A serious word, because this beautiful river has a dangerous side and I'd rather you hear it from a friend. The Delaware looks calm and inviting, especially on a hot day — and it drowns people. Since nineteen-eighty, more than a hundred people have died in the water in this park. The current is stronger than it looks, the bottom drops off without warning, and cold water can steal your strength in minutes.
Here is the single most important fact in this whole tour, and it could save your life or your child's: among all those drownings, not one person was properly wearing a life jacket. Not one. The life jacket is the whole difference between a scare and a funeral. So if you swim, wade, tube, or paddle here, wear one — a real Coast Guard-approved life jacket, buckled on — and put one on every child, every time, no exceptions. The park will even lend you one for free at the beaches.
The mountains and the falls have their own dangers too — steep wet rock, no fences. But the river is the one that fools people, because it looks so gentle. It isn't. Enjoy the water fully — just wear the jacket, and come home.
Photo: Tattoodwaitress · CC BY-SA 3.0
