At 330 miles, the Delaware River starts in the Catskill Mountains and meanders unobstructed through Pennsylvania and New Jersey before joining with the Atlantic Ocean at Delaware Bay. Along the way are 116 tributaries with an estimated 14,057 streams and creeks, each filtering into a main flow that provides drinking water to 15 million people, while at the same time sustaining orchards, wineries, dairy farms and nurseries. It is the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi and because of that – and the people who care for it – it has nourished communities for thousands of years.
Every beautiful blue ripple has a story. This one starts a little over 300 years ago. Where it goes from there is up to you.
River Roots & Branches
When Europeans arrived in North America in the early 17th century, the banks of the Delaware were inhabited by the Lenape, who called the river “Lenape Wihittuck” or “the rapid stream of the Lenape.” Later Dutch and Swedish settlers would arrive, adding to the cultural diversity and rich history of the watershed, including a 1776 Christmas story that involved a guy named George leading a squadron of troops across its waters during the American Revolutionary War.
The journey worked out pretty well for George and a nation was born. NBD.
His boat was a bit different than the modern kayaks that navigate its waters today, but the battalion of people who enjoy the freedom and natural beauty of the Upper Delaware revel in the legend of every riffle.
“For me, the water removes the concept of time and provides a self-meditation that heals everything that hurts,” says Danielle Gaebel, who lives in Narrowsburg and manages the area farmers markets. “Whether I’m out for a kayak paddle or a lazy float, for me, the water is a restoration of self.”
Oh Hey, Big Eddy
The heart of Narrowsburg is Big Eddy, a 113-foot-deep pool that serves as the community’s Central Park minus the millions of people, horses, skyscrapers, honking cars and such. On a warm summer day, you’ll see friends and families just floating in the cool water. A picnic adrift in the joy of the Sullivan Catskills.
To Danielle, it’s a magical place that never feels congested. Maybe that’s because it’s surrounded by some of the most beautiful elements of nature you’ll find anywhere. Maybe it’s because of the way the light dances and plays in the water. Maybe it’s the clarity that comes from being in the middle of all of it.
Maybe it’s all those things.
A float from Big Eddy to Ten Mile River Access can take all day if you want it too. Danielle recommends it does. Along the way, the soft tree-lined banks cast shadows over speckled trout clearly visible in the shallows. Blue Heron stand majestic, silent and stiff, pretending to be one of the trees and hoping it’s enough to join in the picnic.
Scout’s Honor
Upstream of Big Eddy is an adventure of a different sort. One that you can attain by paddling your kayak against the natural flow. Or one where you can make any of the numerous upstream access points your launch and Big Eddy, or anywhere beyond (including the Atlantic Ocean), your destination.
A local outfitter can provide information and equipment to help you choose an adventure that suits your paddle pace. Lander’s, a river outfitter located just upstream from Big Eddy has been doing it since 1955 when Brooklyn-born Bob Lander decided that a life on the Upper Delaware best suit his.
As a kid, Bob spent summers at the Ten Mile River Scout Camp. First as a bunk brat, then as a summer staffer. Seventy years later, the original Ten Mile River Motel that he and his wife Joan purchased is now three campgrounds, eight launches, a restaurant, a gas station and employs over 100 people each summer. Each one dedicated to the waters that Bob loved until he passed away from leukemia in 1983. His son, Rick, and wife Lisa – along with their four kids – keep the family biz bumping 70 years later.
A Guy, a Duck, and a…
From April to October, Lander’s helps everyone who wants to kayak, canoe, raft, fish or float experience life on the Upper Delaware. Sometimes that means afternoon laps on the natural water park that is Skinners Falls. Other times, it’s a day-long excursion where you never know what you’ll see.
Danielle has watched a Bald Eagle snatch a fish a stone’s throw from her kayak. She has also seen, well, other things.
“There was one day I saw a duck. Only the duck was sitting on a paddleboard. Also on the paddle board was a guy and his dog. My sense tells me it was a pet duck, but I want to believe it was something else,” she laughed.
Upstate New York, especially the Sullivan Catskills, is a place where all walks of life and waddles just seem to hang out together.
Flatwater & Fish
If lakes and ponds are more your jam, Danielle says Lake Superior State Park is playing your tune. At 1,409 acres, the park includes its namesake and Chestnut Ridge Pond. It also features a family friendly beach, picnic tables and public grills, a group picnic pavilion, rental boats, an accessible hiking trail and camping.
Right next door is Toronto Reservoir, an 833-acre freshwater fishing paradise complete with Chain Pickerel, Panfish, Brown Bullhead, Large and Smallmouth Bass and tasty Walleye. Locals say Walleye have been pulled from the reservoir as big as 10 pounds. That is a lot of fish.
In the northwestern corner of the county, you’ll find Crystal Lake Wild Forest. Visitors can paddle along its lush shores or hike through the moist woodlands. Either way, you’re bound to explore habitats that include trillium, wild leeks, Jack-in-the-pulpit, and Dutchman’s breeches. No, they are not pants.
“Every place and every experience of each is completely different,” says Danielle, who will pull her inflatable kayak out of her trunk on a whim to play in any one of the waters that make the Sullivan Catskills sing.
Your App Doesn’t Live Here
Every Catskills community will swear by some mystical method of predicting the weather, water level, and how each determines when the fish are biting. Nearly all of them will be right. Point is, your weather app is not a local, nor can it tell you where to take shelter when the unexpected crashes your paddle party. It also can’t tell you the best place to grab a bite when waiting out a storm.
Danielle can. So can every staffer at Lander’s, the bar tender at Big Eddy Brewing Company and whoever is behind the counter that day at One Grand Books. Every one of them will tell you the last place you want to be when whether rolls in is bobbing in the middle of Toronto Reservoir. Boy Scouts know this kind of stuff and you should too.
Asking for directions in the Sullivan Catskills will get you where you want to go, but it will also get you to where you never would have thought of going. You’ll also be totally glad you went when you get there.
Whether you launch your kayak from the banks of Big Eddy in Narrowsburg, Callicoon, or any public access point along the Upper Delaware you’re sure to find something as fresh and friendly as the water itself, whether you knew it was there or not.
Water = Happiness
Places like this tend to educate people without trying. That’s what seeing and immersing yourself in the story and natural beauty of a place will do. It’s what brought the Lenape, Bob Lander and Danielle Gaebel here. It’s why she’s sharing this story with you.
“There’s a healing aspect to the water in the Catskills,” says Danielle. “No matter what happened earlier in the day, everything changes once you get in the water. It changes for the better.”
It’s a gift you’ll want to regift because you know you’ll get to experience the joy of opening the present again.
There are things in this world that provide happiness without trying. Water is one of them. There’s a lot of water in the Sullivan Catskills.