Chickies Rock: A Pinnacle for Hunters of Views and Ghost Hunters Alike

Mingle the panoramic and the paranormal in one trip when you make Lancaster’s Chickies Rock your destination. Chickies Rock—derived from the American Indian word Chiquesalunga, which means “place of the crayfish”—is an impressive quartzite outcropping of rock towering 250 feet over the Susquehanna River. An apparent favorite of ghosts and travelers alike, this popular attraction can bring the aura of the fantastic (in all senses) to your travels this summer.

Chickies Rock can be accessed by walking or climbing: it is both the highlight of a sought-after trail graded as an “easy” hike by AllTrails.com and a favored destination for climbers, offering a range of climbing routes for beginners and experienced climbers on the largest exposed anticline on the East Coast. Once it’s been summitted, Chickies Rock grants hikers and rock climbers rewarding views of Lancaster farmlands, remnants of historical canals and trolley lines, and stunning views of York County.

For those who want a deeper look that goes beyond the natural, the paranormal legends surrounding the rock are just as rich and varied. The first ghost story originates with the Susquehannock natives and involves a jilted warrior who allegedly stabbed his sweetheart’s white lover before the all-too-predictable murder-suicide denouement—in a flying jump from the rockface now known as the “Lover’s Leap.” Not to be outdone, settlers have since added their own legends to those of the Native Americans. These include sightings of a train worker killed in a fatal train accident, an old lady practicing witchcraft in retribution for the unjust loss of her land, and the ghost of a notorious Pennsylvania outlaw who is said to have hidden his ill-gotten loot somewhere near Chickies Rock. Among the more eccentric local legends associated with Chickies Rock are those of Pennsylvania’s home-grown variation of Bigfoot, the smaller, more primatial albatwich (a name supposedly originating from his tendency to snitch apples—hence, “albatwitch”).

Come judge for yourself whether there is something worth seeing at Chickies Rock: sample both the natural and the supernatural and leave with a personal legend of your own.