Hiking at Pinnacle Rock State Park

Last updated: August 30, 2021

Looking for somewhere outdoors to take the kids, the dogs, or just somewhere to enjoy nature by yourself? Pinnacle Rock is that place. Pinnacle Rock State Park is about 400 acres, with 6 hiking trails, a picnic area, and of course the 3,100 ft. Pinnacle Rock. The park is located off of Route 52 near Bramwell, in Mercer County.

The park is free to enter and is dog-friendly, as long as they are kept on a leash. They also have bathrooms which is amazing. This makes for a great day trip. They do not have anywhere to camp but there are plenty of places to stay around the area like Camp Creek State Park and Pipestem Resort State Park. You can hike the trails, eat some lunch in the picnic area, fish at the lake, and hike the rock. There is even a cute little park with swings and a miniature Pinnacle Rock to let the kids play at while you eat some food and relax. 

The longest of the 6 trails is about 1.5 miles. All of the trails but one, Lakeview Trail, connect so there are plenty options to make a longer hike. If you start at the pinnacle rock parking lot you can hike down to the lake using any of the trails. You also have the option to park near the lake for easier fishing access with the option to hike up to Pinnacle Rock, it’s just a bit farther.

We started out hiking part of Homestead trail to the Cemetery trail first, we wanted to tire the dogs out just a little bit before climbing up the rock.

The trails were fairly moderate but with any hike, I recommend bringing bug spray, water, and snacks with you. If you are hiking with dogs like we did make sure you bring them water as well, and of course, a leash.  In a few places it looked like there may have been some Poison Ivy bordering the trails, but it is avoidable. We kept a close eye out for it just in case. 

To get to the rock you walk up the short path to the stairs that lead to the top. The hike is easy enough that most anyone could do it. Once you’re at the top the views are spectacular. 

There is a small overlook with seating once you reach the top where you can soak in the beauty.  We tied the dogs to the overlook so we could make sure they didn’t wander too far while we took some pictures. I honestly have never seen anything like it. We spent about an hour just relaxing, enjoying the view, and having a snack with the dogs. I could have sat up there all day.

We loved our trip to Pinnacle Rock and can’t wait to go back.


Hi! I’m Hailey, the adventure craving, nature-loving wanna be traveler behind this blog. In 2017, my boyfriend Kyle and I took our first trip out of the country. That trip sparked a fire in me to travel more. Working two jobs makes it hard to travel as often as we would like to, so I started this blog as a way to inspire and show others that travel is possible, and how to make it happen, even with a full time job.