Black River County Park is full of awesome hiking trails and picnicking areas. The Black River…read moretributary which runs through the Park is one of my favorite local trout fishing destinations. The NJ State Fish & Game regularly stocks this River and anyone with a valid Fishing License and Trout Stamp can have access to this activity along the River. Disabled Veterans and Kids under 16 are allowed to Fish freely without either. Plenty of excellent sites to check out including the Nathan Cooper Gristmill, Kay Pond, The Black River, and the picturesque Waterfalls. The Mill was built in 1826 and is still in operation as one of the only remaining water powered mills that has been restored in NJ. The Park often has guided tours and you can take home stone ground flour & cornmeal that's made right on site which is pretty cool. Open Wednesday - Sunday 10 till 5 [12 till 5 Sunday]

Black River County Park has a lot going for it. It's in a convenient location right off of a county…read morehighway and is only a few minutes away from downtown Chester aka a solid handful of post-hike meal options. In terms of the actual hike, you have high quality water features, with the Black River itself and its accompanying rapids the notable highlight, along with one of my all-time favorite hike characteristics - ruins. But the positives are slightly tainted by the lack of overall maintenance, which is a shame. I came here for a 6.4-mile hike with one of my chums last Saturday. It was a nasty, humid scorcher of a day and predictably we didn't see too many brave souls out there. It was character building at least. For those familiar with the park, we took the blue trail from the mill, which more or less runs parallel to the river, following it up past the environmental center to Pottersville Road, and then took the red trail on the right down to the Black River, meeting up again with the blue trail. The first part of the hike is in a lower-lying area with a lot of muddy sections, but the park has been pretty accommodating in building a lot of little bridges to get over those parts without getting your feet sopping wet. We're also in the midst of an epic drought, which at least helps for these types of adventures - I've seen it much muddier than this. A significant portion of the trail early on takes place on top of an abandoned railroad bed, and you could see a few ancient wood pilings down the slopes here and there. All of the trail markings here were pretty decent, and you have some pleasant visuals this time of year, including Kay's Pond. Once you start climbing up toward the environmental center, the trail markings and maintenance begin deteriorating. Both of us are experienced hikers, and we had to stop several times to make sure we were actually on the right trail. There's A LOT of offshoots and obvious places where additional markers should have been painted to steer people in the right direction. As a result, we actually missed the correct path to the environmental center and basically walked parallel to it from a distance in the cornfield. Thankfully there's no tree cover there and it was easy to orient ourselves, but it shouldn't have been an issue at all. Shortly thereafter, we ended up on the wrong part of the red trail for about 10 minutes, which we were able to figure out and retrace easily, but again, the lack of helpful trail markers loomed large. Right around this area (probably not a coincidence), we kept encountering random stretches of 50 feet or so where the path was totally overgrown. It wasn't a huge deal, though we definitely had to spend a little extra time checking for ticks, but these weren't huge areas of need - you could get a county worker to come in here with a weed-wacker and take care of these sections pretty quickly. And it's not clear why the rest of the path WAS maintained. Very strange. In terms of difficulty, there are a few stretches where we were a little out of breath, but nothing crazy (we're both in decent cardio shape, so your mileage may vary). I don't want this to come off as a purely negative diatribe, because there WERE positives. The canine chum situation was one. This is usually a very popular pooch spot but the heat kept most of them away. Thankfully we encountered a delightful, freshly sheared poodle named Toffee who was very accommodating (see attached). The wildlife sightings were solid as well. My eagle-eyed chum noticed a praying mantis on the road, and we met up with a nervous garter snake as well. We've both been here before and romped around in Kay's Ruins before - a remarkably solid foundation still remains there right on the river, and it's an awesome photo opportunity. Especially with the foliage in abundance, the optics are great. Additionally, because of the length of the trails it's easy to do a hike here with decent mileage where you get a legit workout. But this park could take some lessons from nearby Hacklebarney when it comes to making this park a little more hospitable for its guests.

I've never met a friendlier, kinder group. People of all ages. They share rides, gear, and mad…read moreskills. They knew so much about the Adirondacks and local rivers, but even more, they also travel to Southern rivers. It's great to see a group that really bonds with each other. I was tired of groups where people just wanted to paddle and go home. Here, day trips always have a Happy Hour tailgate party where folks share snacks and stories. I've heard the camping trips are fantastic. I was afraid to sign up when my skills were new, but the instructional weekend keeps giving...people keep coaching and helping. Or, you can also be in a tandem canoe with an expert. That's how I broke into moving and whitewater adventures. Best sport I ever did...and I"ve done a lot...because this group is so professional and warm.

AMC is great! I've been a member for about 8 years now and have been a student, taught students and…read morelead lots of paddling trips around the northeast region. I thought I went to learn to kayak, but I came out with so much more... Friends, community, and hundreds of memories and amazing experiences on and off the water. Trips are lead by volunteers so if it's not free, it's really inexpensive for you get involved.

If you want to have fun this is the place to go. the staff is amazing…read more Helping with everything you need Take more water with you than you think you're going to need cap and sunglasses with string to hold it if you Fallin a must

The guides gave a thorough safety and intro talk before our drive to the launch…read more once on the river they guide you as to which side to stay on. It is important to stay on certain sides to avoid bigger rocks and your team has to work together. there are simple showers but you need to supply your own towel, soap and shampoo. We were a group of older adults and had a great time!

Myself and my party of 16 had an amazing time on the river thanks to Chamberlain Canoes. The entire…read morestaff is some of the friendliest and most helpful people you'll ever meet. I've done similar trips with other companies and Chamberlain has been the best. We will be using them again. Highly recommended.

They are amazing! I've been going to Chamberlain Canoes in Stroudsburg, PA for over 10 years, and…read morethey've never once let me down. They are a family owned business and are absolute pros - always friendly, always knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about making your river trip fun and easy. From the moment you pull into their huge parking lot, to the moment you're back on dry land, they take really good care of you. They walk you through the route clearly, answer all your questions and let you decide your exit point on the river while you're out paddling. That flexibility is a great option. I look forward to my next paddle!

Staff super nice but no security at night. We had a group of 40 people blasting loud music with…read morebass ALL hours of the day and night. We told staff and they did speak to them. They still played the loud music and after 10pm continued to scream and make as much noise as possible. We nicely spoke to them ourselves as well but that didnt stop the noise. We werent able to relax and enjoy nature the entire 3 days, so we left a day early. I emailed twice and filled out the campgrounds survey, and no one has gotten back to me. Terrible customer service. They need security at night all times of the year to prevent this. I would never go back again because of that. You want, quit... look elsewhere. All reviews say the same thing it seems. Wish i would have looked first.

Full transparency, I have limited camping experience, and we booked our stay for Memorial Day…read moreweekend, which is typically a cold and rainy time, so we didn't get the chance to fully enjoy or experience the amenities. The staff was friendly and welcoming. The campsites are well-spaced, and each spot comes with a picnic table. The bathrooms were well-maintained and clean, and the water temperature was warm enough for a comfortable shower. The camp also has a small store with all the essentials, and there's a Walmart and McDonald's nearby for anything you may need beyond that. They keep the area tidy, with clean trash bins and bags provided, and the trash is picked up in the morning. The only downside was the lack of night patrol. There were several loud parties making it difficult to sleep, though I understand this is more of an issue with guests not being considerate. Additionally, the site next to ours had a notably loud snorer, which made things a bit more challenging. Overall, I had a pleasant stay and would recommend Kittatinny K-Camp.

These guys are great! we just held an event for 80+ river rafters last weekend June 28th 2025 and…read moreeverything went off like clockwork! the staff was so friendly and effieicient (special shout out to Kayla!) for making the day so incredibly special and we'll look forward to doing our 3rd Annual Paddle 4Pride Event with you next year! thank you again for helping us to make some beautiful memories!

It takes TWO hours from arrival at the parking lot to get on a bus to the river. NEVER AGAIN!!!…read moreThey have some poor high school kid by himself checking people in. Then they have the nerve to say they'll charge you $100 per person if you're not back by 6 pm. So disorganized, do not recommend.

Fun time kayaking on the Delaware River with a group of 13! The serenity of the river and nature…read morewas incredible. The water is warm even though it was only 70 ish degreees.

(This was a few months ago so the details could be a bit iffy.)…read more This was a very impromptu trip and everything at Edge of the Woods makes doing that easy. Head to the website, book the date & time you want and you're done. www.watergapadventure.com/river-trips A few things worth noting: They offer multiple trip lengths. The standard 4-, 6- and 10-mile trip (Smithfield to Portland) are all booked generically and then when you get there you tell them what you want to do. All pricing is the same which believe me compared to others companies, that's very different - in a good way. They do offer two other longer trips but those require calls to the main office I assume to assess river conditions; your own competency and shuttle availability. The main office in Delaware Water Gap is very easy to find and there was plenty of parking on a quiet post-Labor Day Monday. You check in, you're handed a laminated map, life jacket and given a brief route explanation and then you're off in the van. One problem arose and it was kind of a PIA but it was worked around. Most companies have different types/sizes/models of kayaks and quite often, will ask you what you prefer. Not here. When we left the office, the guy driving didn't say a word to me until we get to Smithfield Beach to unload. He had a few kayaks pre-loaded in the carrier but definitely did not look at them before we left. One of them had a broken foot pedal that he said couldn't be used, another was very much designed for a smaller individual (i.e. if you're taller and/or taller & larger it ain't happening safely) which only left two tandem models. Using a tandem as a single individual is not the end of the world but especially when the seats are still left in the two person configuration (i.e. one front and one back versus the rear one being placed more towards the middle), it's a PIA to maneuver the craft and you are paddling harder to get the job done compared to a single. The scenery along the route was decent. You could see a bit of the Shawnee Resort and Golf Course, an old stone bridge abutment in the middle of the river, under and along 80 and then when you get into the Water Gap itself with the high cliff sides. Very picturesque. Once you go under the old train viaduct in Portland, you give the office a call for the shuttle to meet you at the out point which is at the Portland Pedestrian Bridge. The whole experience was about four hours door to door to cover the ten miles on the water plus the shuttle to & from the pick up and drop off points. Lots of nice scenery, due to the low water level there wasn't much in the way of current except for the area around viaduqt in Portland and even that wasn't bad. I'm not a big fan of the equipment here but I wouldn't let that deter me from coming back in the future for one of their northern longer trips.

You lost out on $900 this season, and annually. Agree with the recent reviews. Take the Dingman's…read moreparking option and route off your website entirely. Emails and calls for months, constantly got the run around and was told on the phone I need a group of 30 in order to park there and be taken to River Beach and float down, instead of the 14 that I was bringing to your company. Gladly chose Adventure Sports for $200 less and canoeing the lower river. Will actively use other outfitters going forward for our annual reunion trips. You tried to undo last years trip and sorry I gave the benefit of the doubt that a group would be honored this year.

I believe this is one of the greatest places to go for kayaking in PA. This company offers 17 miles…read more(one of the few), 10 miles, and 6 miles kayaking. If you are looking for a good workout then 17 miles is definitely the option to go for. My group and I kayaked a year or two ago and it took approx. 5 hrs nonstop to get it done. Thus, you may need to show up early to the place around 9 am to account for resting and other delays. Also, the company closes at 6pm and if you return the equipment past 6pm then you will be charged of some penalty... Anyways, my group and I also kayaked 10 miles and it took approx. 3 hrs to be finished. The water in this river is very calm with some currents that may be able to help you out to gain speed from time to time. There is nothing dangerous at this river so you can easily enjoy and have an amazing time with your group. There is a cliff that you can climb almost at the end of the ride where you get to jump down into the water. The height can be approx. 10-15 feet high. The feeling that you get from jumping down can be amazing!