The Haycock Mountain Top Rock Trail is an exquisite bouldering and hiking destination on Bucks County’s highest hill.
Conquering the Crags of Haycock Mountain
Haycock Mountain, Bucks County’s highest point, is located in State Game Lands 157, adjacent to Bucks County’s largest lake, Nockamixon. Although Haycock Mountain (a.k.a. Ghost Mountain) is more of a hill, it would be accurate to describe the southern and eastern slope of Haycock Mountain as a gigantic pile of bike-sized to bus-sized boulders. Thus, making Haycock Mountain a premier bouldering destination, as was evident from the nearly full parking lot. The Top Rock Trail is a fun (depending on your definition) boulder scramble directly up and over the craggy Haycock Mountain to give the adventurer the full head-on experience.
Note: State Game Lands 157 is also home to the mysteriously musical boulders of Stony Garden; be sure to check out that wonderfully strange place.
You can follow along with us on this adventure via the video near the bottom of the post.
Follow the trail west from the parking lot. There is a loop you can take to explore bouldering sites near the beginning of the trail if desired. At about half a mile in, the trail splits. We chose the right-hand trail which leads up Haycock Mountain. The left-hand trail proceeds part way up Haycock Mountain then follows the contour of the hill to the southwest side. The trail is a loop, so we came back on the trail that is to the left. The trail is obvious at the beginning – but don’t get used to it. The concentration of boulders progressively increases until you are navigating between boulders and ultimately hopping from boulder to boulder. The trail is very easy to lose. Be on the lookout for markers on the trees and cairns. A GPS is highly recommended. It is unlikely you would get lost, but you might find yourself off trail wading through brush and struggling to navigate around and over boulders.
The ascent to the Haycock Mountain summit is an uphill boulder scramble. We were driven on by the curiosity of the increasingly large and interesting rock formations. The trail is all rock here.
That was fun! Here is view looking down from the edge of Haycock Mountain.
I call this intriguing rock formation at the summit of Haycock Mountain “The Cracked Egg”. Inside the egg is a bouldering site.
This “Leaning Statue on a Pedestal” rock formation is on the other side of “The Cracked Egg”.
I call this one “Green Face with Beret”. The green color appeared to be natural, maybe algae? Unfortunately, the boulder is defaced by some graffiti. I was happily surprised by how little graffiti there was overall at Haycock Mountain given the abundance of rocks and its popularity. A bouldering club maintains the area and removes graffiti. You can access the top of the beret and enjoy the view by boulder hopping from the other side of the formation.
Here is a view of the summit of Haycock Mountain from the top of “Green Face with Beret” facing the other direction. Compared to the climb up Haycock Mountain the terrain here is pretty tame.
How did those get there?!
The trail down the other side of Haycock Mountain is very different than the trail up, in that is much less steep and is mostly packed earth. The trail splits at approximately 40.483023, -75.222811. You can take either way because both trails make a loop, rejoining in about 0.3 miles. We passed the water tank and the trail became a grass and gravel road until it terminated just beyond the stream crossing below, meeting up with a road.
From the end of the trail, we traveled back up Haycock Mountain the way we came until the trail split at 40.484913, -75.221676. Rather than continuing back up to the summit, we took the right-hand trail to explore the seemingly endless rock formations and abundant bouldering sites. There is even a cave-like boulder formation. This trail follows the contour of Haycock Mountain and meets up with the trail we initially took up Haycock Mountain at 40.490038, -75.214784, about half a mile from the parking lot. Most of the bouldering sites appeared to be in this area. Between the rocky terrain and the side trails to the plentiful bouldering sites, it is notoriously difficult to stay on the trail. Keep a sharp eye out for cairns. A GPS with trail map is highly recommended.
Be sure to check out the video at the end of the post to explore with us.
Overall, the trail was 3.9 miles with opportunities to explore side trails to bouldering locations or just go boulder scrambling off trail.
Much of the trail runs over top of fields of large boulders, making the trail difficult to discern. With patience and a sharp eye to find the cairns stacked through the bouldery landscape, the trail can be navigated without a map, but a GPS map is recommended.
Parking is at: 40.49236, -75.20678.
The bountiful boulders of Haycock Mountain are what make the Top Rock Trail exciting and challenging. Part of the fun was boulder hopping and scrambling and part was exploring the seemingly endless rock formations. The trip reminded me of the childhood game of looking for shapes and figures in the clouds, except with rocks. Apply some creativity and see what you can find in the formations. If you are a boulder aficionado or just want a fun and challenging hike in a remarkably rocky landscape, be sure to add the Top Rock Trail at Haycock Mountain to your to-do list.
While you are in the area, check out these nearby adventures:
Also, be sure to check out our other adventures.
