Boulder Field Trail

The Boulder Field at Hickory Run State Park is a National Natural Landmark and one of the most extraordinary geological features in the northeastern United States — a flat, oval field measuring approximately 400 feet wide and 1,800 feet long packed entirely with angular sandstone boulders ranging from one to twenty-six feet in diameter, with no soil, vegetation, or fine material between them. The field was created approximately 20,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum through a process of intense freeze-thaw cycling in permafrost conditions that shattered bedrock and transported the fragments downslope into the basin below, where they accumulated without glacial ice ever directly overriding the site. The result is a periglacial landform — a product of cold climate processes without glaciation proper — essentially unchanged since the Pleistocene. Walking across the boulder field on the network of stepping stones is an eerie and physically demanding experience, as the rocks shift and tilt beneath each step and the forest surrounds the field on three sides, making the clearing feel like a portal to another landscape. Sound deadens oddly in the field, and temperatures are measurably cooler than surrounding forest on summer days. The trail to the field is short and flat, but exploring the full length of the field adds considerable distance and effort.