Mike Beahm, a land management supervisor with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, says the agency installed multiple warning signs and ropes over the past couple of decades to keep people back from hazardous drops, but the serious accidents continued. Last spring, The Morning Call, a local newspaper, tallied 14 medical emergency events involving 18 Glen Onoko visitors since 2008-including seven deaths. But poor trail conditions, combined with hikers venturing too close to steep dropoffs, led to numerous accidents, often involving complicated and costly rescue efforts. On a route estimated to take less than an hour, Glen Onoko visitors were rewarded with four waterfalls, including the eponymous highest, plus another that, thanks to a natural grotto, hikers could walk behind. “It’s not a difficult hike for experienced hikers, but it’s a problem for inexperienced hikers.” “The trail is extremely steep and not in good condition,” he explains. Hikers, some wearing flip-flops, would take to the trails and find themselves trying to navigate rocks made slick by mist, Pavlak says. Its proximity, popularity, and ease of access caused some to underestimate the challenge of the hike, says Eric Pavlak, a volunteer with AMC’s Delaware Valley Chapter. Near the tourist town of Jim Thorpe, Glen Onoko’s ample trailhead parking attracted thousands of visitors each year. “Glen Onoko should be reopened as soon as possible.” “Closing public lands to public use should be a matter of last resort, and it is not clear that all other options had been pursued before the closure was implemented,” says Mark Zakutansky, AMC’s director of conservation policy engagement. The state has given no indication if, or when, the popular trail will reopen. Several outdoor groups, including AMC, decry the decision and call for its reversal. Visitors who ignore the directive can be fined for trespassing. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which manages the land on which the trail is located, closed access on May 1, 2019, over safety concerns and repeated rescues. Widely considered one of the best waterfall hikes in the East, this short, steep trail leading to a series of falls-including the namesake Glen Onoko-is now closed to visitors. The trail to Pennsylvania’s Glen Onoko Falls became a victim of its own success. Officials say too many hikers ignored signs like this one, venturing off-trail near rocky ledges-risking serious injury and death and leading to the Glen Onoko closure.
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