Welcome back to National Parks & other public lands with T! Today is National Public Lands Day and this year’s theme is Resilience and Restoration. It is a fee-free day for most parks, so get out and find your park.
The Middle Delaware is a National Park Service unit contained within another NPS unit, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The Wild & Scenic Rivers System was established 50 years ago and protects nearly 13 thousand miles of US rivers. These protected areas are managed by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish & Wildlife Service, and the US Forest Service.
I began my exploration of the Middle Delaware at the Kittatinny Point Visitors Center, right off Route 80 in Columbia, NJ. There, I was able get some pins, look at a map and speak to a ranger about places to go in the park. There is a beach behind the visitors center with a great view of the Delaware Water Gap.
A water gap is formed when water carves a path through a mountain range. In Earth’s ancient history, the North American and African continents collided, creating the Kittatinny Ridge. Streams flowing on one side of the ridge scoured a channel over the course of millions of years and became the Delaware River.
I traveled upriver on Old Mine Road, a narrow road with scary potholes and numerous pull-outs for trailheads and river access. I stopped first at a small pull-out and walked a little way on a level trail that parallels the river. There are some big old trees here.
Next I stopped at Turtle Beach, but didn’t get out because the lot was deserted except for one run down vehicle and I couldn’t see to the river or the road from there. Maybe next time. A little further north, I found Poxono.
Poxono has a boat launch and used to be a Boy Scout camp. There were a few vehicles here, but most of the people were out fishing on the river. I got right down to the water’s edge and had some terrific, unobstructed views of the river.
Location:Â 85 Mercer Rd, Highlands, NJ 07732
Designation:Â 40 miles of the Delaware river, Delaware Water Gap, PA to Milford, PA
Date designation declared:Â 11/10/1978
Date of my visit:Â 6/3/2018
We kayaked the Delaware in late June. It was beautiful. The park service provided a free shuttle to take us back to the starting point. Great!
How awesome..where did you start out?
In a place far, far, away yet so close to my heart namely S.I.,N,Y.is where I started out. In the 50’s and 60’s it was still country. There was plenty of swampland, green grass, and pristine beaches. Trees were everywhere. Birds were everywhere. Many a summer day we and our cousins who lived next door, explored picking and eating wild berries as we ran here and there.. We would lay flat on our backs on the ground watching the clouds lazily float by. Those were the days. We created our own games those years. When school began after the summer, we would all buckle down and do our schoolwork.
Yes, S.I., N.Y. used to be so nice. Wild life was everywhere. We enjoyed the beauty of nature.
Lol, I meant where did the Kings launch their Delaware kayaking trip from
How beautiful your photography together with the precise text are ! Thank you for sharing your appreciation of our national parks. It helps us realize what a wonderful world we live in and for this we are grateful.
Thanks Mom!
Your blog does a great service reminding all of us that the National Park Service’s good works transcends just the National Parks themselves, but includes many wilderness areas such as this that need to be protected. That is especially true in light of the political climate today and people should remember the National Park Service Foundation in their charitable giving.
Thanks Don! Yes the National Park Foundation and National Parks Conservation Association and other non-profit park partners are crucial in keeping these areas preserved for future generations. Also organizations like the Sierra Club who have filed lawsuits to stop the plundering of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante. In addition to outright donations, people can also help by shopping through smile.amazon instead of the regular Amazon site. When you shop ‘smile’, which I do more frequently than I’d care to admit, Amazon donates a portion of your purchases to the charity of your choice.
This is so close to me and I never realized it…will need to visit soon.
Will be really nice when the leaves start to turn
More great pictures! Not what I’d have associated with New Jersey. Beautiful!
Thanks! LOL, we’re not all big hair and shopping malls up here. It is after all, the Garden State. 🙂
Looks very peaceful–thanks for sharing this place–I’d love to visit someday!
Thanks for commenting! Yes it is very peaceful on that Old Mine Road…hardly saw any other people or cars
Nice! I have been looking to do a hike near the Delaware Water Gap – maybe the length of the AT that passes through!
Thanks! I really want to do the Mt Tammamy (sp?) hike that takes you to the vista at the top of the gap..have to talk hubby into going along now that the humidity has finally eased up some.
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