Hike McConnell's Mill State Park

A trip to McConnell's Mill is a great idea at any time of year. Hiking trails that follow the Slippery Rock Gorge offer scenic views while the relaxing sound of Slippery Rock Creek echoes in the background. At one end of the park, you'll find the old Mill House along the banks of the creek as well as a covered bridge. At the southwestern side of the park you'll find the waterfall in Hell's Hollow. The park also offers some challenging white water kayaking through the boulders in the creek, and rock climbers can challenge themselves on some rock formations on the ridge above the creek gorge.

While there are some small loop trails, in order to see the main features of the park, you'll need to take a lengthy out-and-back, around 12 miles roundtrip.

Starting from the Hell's Hollow trail, it's a short walk to see the waterfalls. From there you can retrace your steps and begin the climb up to Hell's Run, which requires a few miles of climbing and descending before reaching Walnut Flats. Hell's Run will eventually merge with the Slippery Rock Gorge trail, following the creek with a few sharp climbs in and out of the creek banks, until you reach the covered bridge some 6 miles later.

The gorge trail will give any seasoned hiker a good challenge with its steep up-and-downs and countless rocks, which live up to the creek's name sake, as with slightest bit of dampness they become very slippery. The main waterfall at Hell's Hollow is more impressive after a hard rain, however, which also forms some smaller falls along the trail.