The Delaware River Watershed is one of the most important ecosystems in the Eastern United States and a natural treasure. The main flow of the Delaware River begins in Hancock, New York, where the East and West branches join, and flows 330 miles to the Atlantic Ocean, past the major metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and Trenton. It is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river East of the Mississippi. Three stretches above Trenton totaling 152 miles are included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Three tributaries, the Maurice and Musconetcong Rivers in New Jersey and the White Clay Creek in Pennsylvania are also in this system. The Delaware Bay and the tidal reach of the river to Trenton are included in the National Estuary Program to protect estuarine systems of significance. The river is sacred to the Lenni Lenapes, the original inhabitants of the watershed, whose history goes back centuries before white settlers arrived.
Although the Delaware waters flow through much privately owned land, they also flow through two National Parks, the Delaware Water Gap and the Upper Delaware. The River's clean waters are home to numerous species of fresh water mussels that help to keep it clean, as well as the American Shad, that spawns in the River, but lives most of its life in the ocean, and the American Eel, that lives most of its life in the River after birth in the Sargasso Sea. Other fish include Striped Bass and the endangered Atlantic Sturgeon. Nesting Bald Eagles have returned and multiplied in recent years.
Major tributaries of the Delaware are the Lackawaxen River, the Lehigh River and the Schuylkill River as well as numerous smaller rivers and streams that total 23,700 linear miles. The 13,539 square miles of the drainage area encompass parts of four states - New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and 42 counties and 838 municipalities. The River provides drinking water to 15 million people or 5% of the US population.
The images in this gallery portray some of the natural beauty, wildlife and birds of the region. Additional images of canoeing and kayaking on the River and its tributaries are in that section. Galleries of Jenkins Arboretum, Valley Forge National Park, the Brandywine Creek, and Northwest New Jersey portray more images of the region.
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