The village of Delaware Water Gap, PA, at the great notch where the Delaware River cuts through Kittatinny Ridge — the southern gateway and the start of the drive north to Milford.
Welcome to the Delaware Water Gap — and welcome aboard. I'm Ranger Quinn, riding along to keep you oriented and tell you what you're seeing. With us too is Ranger Boone Merrick, who's got a bag of tales, and this valley has earned every one — including the story of a dam that nearly drowned everything you're about to drive through.
Just south of here, the tour takes its name from one of the great sights of the eastern mountains: the Gap itself, where the Delaware River slices straight through the long wall of Kittatinny Ridge — Mount Minsi on this Pennsylvania side, Mount Tammany across the river in New Jersey, a thousand feet of rock on either hand and the river running right between them. Folks have come to marvel at it for two hundred years, and you'll get the whole story of how the river cut it in a moment.
From here at Marshalls Creek, our drive runs north up US-209, following the Pennsylvania side of the river valley past a string of beautiful waterfalls to the old river town of Milford. So pick up US-209 heading north — watch for the shield — and settle in. Fuel and food are here at the south end and up at Milford, thinner in between, so top off if you're low.
When you turn off the car, the tour pauses — just tap play on your phone to pick up where you left off. All right — Boone, say hello, and let's head up the river.
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0
