What’s better than spending the day doing a fabulous day-hike? How about spending the day doing TWO fabulous day-hikes? For this event, we’ll combine the Pinnacle and Hawk Mountain into a single day-hike extravaganza!

How is this possible? These trails are located approximately 1.5 hours from Philadelphia’s Center City and about 30 minutes apart. Well, this will be a long day, but we will start early and bring our best hiking legs.

Is This Hike For Me?
While this won’t be a killer, insane hike, it will not be easy, either. There will be a couple of uphill sections, but most of the terrain will not be especially challenging (see below for trail descriptions). Abundant hiking experience is helpful, but not absolutely necessary. However, it is very important to be in better-than-average cardiovascular health and be able to maintain a brisk pace at a moderately high intensity level for a prolonged period of time. We will not leave you behind. Nevertheless, if you think that you’ll be the one person holding everyone else back (fatigue? heart attack?), this hike may not be for you.

The Plan:
Plan to be at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary at 9AM.

We will stop by the bathrooms, buy tickets ($5), and then hit the trail. Book time for the Hawk Mt. trail-loop is 3-4 hours. We will stay on the traditional trails, skipping the boulder field and the “river of rocks loop” trail to save time. The trail is relatively flat (except for one small uphill section), and, with minimal breaks, we can easily finish in less than 3 hrs.

We will stop for lunch at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, take a breather, re-fill our water, and head to The Pinnacle. There are no bathrooms at The Pinnacle trail head, so take advantage of them at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary!

Book time for The Pinnacle trail is 4-5 hours. Again, the terrain is relatively easy, and we should be able to do this faster than book time. Depending on time, we can take a break at The Pinnacle Overlook.

The views are gorgeous on both of these hikes. Although we will be moving fast, we will not be running through the woods like our pants are on fire (unless they are actually on fire—let’s hope not though). It will be possible to stop for a minute or two at the especially impressive vistas, so bring your camera.

Trail Descriptions:
Hawk Mountain – By my estimation, the loop we are taking is around 5 miles long. There is one very steep section where the trail ascends about 700 feet in ¼ mile. There are some spots along the Skyline Trail where there will be some scrambling (requires the use of your hands).

For those interested, here is a trail map. We will be starting at the South Lookout at the beginning of the River of Rocks Trail, cutting up to the Golden Eagle Connector Trail, taking the Skyline Trail across the ridge and coming down the Escarpment Trail (this is a gravel path that is wheelchair accessible).

The Pinnacle – This is about an 8 mile loop. The first 2 miles are uphill, with the steepest part being about a 750 foot elevation gain over approximately 1 mile. At the top, we’ll reach Pulpit Rock and then there will be a slight elevation gain to the Pinnacle Overlook, which is about 4.5 miles from the start of the trail. The way down will be a gentle decline, partially on an abandoned road. We’ll come to a helicopter landing pad (which looks like a regular old empty field), where we’ll make a hard right onto a trail with blue blazes. This will take us back to the parking lot.

Necessary gear:
Sturdy hiking boots or shoes. This is especially important if you are not experienced with long, fast-paced hikes. Throughout the day, your feet and ankles will get weaker and this increases the possibility of extreme discomfort or even injury.

Lots of water, snacks, and lunch. You know all those days where you’ve convinced yourself that you need the electrolytes in Gatorade because you took a stroll to the park? Well, this time you may actually benefit from drinking it. If you’re like Amy, and you hate Gatorade, bring water.

Optional gear:
If it’s going to be a cool day, bring something to put on if you’re prone to getting cold when you’re sweaty and the wind is blowing. Hiking socks are good, too. Have liners? Nice!

Kids, Pets, Alcohol:
Nope, nope, nope.

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