Appalachian Trail: Delaware Water Gap to Mount Tammany via Blue Dot Trail (March 2008)
About the trip
I have not hiked since September of last year, in the Canadian Rockies. And I don't have any buddies to hike with this time. So I picked a simple loop and did some exploring on my own.
When I got to the parking lot, I mistakenly asked a couple which way the Red Dot trail was, and they pointed my in the direction of the blue dot trail. So instead of taking the red dot trail up and coming down the Blue Dot trail, I did the loop the opposite direction and came down the Red Dot. I'll come back another time before my trip to the hike the Grand Canyon and do it the right direction, and maybe even go on and hike up to sunfish pond.
The hike was nice. The hike up via the Blue Dot trail was a little more gentle than what I was looking for, especially given I didn't bring my normal pack I take when I'm training (filled with all my climbing gear). But the view up top is nice. And as they tell you, I sat down to eat an apple, just as I had put my camera away, and a huge black hawk, hovers over and lands about 20 feet away from me. And as soon as I fmble and get my camera back out, get up and start walking towards it to get a shot, it flies off. Talk about frustration!
My Travelling Companions
- Me, Myself and I
Trail Map
About the Delaware Water Gap Section of the AT
The Delaware Water Gap is on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River traverses a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. A water gap is a geological formation where a river cuts through a mountain ridge.
The Delaware Water Gap is the site of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which is used primarily for recreational purposes, such as rafting, canoeing, swimming, fishing, hiking and rock climbing. With a fishing license, one can fish in the Delaware for carp, shad and other fish.
The ridge of the Appalachians that the Delaware crosses is called the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania and the Kittatinny Ridge in New Jersey. The New Jersey mountain is Mt. Tammany (located in Worthington State Forest); the Pennsylvania mountain is Mount Minsi. The summit of Tammany is 1200 ft (360 m) above the river. The Appalachian Trail threads the gap, and climbs the Kittatinies alongside Dunnfield Creek.
The Worthington State Forest is to the immediate northeast on the New Jersey side of the river. Interstate 80 passes through the gap on the New Jersey side via the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge, while the New Jersey Cut-Off mainline of the old Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad—now owned by the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority and operated by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad—passes through on the Pennsylvania side. Pennsylvania Route 611, which is adjacent to the railroad for most of way through the Gap, occupies the right-of-way of a former trolley line. Interstate 80 occupies the former right-of-way of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway.
Red Dot Trail
Difficulty: The Red Dot is challenging, due to rocky trail conditions and a rapid rise in elevation. Hikers must be in good physical condition and willing to hike over large rocks and boulders. Care must be taken during warmer weather to avoid rattlesnakes, often present among the rocks.
Length: The trail rises 1200 feet in 1.5 miles to top of Mt. Tammany, 3 or 4 miles total depending on return route.
Trailhead: The Worthington State Park trail, marked by red blazes in a white circle, begins at the Dunnfield parking area on I-80 West just before the last exit in New Jersey. The Red Dot Trail can also be accessed from the small picnic/rest area located just before the Dunnfield parking area on I-80.
The climb up the Red Dot to the summit of Mt. Tammany on the NJ side of the Delaware Water Gap involves traversing rocks and boulders. The trail begins its sharp rise immediately via a series of timber-and-rock stairs. The steady ascent approaches an overlook high over I-80 and the Delaware River a few hundred feet below cliffs that drop nearly straight down.
The trail heads a short distance away from the cliffs for a while, going through a very wet, rocky area, near the base of a very steep, rocky climb, probably the most difficult of the hike. At a few places here, you can tell where the "trail" is only by looking for the blaze marks painted on the rock surface. The trail again traverses woods until it reaches the open, rocky summit of Mt. Tammany, 1549 feet above sea level. By carefully maneuvering down the bare rocky slope at the top, you will get a most spectacular view to the north, west, and south. Chances are excellent that vultures, hawks, and occasional eagles will be soaring below you. Enjoy it.
An alternate return route brings you down the Blue Dot, over a wider, gentler route that merges with the white blazed Appalachian Trail a short distance from the Dunnfield parking area.
