One of the longest hiking trails in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is the
McDade Trail. Named after former congressman Joseph M. McDade, the McDade Trail spans an amazing 32 miles along the Pennsylvania side of the recreation area. The McDade trail offers hikers, bicyclists and cross country skiers varied surfaces and difficulty levels from easy to strenuous. Trailheads are distributed anywhere from 0.7 to 5.3 miles apart which gives hikers of all fitness levels a variety of lengths to use. Most of the 16 trailheads offer free parking, but three of them, including Milford Beach, Smithfield Beach and Bushkill Access, are fee areas. Many of the trailheads offer restrooms, picnic tables and drinking water as well.
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| Hiking the McDade Trail |
Hiking this trail during the off season means you'd have to hike a chosen distance and then do a 180 back down the trail. However, during the Summer months, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area offers a free bus service along Route 209 that gives you the opportunity to hike as far on the McDade Trail as you'd like. Even so, with 32 miles to hike, few hikers could do the entire trip all at once. That's why I'm planning on documenting the entire McDade Trail this year over multiple trips.
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| Under the Bridge |
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| McDade Trailhead |
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| The long road ahead |
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| Corn Fields |
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| McDade Recreational Trail Marker |
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| Gravel Paths Along the McDade Trail |
For my first hike along the McDade Trail I started at the Conashaugh trailhead (located at N41° 15.802' W74° 50.875') and traveled south to the Schneider Farm trailhead at (N41° 12.153' W74° 52.806'). According to the National Park Service website, that section should be 4.1 miles in each direction. As you'll see, that estimate is way off. You may be wondering why I didn't start at Milford Beach and hike south from there. It turns out that the trail between the Pittman Orchard trailhead and Conashaugh trailhead is closed due to eagle nesting from December 1st to August 15th. I guess I'll have to tackle that section of the trail later this Summer. For now, lets start at the Conashaugh trailhead and go south.
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| Down Hill |
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| Hiking Trails in Pennsylvania and New Jersey |
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| Bridge Over Dry Creek |
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| Trees Along the McDade Trail |
The McDade Trail Conashaugh trailhead offers a few parking spots in a gravel covered lot. We'll be seeing a lot more of this gravel in the coming miles. Unfortunately, this area of the trail does not offer restrooms or any clean water sources, so come prepared. The trail begins directly south of the trailhead and is pretty hard to miss. It is a long, straight and well maintained gravel path. The first 3/4 mile of the trail is much like this, a gravel lined path with RT 209 on your right side and corn fields on your left. On the cool overcast day I visited, this section of the McDade Trail was completely devoid of any other hikers.
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| Delaware River View |
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| Log Steps |
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| McDade Recreational Trail |
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| Log Bench |
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| White Pines Trailhead |
After .75 miles you'll go down hill away from the road and into the forest. Soon you'll come across the first of four steel bridges that were built by the Park Service to allow hikers and bikers to pass over the many streams that cross the trail. On this day, the creek it passed over was completely dry. 1/4 of a mile after the bridge you'll finally get a view of the Delaware River. This section of the trail goes from a well kept gravel path to a more natural hiking experience. Here the McDade Trail narrows and runs up and down along small rolling hills. Steps constructed of logs bring you down to the lowest spot you'll get on this hike. Waiting for you at the bottom is a cool little bench also made from a few logs, as well as a awesome view of the river. Not long after, you'll get a view of the back of the old Dutch Reformed Church. Built in 1850, it is now a private residence with a gift shop that offers a wide array of antiques and Native American collectables.
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| Wooden Fence |
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| Back on the Gravel Path |
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| Stream View |
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| Delaware Cemetery |
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| Dutch Reformed Church |
Sadly, the river views disappear as you are brought back up near the road. From here you'll hike another .25 miles until you get to the intersection of routes 209 and 739. One of the biggest disappointments was when I realized that the McDade Trail didn't pass under or near the historic Dingmans Bridge. As a long time resident of the area, I've come to know the bridge quite well, but if you'd like to take a closer look at it you'll need to hike east on Route 739 for about a half a mile. There is also a boat launch right alongside the bridge you can check out if you'd like.
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| Another Stream View |
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| McDade Trail |
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| Rear Entrance to the Old Fire House |
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| Dingmans Campground General Store |
After passing 739 you'll cross over another small bridge, this one with actual water running under it, and then the trail will pull you deeper into the woods. Back here the trail feels like a different world than what you'll come accustomed to. The forest is thick, the gravel isn't as well maintained and there are fallen trees all over the place. If you need to take a break there is another log bench in this area. You'll soon hike past the back of the old fire house, now used by the National Park Service, right before being led up near the road once again.
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| Steep Hill |
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| McDade Recreational Trail |
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| Bridge |
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| Bridge |
Less than a 1/4 mile later, you'll near the Dingmans Campground which offers camping, river trips and a general store for your hiking/camping needs. You'll hike alongside the campgrounds for about 1/3 of a mile. Not long after you'll come across a fork in the trail. To your left is the rest of the McDade Trail, just waiting to be explored. To your right is the Schneider Farm spur trail. It will bring you past a swampy area which housed ducks when I came through. Then you'll finally wind up at the Schneider Farm trailhead. The entire trip, one way, was 6.3 miles. quite a bit off the Park Service website's estimate of 4.1 miles. Overall my trip today was 12.65 miles, my longest hike to date. Thanks for following along!
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| Swamp |
If you'd like to follow my steps through the McDade Trail,
check out the map of my trip and download the GPX file below. It
contains the route I took as well as some important waypoints.
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| McDade Trail Elevation Graph |
