For $80, kayak and canoe enthusiasts can spend a day touring a part of the Delaware River.
View full sizeThe annual sojourn allows people to spend a day or more on the Delaware River. One of the best vacation destinations is as close as a nearby riverbank, according to DeJay Branch.
Branch is a member of the group Upper Delaware River Preservation and the registrar for the 19th annual Delaware River Sojourn. The sojourn travels 60 miles downriver in eight trips from June 22 to June 29.
According to Branch, people can join the sojourn for a single day, a few days or the entire trip. Travelers start as far north as the Lackawaxen River in Pennsylvania and as far south as Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.
“This is the kind of trip that I like to call a ‘stay-cation,’” Branch said. “The Delaware is an all-inclusive river and this trip is an inexpensive way to travel it with great food and great people.”
Delaware River Basin Commission communications assistant Kate Schmidt said in a news release that the $80 fee covers a traveler’s guided experience, a single or tandem kayak set rental, transportation, meals, a souvenir T-shirt and designated camping sites for those staying for the next day’s trip.
Schmidt said that the trip includes about 60 travelers per day and the late June start ensures families with children can also join. Because it is family-friendly and includes rapids, the sojourn is dependent on safety.
“The trips are always guided and always very safe,” Schmidt said. “Our plans are contingent on the weather, and some days we will be joined by New Jersey’s Coast Guard auxiliary and marine police.”
Branch says the highlight of the trip is the scenery.
The group will spend its first two days taking in the Roebling Bridge -- “the suspension bridge that the Brooklyn Bridge was modeled after,” Branch said -- and the Zane Grey Museum at the late novelist’s home. From there, they will travel through Milford to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area -- a favorite stop of Branch’s.
“If you were to look at a movie like 'Jurassic Park', where they attempt to build a new world in one place, that’s what that spot on the river is like,” he said. “It feels like you’re back in time.”
The final stop in Philadelphia will feature a tour of the Independence Seaport Museum, which Branch hopes will be as memorable as last year’s trip to the city when Mayor Nutter met the group at Penn’s Landing.
“It was an amazing experience,” Branch said. “He came down and greeted us and discussed the importance of conservation and water quality.”
Schmidt believes that the sojourn cannot be best experienced in a single day and that participants should take the entire trip.
“It’s really tough to pinpoint a single event just because it’s designed to have participants experience all points of the river,” Schmidt said.
Branch finds that the traditional sojourn is becoming part of the river’s history and that locals should take the time to discover their backyard now.
“You are inside history,” he said. “We’re experiencing nature at its best, in a way that’s structured and in a way that people can appreciate the conservation of the river itself.”
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GET INVOLVED
For information or to register for the Delaware River Sojourn, go to delawareriversojourn.org