Hawk Mountain Sanctuary — Attraction in Albany Township

Pros: close-ish to Philadelphia and South Jersey, so more easily accessible than some of the north jersey or deeper PA elevation hikes. It's one of the bigger peaks around the area, which doesn't have many, so it's a gem for the fall leaf watchers, myself included. Park staff is very friendly and they help direct you from parking lot to the start of the trail throughout, parking is plenty, although I did see when it was filling up, some people parked on the side of the street leading up to the peak. It's not an easy hike by any means, has a lot of rock scrambling, rock climbing that does require the use of both hands and feet, and a lot of uneven terrain. Your knees and ankles will feel stress, but that's a 'pro' for me since I want a work out with my hikes. The top peaks give good views of the surrounding hills and farmland, all of which is beautiful, especially in the fall. Lastly, we caught a quick info show with two nice park staffers (grad students studying the animals in the area), lasted about 20 mins, telling us about trapping and tagging the birds in the area. Very knowledgeable staff, good supplementary programs, and a very fun and exhausting hike (5ish miles I think?), we'll definitely come back! Cons: because of its proximity to Philly, and it being one of the only big hikes near there, it is very crowded, especially when we went in mid October for the leaves. Advice: go counterclockwise, red trail to yellow trail to blue trail, it gives you a great uphill climb at yellow, lot of uneven terrain at red, and the blue (skyline trail) is the perfect ending because it's the peak. But at the peak, be prepared for a ton of people hanging out up there, not leaving. There is no area at the top to sit comfortably, because it's all rock up there. The only bathrooms are at the start of the trail, and they are quite 'natural', so hold your breath (no flushing here, guys). For our out of shape hikers, you might not do so well here, it's not intense, but it is a rigorous hike (which for me is a 'pro'). The view on the top is nice, but it's not the most beautiful view out there, as it's not the highest peak ever.. Don't expect rivers or mountains, but you'll get nice rolling plains and colorful hills in October. Honestly, the only con of this place is it is crowded. Other than that, very fun hike, some good views and it will tire you out and give you that 'honest day's work' feel! Advice: go early, it gets crowded. Go counterclockwise, red trail to yellow trail to blue trail (less crowded for the majority if you heed this advice, only gets crowded when you connect from yellow to blue towards the peaks where people hang out and rest). Watch your footing, it's uneven ground (rocks) for the majority of the hike. Wear hiking boots or strong sneakers, this is not one for the...

This is a difficult review. On the one hand, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is an incredibly well maintained sanctuary with beautiful trails, and does a lot of good for nature. Under normal circumstances, I'd highly recommend it.

On the other hand, when I visited the sanctuary in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sanctuary was quite literally more crowded than an amusement park. When trying to get onto the Skyline Trail from the overlook, I literally had to wait in line to begin the climb down, behind four or five families, with small children, attempting a sheer and quite dangerous descent.

The concerns are twofold: first, there should have absolutely been a ranger stopping people from taking toddlers and elderly down the Skyline trail. We were held up getting on the trail because a girl, probably sixteen, began to hyperventilate and had to sit down and vomit. The Skyline trail is a difficult climb, and there were CROWDS of people climbing over each other down sheer rock faces - I'm amazed nobody was injured.

Secondly: the mindfulness and concern given to the global pandemic at Hawk Mountain were zero. People with no masks were crammed onto this narrow trail in CROWDS. Businesses in the city have limits on how many people they can host at once; so should Hawk Mountain, and in the absence of such limits, I would have expected the sanctuary, which is ticketed, to at least put some sort of control on the amount of people they allowed inside at one time.

It breaks my heart to give HMS one star, but the sanctuary has clearly chosen to disregard the safety of its attendees - both from disease and from dangerous trails. HMS needs to adjust to the difficult and unique time we are in; so far, they haven't, and it's...

Want to learn about raptors and see them in person? Located along the Appalachian flyway, Hawk Mountain straddles the Kittatinny Ridge, or Blue Mountain, a 300-mile-long, prominent ridge extending from 60 miles north of New York City to 20 miles west of Chambersburg, PA. It is here where every autumn, more than 20,000 birds of prey pass over, making their way from northern states and Canada to warmer climates.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is the oldest and largest wild bird sanctuary in nearby Kempton, PA, where trails and lookouts offered beautiful scenery and access to nature where my partner, his family and I came today.

From the Visitors Center, which had some interesting exhibits and a gift shop where the admission fee was collected at $10 per person, the Lookout Trail was the easiest and most popular, covering a one-mile route to several lookout points along the ridge. Friendly staff members were positioned here to answer questions and point out birds. The trails were very well marked, and the trail map explained each so that one knows what you're getting into. We walked to North Lookout. It was the pinnacle of Hawk Mountain perching on top of the mountain at an elevation of 1,500 feet and offering a 200-degree view that stretches 70 miles on a clear day.

This was a perfect place to work on photography and binocular skills, as well as a popular destination for hikers and nature enthusiasts that we...