The trail that sells country living

Every hiking family has a trail they like to show folks from out of the area. For Tom and me, it’s the trail system at Cliff Park. If, let’s say, you want to show childhood friends who have accused you of “burying yourself in the country” that you’ve actually made the right decision, march them up the ridge and show them what they’re missing: the vertical cliffs. The screaming eagles. Way down below, the emerald banks of the Delaware River. They still may not get it, but you’ll know you’ve done everything you could.

The scenery is unremitting. The temptation to exclaim “Look here! Look there!” presents itself at every turn. Such badgering may, however, blunt the perceptions of those unused to such heaping helpings of Beauty and Nature, so I generally let the landscape speak for itself.

We like to start with a side loop that takes in Hackers Falls, a thunderous place, especially after the spring snowmelt. We descend into a hushed, hemlock-heavy ravine; soon we hear a faint roar that grows gradually louder until, standing at the edge of the rock pool into which the falls are furiously crashing, we can no longer make out what anyone else is saying. A fine spray envelops us. We take out our cameras. I always take a few snaps here, no matter how often I visit, no matter how many ugly pictures I’ve already taken of these falls. They defy easy capture. They cannot be snagged during a hurried stop. Someday I will return alone with my tripod, and I will take my time. I will slow the shutter speed until the roiling water turns into bolts of silk.

We emerge from the dusky ravine into the sun-dappled oak and hickory forest of the Buchanan Trail. We skirt the Cliff Park Golf Course and then a tiny pond before finally connecting with the Cliff Park Trail, which follows the crest of the dramatic sandstone-and-shale Raymondskill Ridge that rises hundreds of feet above the river. Here again the forest changes, this time to a dry, rocky rib of dwarf pines and junipers, and even a patch or two of prickly pear cactus. This ridge is a star: It provided the backdrop for several silent Westerns made in the early 20^th century. And it is a nesting place for the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on earth, which only recently has returned these cliffs – their “historic, natural territories,” according to the National Park Service, which manages the trail system – after an extended absence and brush with extinction.

We turn north toward Milford Knob, which looks straight down charming Broad Street high above the borough. Traveling from one viewpoint to another, it’s easy to track your progress. At first, the Milford Bridge is a barely visible green sliver. As you approach the Knob, you can make out the car models as they speed their way to New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

When we first started hiking to the Knob, it held the giant metal frame of a star that was lit every Christmas and could be seen from most points in the borough. The National Park Service took it down years ago, in a controversial move that it said was necessary to preserve the division between church and state. The postcard-pretty view is still there, courtesy of a borough that has painstakingly preserved its historic architecture, and of the beautiful river that shapes its border. On the Knob during the summer, music from Milford’s outdoor festivals wafts upward, so that you can hear it nearly as well as you would if you were downtown.

And it’s downtown we’ll go, after hiking with friends, to splurge on a restaurant rather than unwrap our usual backpack-squashed picnic lunch. This trail is a cut above, and so are our friends, and should be celebrated with a toast – a signature cocktail perhaps, or artisanal brew. It’s only natural.

SNEEK PEEK

Trailhead: Hackers Trail parking lot on Raymondskill Road (south of Milford Road and north of Route 209), Milford, Pa.

Trails: Take the Hackers Falls Trail (yellow blazes) 1.6 miles to the Buchanan Trail (red). Turn left and continue 0.4 mile on the Buchanan Trail, then right on the Pond Loop Trail (green blazes). Hike another 0.4 mile back to the Buchanan Trail; continue another two-tenths of a mile or so to the spur trail that leads up to the Cliff Park Trail, just south of the Minisink Overlook. Make a right; from there it’s another two miles to Milford Knob. Take the Cliff Park Trail, 2.8 miles, all the way back to the trailhead. Total: 7.4 miles.