Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area ⓘ

In the late 1950s, the proposed construction of the Tocks Island Dam increased interest in creating historical and archeological records from this part of the Delaware River Valley. Although there had been excavations in the past, this was a larger effort than ever before. Historians and archeologists were summoned to identify, record, and salvage data before the valley was flooded. Archeologists began their surveys in 1959, and by the mid-60s they recognized that the area offered a rich and well-preserved human history stretching back over 10,000 years. This lined up with Lenape oral traditions of inhabiting the area since time immemorial.

Archeologists known for their work in the area include Dr. Herbert Kraft who studied the archeology of the Delaware River Valley for over 50 years. Besides the physical artifacts found in the area, the knowledge passed down from one generation to another through oral traditions gives us valuable insight into the history of the Lenape. With this cultural and archeological knowledge, we can get a clearer picture of the region’s story through time.

Preserving these archeological sites is important because we cannot make new ones. If you find an artifact on your visit, leave it alone and tell a Ranger. Give them a location and photos if possible. Remember, taking artifacts from the park is against the law! Respect the area’s cultural heritage by leaving things as they are.

In August of 1955, Hurricanes Connie and Diane battered the eastern seaboard of the United States. In the Poconos, rivers and streams overflowed their banks; nearly 100 people lost their lives on the banks of Broadhead Creek alone.

Congress responded quickly, commissioning the Army Corps of Engineers to dust off a 1930s river basin study and determine the viability of constructing dams and reservoirs along the Delaware, with one dam on the main stem of the river at the southern tip of Tocks Island.

The proposed Tocks Island Dam would have created a lake-sized reservoir roughly 40 miles long and a mile wide. Before building it, some 600 families and property owners whose land would be inundated had to be displaced. Some of these families had lived on and worked the land for centuries.

To offset some of the cost of the project, the Army Corps rented some of the newly acquired properties for the short term. Those who had unwillingly sold their homes now saw their land and houses occupied by people from outside the valley.

It was a turbulent era: Vietnam, Civil Rights, Back to the Earth. Grassroots organizations of citizens, scientists, educators and legislators began to mobilize in a new and uniquely American struggle -- the Environmental Movement. Congress responded with the Clean Air and Water Acts, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

A few earnest voices against the dam in 1964 grew to a uproar by 1971. New studies challenged the wisdom of converting a beautiful river into a stagnant body of water. Decision-makers in the basin states recoiled at the studies' projected costs of expanding local infrastructure for a new recreation area that would attract so many millions to a previously quiet place.

In 1975, the Delaware River Basin Commission, composed of the four basin-state governors and one federally-appointed commissioner, voted to shelve the Tocks Island Dam project. The land already acquired by the federal government was handed over in its entirety to the National Park Service for stewardship, and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, originally intended as a narrrow swath of land around a reservoir, became a 70,000 acre park with 40 miles of protected free-flowing river.

Though it had promised drought abeyance, flood mitigation, power generation, and lake-based recreation, in the end, the project was deemed too costly. A long and bitter battle had ended, and the modern era of environmental consciousness in government had begun.

Over 70,000 acres of floodplains, hardwood forest, and mountain ridges on both sides of the Delaware River in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania make up the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Ecosystems include hemlock ravines with massive rhodendrons, ridgetops with native prickly pear cactus, and bountiful blueberry patches that are a favorite food of the local wildlife. Among the more abundant species of animals in the park are black bears, timber rattlesnakes, and bald eagles. While not abundant, we even have endangered peregrine falcons.

Boasting numerous trout streams, lakes, ponds, and some of the highest waterfalls, the park offers some of the most beautiful views found in either state. Over 20 miles of Appalachian Trail and 40 miles of the Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River rest in the recreation area. The Delaware River provides water to millions of families along the east coast, including in New York and Philadelphia. The river's path through the mountains includes the S-curve of Walpack Bend and, the namesake of the recreation area, the Delaware Water Gap.

The park's diverse landscapes and its landforms altered by centuries of human activity provide habitat for a variety of birds for both breeding and migrating. More than 260 species have been identified in the recreation area.

River and stream corridors are hosts to species ranging from Louisiana waterthrush to bald eagles. Bottomland forest along the river support cirulean warblers. Hemlock dominated ravines offer breeding habitat for blackburnian and black-throated green warblers, acadian flycatchers, and hermit thrush. Agricultural fields provide open space that is frequented by wild turkey while the surrounding trees offer hunting perches for raptors scanning fields for small prey. Grasslands provide breeding habitat for bobolink and grasshopper sparrow while wetlands are inhabited by waterfowl, shorebirds, and herons. Deciduous forests, perhaps the largest landscape component, provide habitat for birds ranging from the scarlet tanager to the ruffed grouse.

During the fall and spring months many birds migrate along the river valley. More than 30 species of warblers have been recorded during spring migration. In the fall the Kittatinny Ridge provides an important migratory corridor for raptors. The Delaware River valley offers important wintering habitat for a large population of bald eagles attracted to the open water for foraging. Golden eagles are less frequently sighted but are recorded nearly every winter. Bald eagles are frequently seen along the river during the summer months and in 2002 the first recorded successful nest in the recreation area fledged two young. In April of 2003 the Minsi Cliffs in Pennsylvania at the Water Gap were the site of a peregrine falcon nest, the first peregrine nest in this areas since the 1940s and 1950s.