The Delaware is the East’s longest undammed river, a bit of wilderness that runs through heavily populated states. An annual paddle is an opportunity to explore it.
The Delaware is the East’s longest undammed river, a bit of wilderness that runs through heavily populated states. An annual paddle is an opportunity to explore it.
All I could hear was the gentle splash of paddles and oars dipping in and out of the water. The river itself was quiet, with only the occasional gurgle when it trickled over rocks or lapped at my kayak. Waterfowl glided near us, a water snake slithered by. Bald eagles — so many! — soared and swooped in the trees.
It was hard to believe this was the Delaware River, just a couple of hours from my home in Brooklyn.
Even though I live relatively close to it, I did not know much about the Delaware besides George Washington famously crossing it in 1776.
Then last June, I participated in the Delaware River Sojourn.
The annual weeklong paddling expedition covers about 80 miles of the river’s main stem, with a different section done each year. Participants can do as many days as they want (I did three, from the put-in at Lackawaxen, Pa., to Worthington State Forest, N.J.) The 2025 trip, which marks the event’s 30th anniversary, starts on June 14 at Balls Eddy, Pa., and ends in Phillipsburg, N.J. on the 20th. (Registration has opened.)
The Sojourn can swell to more than a hundred paddlers a day, from experienced kayakers to first timers. About 16 members of the National Canoe Safety Patrol (volunteers trained in first-aid and swift water rescue) make sure that everybody follows protocols and steer paddlers through the occasional Class I or II rapid.
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