about the area
The Delaware Water Gap spans between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It boasts beautiful beaches, forests, hiking trails, waterfalls, and watersports. It is a great area to enjoy with friends and family. The Delaware River cuts between it.
The Pennsylvania side transverses on Route 209 and is about 22 miles long or about a 30-minute drive. Smithfield Beach can be reached from 209 down River Road for 5 miles. Some of the highlights include Milford knob, Milford Beach, Smithfield Beach, Raymondskills Falls, Dingmans Ferry Falls, Bushkill Falls and so many more incredible hikes.
On the New Jersey side, you can enjoy incredible scenic drives such as the Old Mine Road which was constructed in the mid-1600s. You can also enjoy Turtle Beach, Kittatinny Point and Visitor Center, Millbrook Village Historic Point, Mount Tammany, and Buttermilk Falls and so much more.
getting there and around
The best way to visit this national recreation area is in your own private vehicle. You can drive through most of the park on paved roads.
If you don’t have your own vehicle or want to sit back and relax you can take a bus or historic trolley tour through the area.
This area is also packed with water activities. You can get around the park via boat, kayak, canoe and even boat to campsites to spend the night. If you don’t have your own kayak or canoe you can join a guided tour or rent some.
where to stay
As this park is greatly divided between the western half in Pennslyvania and eastern half in New Jersey there are a number of options at both sites. Milford, Pennsylvania is a convenient place to stay when exploring the northern area- boasting a variety of accommodation options and things to do. You can also stay in various regions in the Poconos and day trip over to the Delaware Water Gap. There are less clusters of hotels on the New Jersey side near the Delaware Water Gap but there are a few along the way.
Camping is available as well. It is highly recommended to book way in advance as it is incredibly popular.
Dingmans Campground, Mohican Outdoor Center, Worthington State Forest Campground are some developed campgrounds in the area. It is recommended to book in advance for summer weekends.
We stayed at the Myer County Motel Milford PA. This motel we stayed at was great because we had our own little cabin with a front deck. It was perfect for a night! Milford, PA is a great little town at the north end of the Delaware Water Gap and is a great location to stay because you can bridge over to either the PA or the NJ side of the recreation area.
when to visit
Summer is the most popular time to visit the park not only for the hiking and boating but also it is ideal to spend time at the beaches within the park in the hot summer months. Remember if you are intersted in camping to reserve in advance during the summer. The Fall is another very popular time to visit for the fall foliage.
fees
There are no fees specifically to enter the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. There are some areas that do require fees to visit including some of the beaches and waterfalls.
top things to do pennslyvania side
Raymondskills Falls
This three-tiered waterfall is considered the highest waterfall in Pennsylvania. To view this waterfall, you can take the Raymondskills Creek trail which is about 0.3 miles with 178 feet of elevation change. You will be able to view from platforms. No trails bring you to the bottom of the falls.
Cliff Loop trail
Right across from the Raymondskills Falls is the Cliff Loop trail. This also includes the Pond Loop and connects to Milford Knob. This is a great place to hike around because you can choose how long or far you would like to hike in this area of interconnected trails. It also has the Minisink and Tri-state overlook which are beautiful. We took the Hackers Trail around the Buchanan Trail to Minisink overlook and back on the Cliff Trail passing by Tristate Overlook.
Dingmans Fall
Dingmans Falls is one of the visitor favorites in the park. If coming from Raymondskills Falls, it is about 6.8 miles or 12-minute drive to the parking lot. At the parking lot there is the visitor center as well. The hike to the falls is relatively easy on boardwalk and flat surface with only 55 feet of elevation change and is about 0.3 miles. You can also climb to the top of the falls via Upper Dingmans Creek trail which adds another 0.1 miles- this part is steeper and has stairs it has 107 feet of elevation change. Dingmans Falls is the second highest waterfall. Also, along the way you will see Silverthread waterfall which is a small ribbon waterfall that drops 80 feet. When we went it was during the COVID pandemic and the road was completely closed to traffic which meant parking at the bottom of the road and hiking up to the main parking lot. That added 1.2 miles each way to this journey.
Bushkill Falls
This waterfall has a fee to enter and visit. It is nicknamed the Niagara of Pennsylvania. Bushkill falls encompasses 300 acres and boasts eight waterfalls. The drop at the main falls is about 100 feet. The top of the Main Falls to the Lower Gorge is approximately 300 feet. The cost is $18 per adult, $17 per Senior (62+) and $9 per child (4-10) on holidays and weekends. During the weekday discounted tickets for adults and seniors ($15 and $14 respectively). There are four main trails for waterfall exploration you can choose based on your comfort level.
top things to do new jersey side
Drive the scenic Old Mine Road
This is road was constructed in the mid-1600s and is very scenic. It is considered one of the oldest continuously used roads in the United States and it stretches 104 miles through the Delaware Water Gap to Kingston, New York.
Millbrook Village
This little town was formed in the mid-1800s and it’s a great place to explore. On some weekends there are demonstrations of skill such as weaving, woodworking, spinning, and more. This is also the place to catch the trailheads to Coventry Pond Trail, Donkey’s Corner Trail, or the Orchard Trail.
Mount Tammany
New Jersey side boasts one of the best hiking routes Mount Tammany. This is one of the more challenging and more popular hiking trails and gives an incredible overlook of the Delaware Water Gap. You can take the red dot trail up 1.2 miles and take it back or you can combine it as a loop going up the Red Dot and coming back the Pahaquarry Trail (Blue Blaze) to make it a 3-mile loop. The parking lot at the trailhead fills quickly especially on summer weekends. Come early or prepare for back up plan in case the lot is full.
Buttermilk Falls
Another popular trail on the New Jersey side is to Buttermilk Falls. This waterfall on the NJ side is a 1.4-mile one way moderately trafficked trail to the base of the Buttermilk Falls. It is considered a moderate-difficult hike with 1104 feet of elevation change. It is one of the tallest waterfalls in New Jersey.
