This was my first trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. I’ve known about this place since we came to Pennsylvania, but avoided it because of how crowded I understand it gets. Since it was a weekday, I took a chance on it being less crowded and I’m really glad I did. There are so many trails here to explore and the visitor’s center (complete with gift shop) is wonderful. We did an easy out and back to the North Lookout. There are harder routes here with lots of rock scrambling which we will try another time. Today was a day for sight seeing and checking things out. I can only imagine how awesome it must be up here when the birds are migrating along the flyway. We didn’t see a much today aside from a turkey vulture riding the thermals, but it was a nice day to come and explore and learn a little bit about the history of the place which I didn’t know at all. Hawk Mountain was founded in 1934 by Rosalie Edge, a conservationist who eded the pointless hunting of raptors migrating along on the Kittatinny Ridge. Raptors were once thought to be a threat to “wild game” and humans thought they needed to interfere with nature by slaughtering thousands of raptors. Heartbreaking. Thankfully, Rosalie Edge stepped in and silenced the rifles. Today Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is a place to learn and explore. There’s also a wonderful native garden with a turtle pond just near the entrance. We will definitely be back to hike more of the trails and do some bird watching.

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