:Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The recreation area includes parts of Sussex and Warren counties in New Jersey, and Monroe, Northampton, and Pike counties in Pennsylvania. The Appalachian Trail runs along much of the eastern boundary of the park and is maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference.

File:Delaware River at Poxono NJ1.jpg

The park offers historical and cultural sites including the Minisink Archaeological Site, Millbrook Village, and the arts center in Peters Valley and rural scenery approximately an hour's drive from New York City. The park has significant Native American archaeological sites. In addition, a number of structures remain from early Dutch settlement during the colonial period. Outdoor recreational activities include canoeing, hiking, camping, swimming, cycling, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, and picnicking. Fishing and hunting are permitted in season with valid state licenses.

The area is also noted for its many waterfalls. These include Buttermilk Falls, the tallest falls in New Jersey at about {{convert|90|ft}}, and Raymondskill Falls, the tallest in Pennsylvania at about {{convert|150|ft}}.

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{{See also|Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Kittatinny Mountains|Geology of Pennsylvania|Geology of New Jersey}}

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{{main|Delaware Water Gap}}

File:2021-06-16 09 10 03 View of the Delaware Water Gap from the Delaware River Viaduct over the Delaware River on the border of Knowlton Township, Warren County, New Jersey and Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.jpg]]

The namesake feature of the recreation area is the prominent Delaware Water Gap, located at the area's southern end. The Delaware River runs through the gap, separating Pennsylvania's Mount Minsi on Blue Mountain, elevation {{convert|1461|ft}}, from New Jersey's Mount Tammany on Kittatinny Mountain, elevation {{convert|1527|ft}}. The gap is less than {{convert|1000|ft}} wide at river level and less than {{convert|1|mi}} wide at the ridge line. The river is about {{convert|350|ft}} wide at the gap.

The gap has long facilitated transportation across the ridge, with Pennsylvania building the first road through the gap in 1793. Today, I-80 occupies the eastern side of the gap, while PA 611 and the Pocono Mainline of the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad runs through the western side.

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{{main|Minisink}}

The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area incorporates much of the historical Minisink. The Minisink (or more recently "Minisink Valley") is a loosely defined geographic region of the Upper Delaware River valley in northwestern New Jersey (Sussex and Warren counties), northeastern Pennsylvania (Pike and Monroe counties) and New York (Orange and Sullivan counties). The name was derived by Dutch colonists from the Munsee name for the area. While the term "Minisink" is not used often today, it is preserved because of its historical significance in the early European settlement of the region during the American colonial period and as an artifact of the early "first contact" between Native Americans and early European explorers, traders and missionaries in the seventeenth century.{{cite web |last1=Osborne |first1=Peter |title=Maps of the Minisink Region |url=https://minisink.org/patent.html |website=minisink.org |publisher=Minisink Valley Historical Society |access-date=7 October 2022 |date=31 December 2013}}

{{Expand section|small=yes|date=October 2022|with=the history of the region prior to the dam project}}

File:Delaware Water Gap MET DP837869 (cropped).jpg

At the time of European contact, the Minisink was inhabited by Munsee, the northern branch of the Lenape. The area's first European settlers arrived in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and were Dutch and French Huguenot families from colonial New York's Hudson River Valley.

{{See also|Tocks Island Dam Controversy}}

File:Tocks Island Dam and Lake.png

The Delaware River is prone to floods—some resulting from seasonal snow melt or rain run-off from heavy rainstorms. However, record flooding occurred in August 1955 in the aftermath of two separate hurricanes (Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane) that passed over the area within the span of one week. On 19 August 1955, the river gauge at Riegelsville, Pennsylvania recorded that the Delaware River reached a crest of 38.85 feet, or 16.85 feet above flood stage.

A project to dam the river near Tocks Island was in the works before the 1955 floods. But several deaths and severe damages resulting from these floods brought the issue of flood control to the national level. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed the construction of the dam, which would have created a 37-mile (60-km) long lake between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with depths of up to 140 feet. The area around the lake would be established as the Tocks Island National Recreation Area under the oversight of the National Park Service, to offer recreation activities such as hunting, hiking, fishing, and boating. In addition to flood control and recreation, the dam would be used to generate hydroelectric power and provide a clean water supply to New York City and Philadelphia.

Starting in 1960, the present-day area of the Recreation Area was acquired for the Army Corps of Engineers through eminent domain. Approximately 15,000 people were displaced by the condemnation of property along the Delaware River and the surrounding area. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 dwellings and outbuildings were demolished in preparation for the dam project and subsequent flooding of the valley. This included many irreplaceable historical sites and structures connected with the valley's Native American and colonial heritage.

File:Delaware Water Gap cliffs.jpg whose valley is the core of the historic Minisink region, July 2007]]

In support of the Tocks Island Dam project, Congress authorized the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in 1965. The area was intended to encompass a narrow strip of shoreline surrounding the reservoir,{{cite web|title=Tocks Island Dam Controversy - Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area|url=https://www.nps.gov/dewa/learn/historyculture/tocks-island-dam-controversy.htm|access-date=2020-12-12|website=National Park Service|language=en}} in part to make the project more cost-effective.

The dam project was embroiled in controversy, engendering strong opposition from environmental groups and embittered, displaced residents. Due to this opposition, the unavailability of funding for the dam, and a geological assessment revealing the dam would be located near active fault lines, the federal government ultimately decided to abandon the project in 1978. The lands acquired were then transferred to the National Park Service and added to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.Obiso, Laura. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (2008), 7-8.{{cite web |title=Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area |url=https://njskylands.com/pkdwgnra |website=njskylands.com |publisher=Skylands Visitor |access-date=7 October 2022 |date=Summer 1998}}See: Feiveson, Harold; Sinden, Frank; and Socolow, Robert. Boundaries of Analysis: An Inquiry Into the Tocks Island Dam Controversy. (1976). Albert, Richard C. Damming the Delaware: The Rise and Fall of Tocks Island Dam (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1987)."The Legacy of Tocks Island," Pocono Record, August 12, 2001

The recreation area is currently facing major under-funding.{{when|date=October 2022}} Deferred maintenance costs total over $161 million, with an annual $6 million routine maintenance cost.{{cite web |title=Northeast Region Infrastructure Fact Sheets |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/9eb550cd-17db-4d2e-876f-f912d877efad/original |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=7 October 2022 |page=18}}

In November 2021, a proposal was introduced to redesignate the recreational area as a full-fledged national park, which would make it the first such park in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Local Sierra Club chapters have supported this proposal, claiming it would help to improve the Recreation Area's infrastructure and capacity for tourists.{{cite news|title=Delaware Water Gap could become the first national park in Pennsylvania, New Jersey|last=Nark|first=Jason|date=2021-11-06|work=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/national-parks/2021/11/06/delaware-water-gap-national-park-sierra-club-new-jersey-pennsylvania/6317193001/|access-date=2022-03-12}}{{cite web |last=Nark |first=Jason |title=Pennsylvania and New Jersey could get their first national park |url=https://www.inquirer.com/life/delaware-water-gap-national-park-pennsylvania-nj-20211021.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=21 October 2021 |language=en}}

Previous and current superintendents of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area include:

• Peter DeGelleke, 1965–1973
• James McLaughlin, 1973–1979
• Albert "Amos" Hawkins, 1979–1988
• Richard Ring, 1988–1992
• Roger Rector, 1992–1997
• William Laitner, 1997–2003
• John Donahue, 2003–2017
• Sula Jacobs, 2018–2022
• Doyle Sapp, 2022–present{{cite web |title=Doyle Sapp Named Superintendent of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area |url=https://www.nps.gov/dewa/learn/news/sapp-super-2022.htm |website=Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=16 June 2023}}

The park is currently a part of Interior Region 1 of the National Park Service. It was originally a part of the Northeast region, and later the North Atlantic-Appalachian Region.

File:Marie Zimmerman Farm Hog Barn DWG NPS.jpg|The Hog Barn at the Pennsylvania farm of artist Marie Zimmermann

File:Raymondkill.jpg|Raymondskill Falls

File:Dingmansfalls.jpg|Dingman's Falls

File:Middle Delaware River above Walpack Bend.jpg|Middle Delaware River above Walpack Bend

File:Delaware Water Gap.jpg|View of Mount Tammany from Delaware Water Gap

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• Brau Kettle
• Brodhead Farm
• Callahan House
• Cold Spring Farm Springhouse
• Dingman's Ferry Dutch Reformed Church
• Metz Ice Plant
• John Michael Farm
• Military Trail
• Nyce Farm
• Schoonover Mountain House
• Capt. Jacob Shoemaker House
• John Turn Farm
• Marie Zimmermann Farm
• Van Campen's Inn
• Raymondskill Falls
• Zion Lutheran Church
• List of waterfalls of the Delaware Water Gap

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{{Reflist}}

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{{wikivoyage|Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area}}

• [https://www.nps.gov/dewa/index.htm National Park Service: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100703054249/http://www.friendsofdewa.org/ The Friends Of The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]

{{Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area}}

{{Delaware River and Delaware Bay}}

{{Protected areas of New Jersey}}

{{Protected areas of Pennsylvania}}

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Category:National Park Service National Recreation Areas

Category:National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers

Category:Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States

Category:Pocono Mountains

Category:Delaware Water Gap

Category:National Park Service areas in New Jersey

Category:National Park Service areas in Pennsylvania

Category:Protected areas of Sussex County, New Jersey

Category:Protected areas of Warren County, New Jersey

Category:Protected areas of Northampton County, Pennsylvania

Category:Protected areas of Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Category:Protected areas of Pike County, Pennsylvania

Category:Protected areas established in 1965

Category:1965 establishments in New Jersey

Category:1965 establishments in Pennsylvania