PENNSYLVANIA – In most state and county parks, the unwritten rule is to appreciate nature quietly. You tread lightly, speak softly, and listen to the birds. But in one specific seven-acre patch of woods in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the rules are very different. Here, visitors are encouraged to make noise. In fact, you are supposed to bring a hammer.
Deep in the forest near Upper Black Eddy lies a geological oddity that has baffled scientists and delighted locals for centuries: a boulder field where the stones chime like Church bells. Welcome to Ringing Rocks County Park, home of Pennsylvania’s mysterious “singing stones.”
The Sonic Discovery
The experience begins after a short, easy hike through the woods. The trail suddenly opens up into a massive field devoid of trees or soil, filled only with a jumble of dark, angular boulders piled seemingly endlessly deep.
It looks like an ordinary, if impressive, rockslide. But if you stand still, you will hear it: the distant tink, clank, dong of metal striking metal.
As you clamber out onto the field—hopping from one unstable rock to another—you join the hunt. You tap a boulder with your hammer. Thud. You try another. Thud…