Swallow Falls & the Youghiogheny

Down here the trail meets the river itself — the Youghiogheny, which everybody around here just calls the 'Yock' — and this is where the park gets its name. The Youghiogheny comes shouldering through a rocky gorge and pours over a series of wide ledges: these are the Swallow Falls, an upper and a lower, named for the cliff swallows that once nested in the rock walls above them. They're not as tall as Muddy Creek, but they're wider and wilder, a churning staircase of whitewater over dark, ancient stone.

The rock underfoot here is worth a look too — it's been scoured and potholed and polished by the river over unthinkable spans of time. Find a safe perch back from the edge, and just watch the water work. This is a river doing what rivers have done here since long before anybody was around to name it.