Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area protects approximately 40 miles of the Middle Delaware River and nearly 70,000 acres along its Pennsylvania and New Jersey shores. Forested mountains rise above the river as it passes between ridges, creating the dramatic opening known as the Delaware Water Gap. Waterfalls, ravines, wooded trails, and historic communities are preserved throughout this long river corridor.

The landscape has supported human life for thousands of years. Indigenous people traveled along the river, hunted in its forests, and established settlements within the valley. European colonists later created farms, mills, ferries, villages, and roads along the same natural travel corridor. Remnants of those communities survive in historic buildings, archaeological sites, old roadways, and cemeteries scattered throughout the recreation area.

The park’s creation grew out of a controversial federal plan to build the Tocks Island Dam across the Delaware River. The proposed project would have created a large reservoir for flood control, water storage, and recreation. In preparation, the government acquired thousands of acres and displaced families from longstanding river communities. Homes were purchased, villages were emptied, and numerous buildings were demolished before environmental concerns, rising costs, and public opposition brought the dam project to a halt.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation establishing Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in1965. The recreation area was initially intended to surround the proposed reservoir, but when the dam was never constructed, the National Park Service was left with something very different: a largely free-flowing river bordered by protected forests and historic landscapes. In 1978, Congress added this section of the Delaware to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, ensuring that its natural character would be preserved. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area preserves both the beauty of the Middle Delaware River and the remains of the communities that developed along its banks.