DELAWARE WATER GAP.
Day 87 – It rained last night and was 54 degrees this morning around 7 a.m. We departed at 10 a.m. It was partly cloudy. Most of today’s trip was on I-80. We had decided to try for a campsite at the Worthington State Forest Campground, located just across the PA border in New Jersey along the Delaware River.
136 miles, (2:40), 37604-37740
We saw a few traces of remaining snow & ice along the Interstate but today was warm with a high of 74 degrees. There was very little sun and it was mostly cloudy & hazy. We took I-80 until right after we crossed into NJ, getting off on River Road and turning north on a one-lane road, following the signs for the Worthington State Forest. The narrow one-lane road became an extremely narrow two-lane road. We followed another RV that seemed to know where they were going. The Delaware River was on one side of the road down a cliff, and the other side of the road continued going straight up the hill covered with boulders and trees. Some of the trees were so close they scraped the RV as we drove by. Are we on the right road? Does this guy ahead of us really know where he is going? We saw a sign for the campground & followed the other RV onto an even narrower campground road that was muddy and pot-holed. What have we gotten ourselves into again. Eventually we reached the Campground Office. The attendant told Rob and the driver of the other RV (who’d also had no idea where they were going) that the road they’d taken into the campground shouldn’t have been accessible and was closed. It was determined that the crew currently working in the campground had left the barrier off when they’d come in. Oh, now you tell us! Again, we were not driving an off-road vehicle. I am surprised the RV & tow car have come through this experience lately with nothing more than a few scratches!
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We picked up a campground map, drove around, and picked a campsite right on the Delaware River in a grassy field. We had not eaten lunch yet and the kitties were antsy, so we took a break before Rob went to the Office and paid for the night, and I began unpacking. Our site was #52, no hook-ups; the girls will not have their heated pads again tonight. Water was available at places within the campground. There was no dumping facility, but luckily we had dumped tanks this morning.
The quoted sentences that follow are from the State of New Jersey Worthington State Forest informational brochure: “Visitors to Worthington State Forest are greeted by its rustic beauty and challenged by its rugged terrain.” Rugged terrain? Boy, they aren’t kidding! “This area, located along the Kittatinny Mountain adjacent to the Delaware River, is just north of the scenic Delaware Water Gap in Warren County. Except for some fields along the River, Worthington is completely covered in lush woodland, and is an ideal place for many forest recreational activities. There is boating and fishing on the Delaware River, hiking and camping in the forest, undisturbed natural areas, and other scenic attractions.” The campground opened April 1 for the season. It was certainly undisturbed & natural. Quite muddy in places actually. “The entire Upper Delaware Valley is rich in Indian lore and artifacts. The Lenape Indians established their villages near the river and hunted on the forest-clad mountains long before the first Europeans appeared in the region. Old Mine Road passes through the forest along the Delaware River and is one of the earliest roads in the region. Old Mine Road was developed from a well-defined Indian trail, which was located along the River. This trail was used by fur traders and later by settlers from the Hudson Valley during the late 1690’s and early 1700’s. There is evidence that the Worthington Camping area road is a portion of the original Old Mine Road.” See, I KNEW this road wasn’t made to handle RV’s!
We opened all the windows and enjoyed the breeze as it passed through the RV. Although the Ranger said the campground was ½ full this past weekend, there are very few campers here today. (Maybe they fell into the Delaware River when the “road” to the campground office collapsed. Ho ho. Just kidding.) There are lots of Robins hopping around the field, harbingers of Spring, and the girls love it.
Worthington State Forest Campground: HC62, Box 2 – Old Mine Road, Columbia, NJ 07832; (908) 841-9575; http://njparksandforests.org/. This campground is open from April 1 through December 31 for camping in family campsites #29-82. Tents-only campsites #1-4 are open from the second Friday in May through October 31, and Tents-only campsites #5-23 are open from the second Friday in April through October 3. There are no hook-ups. There is no dump station. Water is available at specific places in the campground. Pets & alcohol are prohibited (but they did not ask us if we had pets or alcohol, LOL.) $30 per night. There is a two-night minimum stay for advanced reservations, and there is an additional non-refundable $5 transaction fee that is applied to each reservation. There is a playground, boat launch, restrooms and showers. There are no paved or gravel campsites; camping is in open fields and a fire pit & picnic table is at each site. There are either sites out in the open, a few with some trees, and sites along the Delaware River (but out in the open). “Due to black bear activity, anything visually associated with food must be kept inside a vehicle where it cannot be seen, in a trunk or covered, AT ALL TIMES. Do NOT leave food unattended. Nothing scented should go inside a tent. Everything scented must be kept inside the car. Trash is carry in/carry out – all trash must be placed in the bear-proof dumpsters located near the Forest Office, or carried out with you.” We would stay here again (if we could get here), but there are also many campgrounds along the Delaware River, so it wouldn’t hurt to look at them, too.