The Middle Delaware is a 40-mile free-flowing stretch of the Delaware River that runs entirely within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border. The river and the NRA exist because a dam did not. In the 1960s the Army Corps of Engineers advanced plans to impound the Delaware at Tocks Island, which would have created a 37-mile reservoir up to 140 feet deep and displaced the valley's communities. The federal government began condemning land and demolished an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 structures before opposition, funding collapse, and a geological assessment of nearby fault lines killed the project. The NRA was authorized in 1965 to wrap around the planned reservoir; when the dam fell through, the corridor's designation as a Middle Delaware National Scenic River in 1978 permanently protected the free-flowing river instead. The river ends at the Delaware Water Gap itself - a dramatic pass where the Delaware cuts between Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey (Mount Tammany, 1,527 feet) and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania (Mount Minsi, 1,461 feet). The gap is less than a mile wide at the ridgeline and less than 1,000 feet wide at river level, with the water roughly 350 feet across. The Middle Delaware itself runs cleaner than almost any river of its size in the eastern United States and moves through a landscape of floodplain farms, forested bluffs, and the S-curve of Walpack Bend. Historic Minisink Valley, long defined by Lenape settlement and Dutch colonial-era farming, lies within the corridor. Paddling is the central river use. Canoe, kayak, raft, and tube trips work across Class I-II water supported by multiple NPS access points on both shores. Multi-day trips can use free primitive boat-in campsites distributed between Milford and the Gap; these are reserved for through-paddlers only, are first-come and one-night, and have no facilities. A Pennsylvania or New Jersey fishing license covers either shoreline; target species are smallmouth bass, American shad, and trout. The river also holds water year-round and cold-water temperatures, so paddlers should expect river-cold conditions even in summer. The surrounding NRA amenities feed back into the river experience. The Appalachian Trail crosses the water at the gap and climbs both peaks. The McDade Recreational Trail runs 32 miles along the Pennsylvania bank for hikers, cyclists, and winter cross-country skiers. Buttermilk Falls on the New Jersey side is the state's tallest at roughly 90 feet; Raymondskill Falls on the Pennsylvania side is the state's tallest at roughly 150 feet. The Point of Gap supports traditional rock climbing. Primary visitor access is off US 209 in PA and Old Mine Road in NJ. Headquarters is at Bushkill, PA.