The Delaware Water Gap, PA

Delaware Water Gap, PA

The Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania is a national recreation area that extends along the Delaware River from just south of Port Jervis at Interstate 84 to Stroudsburg, PA at Interstate 80. US Route 209 follows the river and extends south to Millersburg at the Susquehanna river where a seasonal ferry can take about 4 vehicles on a 20 minute crossing to a point where you can pick up US Route 22/322 south to Harrisburg or north to State College. US Route 209 continues north into New York State and leads to Albany along the old D&H Canal (but that is another story.)

My being there was an unexpected, yet not unanticipated twist of fate. I was returning from a week in Gloucester, MA where my family (of my father's side) had gathered for the annual reunion. There, my hand trike was the hit of the week. Relatives and local friends alike had to have a ride. My nephews would not let it rest. They afforded themselves of every opportunity to ride along on my treks to show me the backwater and secluded places that I probably would not have ventured into alone, but they were known in every corner of The Neck, and I was introduced with a wave or a nod. The twist of fate came with a phone call message that finally hit my cell-phone as I moved into primary service range. The message was that the job I was hurrying home to do the next day had been cancelled. What a shock? The Wednesday session the previous week had also been cancelled allowing me to depart a day early for the 500 mile drive to Mass.

The call came through in plenty of time to not have been all the way south of The Gap and not be interested in backtracking. For about 20 years I had been passing through the DWG, always in a hurry to either arrive in Boston or back in Baltimore (or Pittsburgh as in the early days.) So without any obligations on my time for several days, at least until after the Fourth of July, I decided to hang out there in Northeastern Pennsylvania and discover what the area really was like.

First there was finding accommodations for the night. The day had burned away and the long shadows were growing out of the foundation of everything terrestrial. Werry's Pub and Motel fit the bill and I made a quick reservation to assure that I was set for the night. Note to Lodging Proprietors: Always list your phone number where it can be seen from the highway because almost everyone has a cellphone now and can peruse the rates and availability as they drive by. My decision was based on being able to obtain essential information without the necessity to turn around and go back to go inside to ask. I still wanted to scout the trail heads of the McDade Trail before it got too dark and I would have trouble seeing the "well hidden" signs. The forest was quite dense and even though the sun would not set for another four hours or so, the western ridge that fronts the Delaware River cast the valley in its shadow by 4:30. After locating the four access points, I headed back to Werry's Pub for a couple pints of Guinness and food at the sports bar.
		Werry's Motel started out as a series of small cabins back from US Route 209 a couple of miles south of the park entrance, but now includes the two sections of rooms and the Pub and swimming pool. The cabins would have been a nice touch, but none really had much accessibility for wheelchairs at the porch steps. I didn't inquire into whether the doorways were wide enough. The front rooms were adequate, although my room, #9 and room #10 are in front of the dumpster. Don't plan on sleeping past 7:30 AM if banging and clanging easily awaken you. Actually I have no complaints about Werry's at all. Down the road a couple hundred yards, a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru provided me with that morning eye-opener and all the carbs and fats I would need for the trail.

My first attempt to cover the length of the trail ended after about 150 yards from the southern terminus. I was cranking along and I saw the trail rise up so with a down shift I increased the power and started up the hill. With one pause to shift into the lowest-low gear, I broke my momentum and slowed a bit. That slowing probably had little impact on the outcome because in that lowest low gear, the front wheel began to slip on the loose gravel of this newly completed portion of trail. Eventually I was just sitting still churning gravel. It was like the hill climb contestants who do not make the crest of the hill and either slide back or flip over trying. A 40% grade is tough enough on asphalt or concrete, but on gravel, with front wheel drive, it is not possible. Unless of course it is downhill. But then there is trying to turn around. With two wheels, there is little trouble. But with three, you need to take a lesson from Glenan's Sailing Manual. That 28 inch wide stance in the back requires a substantial amount of hiking-out to counter balance the propensity of "capsizing" while executing the mid-turn maneuver of a Y-turn.

That part of the ride lasted about 10 minutes, the bulk of which was spent negotiating the turn-around without flipping and possibly rolling on that steep grade.

The road out of the woods crossed back through the corn fields. Second, but still old growth pine trees pointed the way out. Further up the road several miles the second trail access point is in a fee-for-parking area that also serves to provide boat launches and restrooms and a small swimming area. I opted for the next trail access point a few more miles north.

That spot was isolated and very quiet. It turns out to the the best access point since the next one has at least two such extremely steep grades that one wants to avoid unless you can walk your bike up or down the grade. The mountain biking enthusiasts would love the opportunity to show their stuff there. At one point they can brave the mud slide that sneaks up on you.

From there south the trail follows the edge of the corn fields and passes through the stands of trees that make the wind breaks between planted fields. The dense and damp woods allow only patches of sunlight to reach the ground. The path cuts close to the river and changes elevation quite often as it transitions from the dappled sunlight of the forest to the wide open sunfilled corn fields and back again into the depths of the wood. At some places the trail almost disappears into the brush as grasses try to overtake the path.

The occasional hiker or biker keeps the gravel visible and the park maintenance staff keep the trail wide and open.


Unlike the overly developed Rail Trails, McDade trail has no benches or picnic tables to suburbanize the wild beauty of the river valley.

The trail opened onto the broad alluvial plain that remains between the distant wooded mountain ridge and the deep cut of the present river's course. River Road slides along the length of the mountain at its foot just inside the tree line. A local model RC airplane club maintains a small stretch of manicured grass at its miniature air field. Aircraft with wing-spans of 1 to 2 meters regularly whine and spit as they taxi and leap into the air. Their high-pitched whine rises and falls through the aerobatic manoevers above the corn.

The trail opened into the fee-use area. South of here the trail gets a bit steeper but no so steep that it is not traversable by ordinary biking and hiking. There is however that 40% grade of loose gravel which I wisely chose to avoid in the downward orientation too.

The river was like glass, with only a few ripples to warp the reflection of the truss bridge spans.		At trails end, the daylight is still heavily filtered although still only about noon.
Each trail must end even as it has a beginning. Unlike roads and highways that are all interconnected in one great unbroken continuous surface, trails today are still solitary by-ways that one must explore and discover in their isolation. Although such great foot trails like the Appalachian Trail (which runs north-south on the other side of the river) have a long story to tell of early travelers who braved what was then a wilderness, it still is a solitary line through the land. So at the end of the day, at the end of US 209, the Millersburg Ferry makes its last crossing of the day. At the western side of the crossing there is a campground that would make a great end of the day or beginning before moving on.