written by Julie Hackler & David Fink
August 26, 1998 to August 30, 1998
Delaware Water Gap, PA
We got a chance to test out our camping, hiking and canoeing skills over a four-day weekend vacation to the Delaware Water Gap National Park. We camped on the Pennsylvania side at Dingman Falls Campground off of Route 209. Out of the ones that we saw, I think this one was the nicest. Although Hurricane Bonnie was hot on out trail we decided to take our chances and it paid off. We had a great time.
We set up camp on Thursday and decided to schedule a canoe trip for Friday morning. We rented a canoe from Kittatinny Canoes. It cost us around $27 each. We wanted to canoe most of the day so we choose the 5 hour excursion from River Beach. Once we paid for our trip down the Delaware River we took a ride to see what trails we might like to hike.
We found the Bushkill Falls Trail to be more like an attraction then a hiking trail. "The Niagara of Pennsylvania" was what they claimed it to be, but at a $7 per person entrance fee we decided to take their word for it.
Our canoe trip got started around 10 a.m. They shuttled us up river to River Beach. I had never been canoeing before so it took me a little getting used to. But in about twenty minutes or so I had the hang of it. We stopped for lunch under a shady tree along the river and went swimming. We even spotted a bald eagle (we think). All in all it only took us about three hours to canoe twelve miles. So I thought we did pretty good.
On Saturday we went hiking. We began on the Appalachian Trail at Kittatinny Point. I then spotted what I thought would be an easy trail that ran along side the creek called Dunnfield Creek Trail. It met up with the Appalachian Trail at Sunfish Pond, so I thought we could continue on the A.T. after lunch. Well, boy was I wrong. This innocent looking trail began smooth enough, then we were hardly able to tell it was even a trail. And the last quarter mile was straight uphill through a path no wider than a foot and a half on nothing but rocks. Needless to say when we got to Sunfish Pond we both took a nap.
We decided to take the A.T. back and enjoyed the hike downhill much better. I do suggest that if you are thinking of hiking here that if you do not have hiking boots that you at least wear high top sneakers. It is very rocky. In total the hike was around 8 miles.
We enjoyed it thoroughly and hope to return. Couple points of interest: We found it helpful to purchase a trail guide of the park. It cost around $6 but helped us determine what trail we wanted to take and about how long it would take us. Bring a few extra bucks for tolls and parking. They nabbed us with a parking fee of $5 when we went canoeing.
Niagara Falls --------------------------Big Bend NP
We welcome any suggestions or comments. hacklerj@mindspring.com