• Winter sunrise, Kittatinny Ridge

    Delaware Water Gap

    National Recreation Area NJ,PA

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  • SAFETY ADVISORY

    UNTIL DELAWARE RIVER LEVELS DROP, SWIMMING PROHIBITED AND LIFE JACKETS (PFDs) MANDATORY WHILE ON BOARD ANY VESSEL (ON WATERS OF DELAWARE RIVER WITHIN DELAWARE WATER GAP NATIONAL RECREATION AREA). More »

Waterfalls

Raymondskill Falls
Raymondskill Falls

The ravines carved between the ridge tops are partly the result of glaciers moving across the landscape, deepening and widening the path opened up by the creek. When each glacier retreated, the creeks then tumbled over ledges of rock, forming waterfalls. 

Where the rock at the top of the waterfall is more resistant to weathering than the rock below the falls, the waterfall is steep. Where the rock at the top of a waterfall is not much harder than the rock at the bottom, more gradual waterfalls can form.

Natural springs, swamp runs, and outlets of natural and artificial lakes drain the mountain sides along the river valley and form part of the Delaware Watershed. The drops of water that you see hurtling over these waterfalls will reach the Delaware River, and, in time, flow into the Atlantic Ocean. 

 

Did You Know?

A ranger testing water quality in a stream.

... that the Middle Delaware River exceeds ordinary federal standards for clean water. Because of this, special higher standards have been set for the river, so it does not "deteriorate" to being just "clean enough." The river in this park is, and will remain, truly "cleaner than clean." More...