Paddling Times & Distances

boy in helmet and life jacket cuts through water in bright red kayak. — Paddling times can vary greatly depending on river conditions and vessel type.
NPS

The Upper Delaware River flows freely for 73.4 miles and is the longest undammed river in the Eastern United States. While a beautiful and popular destination to paddle and float, the limited cell phone connectivity, long distances between towns and public river accesses, and lack of public transit and ride-share services require visitors to carefully plan their river trip to ensure a fun and safe experience.

You can use the resources below to plan for how long you want to be out on the water, where you want to put in/enter the river and take out/exit the river, and where you may be able to stop along the way if you need to get off the water sooner than you expect.

We also recommend you check the weather, current conditions, and familiar yourself with potential river conditions of the park before you start your trip. River height, speed, and temperature information are available from the USGS Barryville and Callicoon gauges, or by calling the daily river hotline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, between May 1 – October 1.

Please note that camping along the river is not permitted as most of the land along the river is private land. There is only one designated camping area along the river and it requires a permit. Paddlers planning for multi-day trips along the river should plan to stop at public river accesses located in towns with lodging options.

Paddling Times (in hours)

The paddle times below are estimated at an average paddling speed of 2 miles per hour. The average paddling speed is 2 – 2.5 miles per hour at an average river height of 2.5 - 4 feet. Paddling times can vary greatly depending on river height and conditions, wind, paddling skill, and the type of vessel being used.

Table of average paddle times (in hours) between public river accesses
Public Accesses	Buckingham	Lordville	Long Eddy	Callicoon	Damascus	Skinners Falls	Narrowsburg/ Darbytown	Ten Mile River	Lackawaxen	Highland	Barryville	Mongaup	Sparrow Bush	Matamoras/ Port Jervis
Hancock	2.75	4.5	7.5	13.5	16	17	20	23	26.5	28	29	34.5	36	37
Buckingham		2	5	11	13.5	15	17.5	20.5	24	25	26	32	33.5	34.5
Lordville			3	9	11.5	13	16	19	22	23.5	24.5	30	31.5	33
Long Eddy				6	8.5	10	12.5	15.5	19	20	21	27	28.5	30
Callicoon					2.5	4	7	10	13	14.5	15.5	21	22.5	24
Damascus						1.5	4	7	10.5	12	13	18.5	20	21
Skinners Falls							2.5	6	9	10.5	11.5	17	18.5	20
Narrowsburg / Darbytown								3	6.5	7.5	8.5	14.5	16	17
Ten Mile River									3	4.5	5.5	11.5	13	14
Lackawaxen										1.5	2.5	8	10	11
Highland											1	7	8.5	10
Barryville												6	7.5	9
Mongaup													1.5	3
Sparrow Bush														1.5

Paddling Distances (in miles)

The paddle distances below are estimates. The landscape and stretches of the river can change over time and vary based on weather, river conditions, high water events, etc.

Table of average mileage in between public river accesses.
Public Accesses	Buckingham	Lordville	Long Eddy	Callicoon	Damascus	Skinners Falls	Narrowsburg/ Darbytown	Ten Mile River	Lackawaxen	Highland	Barryville	Mongaup	Sparrow Bush	Matamoras/ Port Jervis
Hancock	5.5	9	15	27	32	34.5	40	46	53	56	58	69	72	74
Buckingham		4	9.5	22	27	30	35	41	48	50	52	64	67	69
Lordville			6	18	23	26	32	38	44	47	49	60	63	66
Long Eddy				12	17	19.5	25	31	37.5	40	41.5	54	57	59
Callicoon					5	8	14	20	26	29	31	42	45	48
Damascus						3	8	14	21	24	26	37	40	42
Skinners Falls							5	12	18	21	23	34	37	39
Narrowsburg / Darbytown								6	13	15	17	29	32	34
Ten Mile River									6	9	11	23	26	28
Lackawaxen										3	5	16	19.5	22
Highland											2	14	17	19
Barryville												12	15	17
Mongaup													3	5
Sparrow Bush														2