Edge of the Woods Outfitters — Attraction in Delaware Water Gap

We visited on a Saturday afternoon in late June 2025. It was a sunny and warm day and the parking area was packed with cars. We had to park up on the hill kind of crooked as we went over to check in. Another group got back and left leaving a couple better spot open much closer and under the shade of trees. There are also no real defined parking spots.

Check-in went smooth and we filled our water bottles and used the restroom. They took our car keys and told us to go over to the sign and get life jackets and we would get more directions. It was kind of like a rolling registration and the times were much more loosey goosey.

The goal was to get the 10 mile trip in. They kind of keep this very loosey goosey too. They said as long as you get to the Kittatinny Point by 4PM you're allowed to keep going to do the 10 miles.

They told us to get into a van that just pulled up and people jumped out. We were like awesome, it's just us. Then as we're about to pull out some other staff member flags them down and ask them to take another group of 4. So we have to scoot over and let everyone else in. The drive there was pretty uneventful.

We asked our driver if we arrived around 2:30 if he thinks we could make it the 6 miles by 4PM to do the whole 10 miles? He's like yeah, you could totally do it. We were trying to do the math and think it possible. We figured okay, we're going to paddle like hell to make it to Kittatinny Point (6 miles in) by 4PM. So we jumped out the van and there were kayaks there waiting for us. They told us to pick which ones we wanted and we were off at about 2:45 from Smithfield Beach.

We didn't really stop much to enjoy the view or the wildlife. We just paddled and only stopped briefly to figure out our location we took turns resting and for water breaks. We had 5 people in our crew. 2 tandem kayaks and 1 solo. We're in our late 30s and our kids are 10, 13 and 16. We've done over 2 dozen kayaking excursions and older kids have done kayaking merit badge with scouts. We've swamped them and flipped them. I would say we're not professionals but way more experienced than your average joe. We've kayaked on rivers, oceans and lakes/ponds and even whitewater. We own 3 kayaks and were very confident in our skills.

However it was 3:45 and we still had like 3/4 of a mile to go and we were SOOO tired. We decided to call it incase we got there too late and they wouldn't let us proceed and we didn't get to enjoy the water at all. So we just pulled over and took our time for that last 3/4 of a mile. We slowly drifted and took pictures and just tried to enjoy ourselves for that last little bit.

So we finally got the the 6 mile point and pulled our kayaks out. A little disappointed already from not being able to complete the full 10 miles we wanted. We were also there fairly early. They told us to go wait up top and a van would come get us.

We got to the top and a van was already there but they were already full and we didn't want to split our party so we decided to wait for the next one. We're sitting at the pavilion tables waiting for the next van. The next van takes a min and were tired and waiting but when the next van pulls up. A large group of kayakers just arrives and runs from the stairs and jumps into the van as we're still gather our belongings. Now there aren't enough seats. If we had to wait for ANOTHER van that was going to be the end of it. The driver was able to convince a couple folks to get off so that we could go back first since we had been waiting since the last van had left.

The reason for the minus one star was the bad info given to us by the first driver saying it would easily be do-able 6 miles in 75 mins. We rushed and didn't even get to enjoy the majority of our trip. We really wanted to hit the larger rapids. We also had issues with the return trip and not being super organized. Then also the difficulty with the parking and not having enough spaces. So overall it was a combination of a bunch of small things that made me take the star away.

Overall it was a good trip. We would...

The last time I had paddled a canoe down the Delaware River was 48 years ago! (We subsequently had moved away.) I was dating a young lady and had helped her chaperone a bunch of church youth group hi- schoolers who came along on the adventure. I did ok except when the canoe I was paddling with my girlfriend up front hit some rapids the canoe circled itself around and we had to go through the rapids backwards. On the down side, I was mortified and embarrassed and the kids laughed and laughed. On the up side she married me anyway! I told this story to the folks here at Edge of Woods and they took me aside and showed me how to control the canoe so that I would not repeat that embarrassment. Good people here! Thanks, guys, your training worked and we stayed straight all the way down the river! I sincerely appreciated the personal service! If you are unsure about something with the canoes just ask. They will not laugh! The outing was a complete success and us grandparents, our kids, and our grandkids all had a blast! We also loved seeing numerous bald eagles pretty close up in their natural habitat. Come here if you want to create a great family memory, or a great date memory (just maybe don't bring 20 youth along if it's a date)! We paddled our grandkids out to the very center of the river and had them reach down and put their hands into the water on each side of the front of the canoe at the same time. Then we told them they could tell their friends they have been in 2 states at the same time, PA and NJ! The office and load up building was clean, as were the restroom facilities, and the transport busses. The life vests were so clean they all looked new. Five stars all the way. Break out of your routine and go conquer the Delaware at the Edge of Woods! Now that I moved again and I live closer, I'm not waiting another 48 years to do this again! Watch for me hitting those...

We loved being out on the water. It was a beautiful day and a fun summer activity but the staff was chaotic and disorganized. They didn't have the right number of paddles and had to take some back from a family that already launched and others had to wait for more paddles to be delivered. The staff member helping with the launch almost tipped out canoe.

We signed up to do the 10 mile canoe trip and everyone kept trying to redirect us to the 6 mile. We arrived early in the day and with plenty of time to do the 10 miles but were made to feel like we were inconveniencing them by wanting to do the advertised trip we signed up for.

When we finished the trip and got back to land, nobody from the staff gave us any kind of direction on what to do or where to go. It was obvious we belonged to their company because of our life vests, but they ignored us until we walked towards the shuttle van (at which point they scolded us to wait).

When we were waiting for the shuttle back to the business, a group of 5 men who were drunk, high, and belligerent were also waiting. Although there were multiple male employees around loading the boats, they made a young woman drive back these 5 out of control customers. They were disrespectful, rude, and borderline harassing this young female employee on the 5 minute drive back to the parking lot. It was an uncomfortable situation for us (two young women) but we felt even worse for the driver who said that THIS HAPPENS TO HER ALL THE TIME.

Why didn't one of the men do the shuttle instead or at least get in the passenger seat so she wasn't so severely outnumbered? We loved the canoeing experience but the staff needs some serious retraining on dealing...