A man was rescued Wednesday afternoon from the trail on the Jim Thorpe side of the river in Lehigh Gorge State Park.

Borough fire Chief Vince Yaich said emergency personnel were dispatched about 12:30 p.m. for a terrain rescue up in the gorge.

“They were walking on the trail, were not familiar with it, and lost the trail,” Yaich said. “One of the two people fell and had a pretty nasty injury to the leg/knee area.”

Yaich said it took them about an hour until they were able to locate the individual due to the terrain to get up to him.

“They were unfamiliar with where they were at; eventually we ran into his buddy he was with, and he took the guys to where the injured party was,” he said. “Due to the steepness and narrowness of the trail, it took the guys awhile to extricate him.”

Yaich said the injured man, Christopher Sutton, 33, of New Jersey, was found about 20-25 feet down over the bank from the trail.

“These guys were from New Jersey, not familiar with the area, (Sutton) got disoriented, lost his footing and fell,” he said. “They had to carry him out.

Yaich said they couldn’t reach him with utility terrain vehicles.

Yaich said first responders remained on scene for about four hours, and that due to the extreme heat, the Lehighton and Nesquehoning fire department’s come in with manpower, along with the Mahoning Valley Rehab Unit.

“So far we haven’t had anything in the trails along the falls,” he said. “But we did have a search where three individuals got lost getting off the hiking trails; one incident along the Lehigh Gorge itself; and now yesterday’s incident.”

Yaich said the area where Wednesday’s incident occurred where the hikers were located is not on any maps.

“It’s very steep terrain, rocky terrain; that area is noted for rattlesnake country,” he said. “In that type of heat, between watching out for rattlesnakes and the extreme heat, if they’re not familiar with the trails, people should learn to stay off of them; especially if they’re not familiar with the area.”