Officials focus on Hackers Falls

DINGMAN — Hackers Falls access parking along state Route 2001 remains a problem and now officials say they will move to correct the situation.

The National Park Service (NPS) found the state intersection too dangerous for turning and locked off the access gate to the Hackers Falls parking area off 2001 three years ago.

With parking along 2001, at Quinn’s Auto Service, and at Oak Park Estates being a real problem Supervisors Chairman Tom Mincer Tuesday suggested that the NPS ought to open up the locked gate at the access road to allow visitors to be able to park closer. “It is not a national park it is a national recreation area,” said Mincer.

Mincer said the access road entrance way is closer than parking in the designated area at Cliff Park. “The trail going to Hackers Falls from Route 2001 is more user friendly than from Cliff Park. Hackers Falls is a popular recreation area used by a lot of people,” he said Mincer.

Mincer said he had gotten a lot of calls after the Courier's story on Hackers Falls earlier this month and most were questioning where Hackers Falls was. He said they didn’t know such a nice place with swimming and water falls was located close by.

The problem According to Jim Quinn, whose Quinn’s Auto Repair is just down the road from the entrance, the closed access has caused visitors to Hacker Falls to park along Route 2001 creating a traffic problem. Although the road has a posted 45-mph speed limit it is common for vehicles to travel at much higher speeds just a few feet from those who have parked roadside and are walking to gain entrance to the access roadway on foot. Quinn said he saw a car rear end another car because one car was picking up friends coming back from Hackers Falls.

“Most of the cars parking along the road seem to have NYS license plates and I think they are finding out about Hackers Falls on the internet,” said Quinn. He said cars park at his lot and take up space he needs to run his business. “I let them park and have no problem if they ask me first. They leave behind debris and have caused vandalism as well,” Quinn said.

Oak Manor Estates is another Hackers Falls access neighbor. Property Manager Louise Winkler said the parking problem started a few years ago when the NPS locked off the access road gate. “We have a 50-foot by 30-foot open field as you enter the complex where Hackers Falls visitors would always park until I put up 'No Parking' signs.

"Then they came further into the complex and began parking in residents personal parking spots. Most of them are under 25-years- old and many are nasty and disrespectful when asked by our tenants to not park in their space. I have even given tenants sticky-back warning stickers to adhere to the side windows of the violators car to try to inhibit illegal parking. I have seen as many as 20 vehicles parked along 2001 to use the park access road.”

Learning of the problem Some state and federal officials said they have only learned of the problem

PA State Police Corporal O’Donnell of the Blooming Grove Barracks said he wasn’t aware of the parking problem by the access roadway entrance. However, he said he would let the troopers know of the situation at roll call. He also said he would increase patrols along Route 2001 to try and prevent parking along the roadway.

In general, parking over the outside white painted "fog" line is legal as long as there are not signs posted to the contrary, "but vehicles have to be completely off the road, or they can towed," said PSP Sgt. John Clader. At the municipalities request, PennDOT can install "no parking" signs, he added.

Park Superintendent John Donahue had heard of the problem. Dingman Township Secretary Karen Kleist said Donahue had visited her office last week regarding Hackers Falls.

Kleist said the superintendent told her he intended to post a Park Ranger by the 2001 access road on weekends during peak periods of the day. The ranger will let people know they need to park at Cliff Park to gain access to Hackers Falls.

She said Donahue also plans to improve signage. Kleist said there had been a sign regarding the availability of parking at Cliff Park that was apparently stolen.

A subsequent search found that the sign remains, hidden behind some very tall and abundant weeds.

Donahue said Wednesday that those weeds would be cut back to make signage visible. He said he had visited with Dingman residents and officials quoted in the earlier article and felt parking issues had been resolved.

"We built a real parking lot at Cliff Park," and the trail from there to Hackers Falls is not more difficult than the closed access, Donahue said in reply to Mincer's comment. He said many teenagers don't come in vehicles, but walk to the swimming areas

Not safe or legal to jump Young people sometimes jump from hazardous high ledges at falls areas. (See "Cliff jumping is dangerous and illegal" letter page 12)

Donahue said swimming and diving within 50-feet upstream of all park waterfalls is not permitted. Before this prohibition, swimmers in the pools above the falls had been swept over them by the current and killed.

Jumping from the ledges, "violates all the basic rules of common sense," Donahue said. The rules are in place to protect visitors, but "you can't entirely protect people from themselves," he said.

Water Gap Chief of Interpretation, Education, and Partnership, Carla Beasley explainined that the pool bottoms can change at any time depending on the flow of the water. “I’d never jump from the rocks. Debris can pile up on the bottom from time to time.”

The NPS was going to close off the access road in a permanent fashion a few years ago but the township asked them not to do this so emergency services would have access to Hackers Falls if necessary.

With so much rain recently both Winkler and Quinn say the number of illegally parked cars on 2001 has been down.

But as long as the weather remains dry and the temperature continues to soar people will be heading to enjoy themselves in the cold water at Hackers Falls and park wherever they can.