Hiking to Hawk Rock Overlook on the Appalachian Trail

Last month we went hiking on the Appalachian Trail that runs through Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Duncannon is a small town located in Perry County that sits right along the Susquehanna River. There’s not much to see and do in Duncannon unless you enjoy the great outdoors. Fishing, hunting, boating and hiking.

It had been 20+ years since we had hiked the trail and visited Hawk Rock Overlook. Wow, it was much harder of a hike than what we remembered. The trail is approximately 1.6 miles in length and is classified as a moderate hike. I definitely agree with that.

We packed brown bag lunches and brought along bottles of water. I also recommend that you bring along bug spray and sunscreen. The bugs along certain areas of the trail were terrible! Make sure you’re dressed appropriately for current weather conditions and wear comfortable walking shoes.

If your physically fit and an experienced hiker you should have no problems with this trail. We’re older, so we really took our time getting up and coming back. Obviously the hike up was a little harder than coming back down.

At the top you’ll reach Hawk Rock Overlook and be treated to some beautiful views of the surrounding area. You’ll be able to see for miles and miles if you visit on a clear weather day. We were able to see most of Duncannon, a portion of the Susquehanna River and the surrounding mountain areas.

We sat at the top for about 40 minutes enjoying our brown bagged lunches and resting up for the trip back down. Bring along your cameras because you can get some amazing photographs while you’re up there.

Sam and I really enjoyed getting outside into the fresh air again for some much needed exercise. We’re lucky that in our area there are several local and state parks that we can visit. We typically seek out easier to hike trails, so this one was a tad more challenging for us to do. Accomplished again…even after all of these years!