Devil’s Pulpit
pul·pit
/ˈpəlˌpit/
noun
a raised platform or lectern in a church or chapel from which the preacher delivers a sermon.
That definition is is fitting for this trail! The trail is located in the Lehigh Gap in Pennsylvania. The trail has can be very dangerous if climbed to from the mountainside and can result in some serious injuries. While looking up this trail online I found that one hiker actually fell 80 feet down and was seriously injured. After a few days of talking about it at work Rich and I decided to go up the mountainside.
In order to do the mountain side you need to access the upper trail by the nature center, which is a rocky ascent and features lose rock, I guess it’s a warm up for what’s to come. While you are on the upper every “trail” up looks like a washout except one that goes above a rock cutout. We decided to use this trail to access it and it was covered with loose rock and at some points we were crawling up on our hands! The distance of the climb is not very far it’s about 0.9 miles to the top. You will see that you are gong to be walking between the two rock formations and you will need to free climb a vertical section!
The vertical section is about 18 feet roughly could be more could be less and it offers some footholds, but keep in mind if you do this part you must commit to it and fully climb it there is no turning back at this point! Be very careful once you approach the ledge, the final part of the climb because there are less footholds and you may need to rely on strength to get over.
Once you finish that section it’s about twenty yards and you reach Devils Pulpit, which is a ledge over looking the Lehigh River and Palmerton. You can just picture the Devil delivering standing up here delivering a sermon or yelling at the hikers below. Naturally with a location with the name Devil’s Pulpit you can see some Day Stars spray painted and a phrase “ who’s here” next to a star. Aside from that, there are many picturesque views and we spent some time up here yelling down below to other hikers, checking out other landmarks, and watch two eagles flying below the Pulpit. The elevation was 509 ft up and it is about halfway up the mountain. Now if you didn’t want to climb there is option two which is a much safer approach.
Option two
You can get to this trail if you access the woodpecker trail from the nature center, this will take you to the Appalachian Trail and you will have to ascend up until you get to the North Trail, marked in blue blaze. After following the trail you’ll come to a fork one trail with no sign but red/orange blaze on the right and the North Trail on the left, go right and you will follow the trail until you see a right turn on to a trail, this trail has yellow blazes that are worn. The trail is a littered with bigger rocks which I recommend you use to travel the trail due to high grass on the actual trail (snakes). This trail will become covered and will eventually take you to the pulpit.
This was an awesome hike and I definitely recommend it for a nice quick hike or to throw it in with your day hike, it is awesome now to drive past it on the highway and say I was up there! This goes to show you how many places we drive by and not explore. I always hear, “There’s nothing to do around here.”, however there is plenty of places and things to see! I challenge you to challenge yourself and pick up a trail in your area or try exploring somewhere new, there’s a lot you can learn by just exploring! What do you plan on exploring?
Safe Travels,
Mike
