Hawk Mountain is a mountain ridge, part of the Blue Mountain Ridge in the Appalachian Mountain chain, located in central-eastern Pennsylvania near Reading and Allentown. The area includes 13,000 acres of protected private and public land, including the 2,600 acre Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

The River of Rocks is visible and accessible from the Sanctuary. The boulders were formed by periglacial processes in the Pleistocene epoch, or "ice age."

In 1929, the Pennsylvania Game Commission offered hunters $5 for every goshawk shot during migrating season, as the birds were considered pests. In 1932, Richard Pough (a birder and photographer from Philadelphia) photographed hundreds of killed hawks and published the photos in Bird Lore, the predecessor to Audubon. Thanks largely to the publicity brought by Pough's photographs, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was incorporated in 1938, and in 1946 began year-round operations. The Game Commission bounty was terminated in 1951, although birds of prey continued to face threats from chemical pesticides like DDT. Bird counts have been taken at Hawk Mountain since the end of World War II, with the Sanctuary counting its millionth raptor on October 8, 1992.

Below: A statue of a rapture

A peace sign written in different languages
on each of its four sides.

Below; The two RV Gypsies learned a lot about owls by listening to this Hawk Mountain Sanctuary volunteer.

Below: The two RV Gypsies hiked up Hawk Mountain to see some great scenery and hopefully a big flock of birds flying overhead. First they followed the orange trail which was the easiest trail, although it did have some large boulders that required rock scrambling to traverse. This trail had a vertical rise of 300 feet.

Below: Karen Duquette at the North Lookout of Hawk Mountain.

Below: The two RV Gypsies continued hiking up Hawk Mountain.

Along the way, Lee Duquette found a giant walking stick that he hoped would help him on this very steep and rocky trail.

Below: Lots of people on the rocks at Hawk Mountain waiting for birds to fly overhead. But it was too late in the day. The two RV Gypsies later learned that 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is the best time to see large flocks of birds.

Raymondskill Falls

Grey Towers National Historic Site

Jervis Gordon Grist Mill

Amazing tree sculpture in Milford

fall foliage

Hawk Mountain in Kempton (this page)

Coal Miners' Statue in Minersville

Gettysburg National Military Park

River Beach Campsites in Milford

Echo Valley Campground in Tremont

Artillery Ridge Camping Resort in Gettysburg

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