With the cold weather setting in Kayla and I definitely needed one more adventure before the holidays and winter. Since it was already getting pretty cold we decided to pick a place that was relatively close, this place ended up being Freedom Falls, which is about an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh in Kennerdell, PA.
When you get on to Rockland Station Road you are going to look for a large rock on the left-hand side of the road (if you are coming down the hill) with some graffiti on it. There is a small pull-off here where you can park. From the rock you can walk into the woods, when you are at the rock you should already hear the waterfall. The walk is only a few minutes and you come right to the top of the waterfall.
Freedom Falls is around 50-60 feed wide and around 20 feet tall. This makes it great for photos at pretty much any angle. The main section of the waterfall sort of slopes down, but the far end is more dramatic, so it is sort of like there are two different waterfalls you are looking at.
Shull Creek, where the waterfall is located is actually a really peaceful place. You could totally spend the entire day here admiring the waterfall, listing to the calm water, and just enjoying nature. The entire time we were there we only saw two other people.
If you continue down the creek about 100 yards you’ll run into the Rockland Furnace. It is really cool to see something like this in the middle of the woods basically! It was built in 1832 to produce iron and you can even walk up inside of it. For how old it is, it is in pretty good condition.
Heading back up to the car and driving down to the bottom of Rockland Station road you will come to the Rockland Tunnel, which is along the Allegheny River Trail. This creepy tunnel was built in 1915 for use by the Pennsylvania Railroad, but not it is only open to pedestrians and bicyclists. The tunnel is not lighted so be sure to have at least a phone or a flashlight. It is about 3000 feel long and so sort of feel like you are in a scary movie when walking through it.
Just when we thought our day trip was over I was doing some research and I heard about Kennerdell Overlook, which happened to be on the way home. It gives you a great view of the Allegheny River below.
This trip was a great way to end our year of adventuring in 2018! It is hard to believe Kayla and I have gone to so many place in such a short time! See you all in 2019!
