New Jersey's Prettiest Place - Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

We were up early this morning to do some serious hiking. Our goal for this stop in northern New Jersey is to visit the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. It's a little confusing to have a recreation area in New Jersey with the word "Delaware" in its name. That's because the Delaware River has been at work carving beautiful views in this corner of New Jersey for many years. We found a source that said that this was the most beautiful spot in the state, so we wanted to see it for ourselves. It was a 43-mile drive that took us over an hour from our camping spot to get to the Mount Tammany Trail head inside the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Then we started our hike of the day, going straight up this rocky trail.

This was a tough hike, so Denisa looked for some snacks on the trail. She was pretty excited about these beautiful red berries, so she started eating them. They looked a little different than a raspberry, and were less seedy than a thimbleberry. They were a yummy treat!

Did we mention that this was a tough hike? We are gaining lots of elevation, climbing up a continuous stair case of rocks.

After hiking over a mile straight up, we finally came to a break in the rocks and the trees to see the landscape around us.

The next opening gave us the classic picture that this area is named for. That is the Delaware River in the valley below us. Over the years that river has carved a gap between the two mountains we see in front of Mark. So this is the Delaware Water Gap below us. According to our list, this is the prettiest place in all of New Jersey, so we stayed for a while and enjoyed it.

After that break for the views, we were back on this stair-stepper trail. This is a loop, so for this half of the trail we are looking for the "red dot" on these steep rocks. That lets us know we are on the right path. Denisa is beginning to see that trail symbol as an evil red-eyed demon with all these darn rocks and so much elevation gain!

She was distracted by the floral scenery. We are surprised to see some wild rhododendrons still blooming this summer.

We are high enough in the mountains that these spring-bloomers look like they are at their peak.

We are still gaining elevation as we near the top of Mount Tammany. This trail was recommended by a hiker we met at High Point State Park last evening. He was a local, and he convinced us that this was the best hike in the state. We have to agree that this is the best hike we've been on in New Jersey.

At the summit, we finally came to the end of the red-dot trail, and those evil red eyes will stop staring at us.

It you look at the tree in the center of the picture below, we can see the beginning of the blue trail. It has the reputation of being a kinder and gentler trail and we are glad for that.

Near the summit, we see more of the plants like the one that Denisa picked her red berries from at the beginning of the hike. She hasn't died from eating them yet, but we just remembered that Mark has an app on his phone that can identify plants and berries. He had enough cell phone signal near the top of the mountain to identify this as a wine berry. 

Related to the raspberry, it forms those yummy berries inside the fuzzy cones until they pop open and then ripen to red. They are not poisonous, and are in fact good for making jams and even wine. Note to self--you should probably check out this information BEFORE eating them.

While he had his phone app open, we also checked on these light blue berries. They were identified as deer berries. Even though they are not poisonous, they are not tasty--unless you have the taste buds of a deer.

We got our last view of the Delaware River, as it was snaking its way through the gap between the other mountains far below us.

Now we are back to the rocks, this time on the descent. The blue trail is less steep, but just as rocky at the top. We have to be careful to find a solid place for each step, and our necks are getting sore from looking down all the time on this hike.

It's a good thing that Denisa has fruit snacks to keep her going. She has a veritable smorgasbord of fruit, as she is enjoying blackberries and blueberries now.

We finally got low enough on the mountain that we turned onto one of our favorite trails. That white slash on the tree above Denisa's head is the symbol for the 2,170-mile Appalachian Trail (AT) that stretches from Georgia to Maine. We've hiked on this trail many times, but this was the first time in New Jersey.

Once on the AT, the slope and the rocks got easier. We also took a break when we got to this waterfall along the trail.

It was a busy place, with several hiking groups also stopped to enjoy the falls. We were joined here by a group of 11- and 12-year-olds on a summer camp hike, as well as a group of senior citizens on a elder hostel hike. We were all surprised when this doe sauntered out in the open very close to several hikers.

After that stop, the trail was much kinder and gentler. We had time to stop and smell the flowers--including this bright red specimen that looked a little like a miniature Christmas poinsettia.

By the time we got back to the pickup, we had hiked 4.9 miles. That's not very long, but the 1,306 feet in elevation gain and all those rocks made it seem longer. We're not in our top hiking form right now, so we were tired when we got back to the trailhead. So we decided to do the rest of our exploration in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in the pickup. We stopped in at this lake, but again, we were too lazy to pump up our inflatable kayak.

Back on the narrow and bumpy paved road, we followed a brown sign that took us off the main road and down an even rougher gravel road. Several miles later we arrived at Crater Lake. Not as deep as the Crater Lake in Oregon, this was still a nice one.

Denisa sat down at the edge of the water and took off her hiking boots. The water felt good to her feet, but not as cool as the mountain lakes we are more familiar with in Colorado. Those can be at elevations of 10,000 feet. While we were in one of the highest elevations of New Jersey, this lake is only around 1,000 feet.  Denisa almost jumped in the water when Mark pointed out that she wasn't alone on that shore. Right beside her was a scaly creature hiding in the sticks. She was just glad she sat down beside a frog instead of a snake!

We had a good day on this last stop in New Jersey. We've seen some pretty places in this state, but we will have to agree with the sources that say that Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a nice place to wander more of God's wonders!