and American beech trees.

Here I saw a few more song birds, including this black throated blue warbler,

a black throated green warbler,

 a black and white warbler,

and this pretty hooded warbler.  I also heard a Canada warbler and saw a flock of yellow warblers in the tree tops. As usual it appears different species of birds like to travel together when foraging for  food  to better protect themselves from predators.

The trail left the dense mountain laurel thickets and again entered a mixed woodland of hemlocks, beech and red maple trees.

There were large, ancient hemlocks along the trail,

that escaped the lumbering of the 19th century and which towered over the trail. It was a really great trail to enjoy the beauty of the conifer forests in peace and quite. I would only encounter one more couple on my  5 mile hile.

After about 2 1/4 miles the trail intersected with the Stage Coach Trail. The Boulder Field Trail would continue another 1 1/2 mile or so and  come to the Hawk Falls Trail. I wasn’t going to walk that far,

so  I decided to  walk east  on the Stage Coach Trail. This trail was the the actual route of the stage coach that connected  Bethlehem with Wilkes Barre in the early 19th century.  I followed the flat and wide  trail through a mixed conifer/hardwood woodland for about a 1/4 mile.

I came to a gate which I think was the park boundary,

and came to an open meadow, which I believe was once a farm. There were ancient apple trees  in the fields and I think they may have bore fruit when the stage coach was operating on this trail. I imagined the children of the farmers running up and waving when the stagecoach drove by. It ws probably the biggest excitement in their lives. 

In the fields  along the trail I saw this eastern  kingbird,

and a few common yellow throats.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 5 mile hike. Hickory Run Boulder Filed Trail birds August 16 2025.

I began my 2 1/2 mile hike back to Boulder Field seeing many of the same birds, and noticing a few more plants, like the many teaberries growing along the trail, and

this Indian cucumber.

It was a nice walk back to the edge of Boulder Field. I enjoyed the peace and quiet of this little used trail.

However, as I neared Boulder Field I decided to walk across  the field of rocks and boulders. Not a good idea . I really struggled  walking on the rocks and boulders. It will probably be my last walk across Boulder Field but not my last hike in newly re-discovered Hickory Run State Park.  I  am already planning my next hike,  . Hickory Run Boulder Filed Trail  August 16 2025.

“In the not too distant future, men will be working shorter hours and they will have more leisure time…I would like to see Hickory Run developed into a State Park where the families can come and enjoy wholesome recreation.”  Harry C Trexler