Hiking the Seven Tubs
May. 26th, 2026 07:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerMay Family Visit Travelog #11
near Wilkes-Barre, PA · Mon 25 May 2026. 3:30pm.
After hiking Hawk Falls earlier today we drove further north, toward Wilkes-Barre, to visit the Seven Tubs. Actually first we drove into town to check into our hotel and get some lunch, but I'll write about town later. For now it's all about the hiking.
Seven Tubs is the name given to an area near the foot of Wyoming Mountain (elev. 1,932') where a creek slices through a narrow sandstone gorge. There are numerous spots, apparently seven of them, to be exact, where the water swirls around in pools where the creek has carved slightly wider spots in the rock. These are still pretty narrow, though, and often hard to see from above. But more than these tubs what interests us are the waterfalls between them.
The first pair of falls (above) are easy to spot, They're in the canyon below a footbridge that crosses over the creek at the near end of a loop trail.
From here we walked back across the bridge around the left side of the gorge and up one branch of the short loop trail. This branch of the trail was rough, clambering over uneven rocks slicked with four days of rain, often within just two steps of the lip of the gorge. It was weird because in most parks this kind of footing would be beyond the fence and the signs marked "Danger" and "Do not enter". But here it was part of the trail. And we were sure it was part of the trail because it was marked with blazes.
At the back end of the loop we crossed a smaller footbridge then came back around the right side of the gorge. The trail here was more what I'd expect for a state park. Still there were no signs or fences, but at least the trail wasn't like, "Take two steps to the side and you'll die." I mean, I like nature wild and free unblemished with fences and signs, but in our litigious society it feels weird to see.
One upside of the "no fences and signs" thing was we could scramble down the slippery slope of the canyon to the water's edge. Okay, sometimes we do that even when there are fences and signs. But it felt go to not be confronted with reminders that we were committing a crime to do so.
Speaking of crime, there were a lot of young people on the trail with us. It seemed like all of them were out here to hole up in a nice spot and smoke marijuana. We had to leave our spot near the creek in the photo above because the second-hand smoke was noxious. (Note: marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania only for registered medical users. Recreational marijuana is illegal. Apparently there were lots of really sick teens and twenty-somethings, like with glaucoma or arthritis or nausea from chemotherapy for cancer treatments, out here with us. 🤣)
As we came back down to the footbridge over the canyon we discussed again whether to descend the other trail at the junction. It leads down to another creek that joins the one in the gorge. "I bet there's a falls right beneath this bridge," I added. We agreed to descend specifically for that. Indeed there is a falls right beneath the bridge.
We walked upstream along the other creek for a bit, too. It has a few small cascades. And, today, lots of pot-smoking teens. We bailed out after 100m or so because the small cascades weren't worth choking through acrid clouds to get to.
Now back at the trailhead we're stowing our gear for the short drive (back) to our hotel.
near Wilkes-Barre, PA · Mon 25 May 2026. 3:30pm.
After hiking Hawk Falls earlier today we drove further north, toward Wilkes-Barre, to visit the Seven Tubs. Actually first we drove into town to check into our hotel and get some lunch, but I'll write about town later. For now it's all about the hiking.
Seven Tubs is the name given to an area near the foot of Wyoming Mountain (elev. 1,932') where a creek slices through a narrow sandstone gorge. There are numerous spots, apparently seven of them, to be exact, where the water swirls around in pools where the creek has carved slightly wider spots in the rock. These are still pretty narrow, though, and often hard to see from above. But more than these tubs what interests us are the waterfalls between them.
The first pair of falls (above) are easy to spot, They're in the canyon below a footbridge that crosses over the creek at the near end of a loop trail.
From here we walked back across the bridge around the left side of the gorge and up one branch of the short loop trail. This branch of the trail was rough, clambering over uneven rocks slicked with four days of rain, often within just two steps of the lip of the gorge. It was weird because in most parks this kind of footing would be beyond the fence and the signs marked "Danger" and "Do not enter". But here it was part of the trail. And we were sure it was part of the trail because it was marked with blazes.
At the back end of the loop we crossed a smaller footbridge then came back around the right side of the gorge. The trail here was more what I'd expect for a state park. Still there were no signs or fences, but at least the trail wasn't like, "Take two steps to the side and you'll die." I mean, I like nature wild and free unblemished with fences and signs, but in our litigious society it feels weird to see.
One upside of the "no fences and signs" thing was we could scramble down the slippery slope of the canyon to the water's edge. Okay, sometimes we do that even when there are fences and signs. But it felt go to not be confronted with reminders that we were committing a crime to do so.
Speaking of crime, there were a lot of young people on the trail with us. It seemed like all of them were out here to hole up in a nice spot and smoke marijuana. We had to leave our spot near the creek in the photo above because the second-hand smoke was noxious. (Note: marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania only for registered medical users. Recreational marijuana is illegal. Apparently there were lots of really sick teens and twenty-somethings, like with glaucoma or arthritis or nausea from chemotherapy for cancer treatments, out here with us. 🤣)
As we came back down to the footbridge over the canyon we discussed again whether to descend the other trail at the junction. It leads down to another creek that joins the one in the gorge. "I bet there's a falls right beneath this bridge," I added. We agreed to descend specifically for that. Indeed there is a falls right beneath the bridge.
We walked upstream along the other creek for a bit, too. It has a few small cascades. And, today, lots of pot-smoking teens. We bailed out after 100m or so because the small cascades weren't worth choking through acrid clouds to get to.
Now back at the trailhead we're stowing our gear for the short drive (back) to our hotel.
