Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Pennsylvania / Eastern Pennsylvania

Appalachian Trail: Lehigh Gap to Delaware Water Gap

Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Kittatinny Ridge (Lehigh Gap to Delaware Water Gap)

East of the Lehigh River, the Appalachian Trail runs along the Kittatinny Ridge to the Delaware River and New Jersey. Backpacker’s 2013 trip page for the first half calls it “a test in balance and nerve,” with “mind-numbing boulder fields” in exchange for ridge views.

It starts with a boulder scramble out of Lehigh Gap and ends with a long descent past Mount Minsi to the town of Delaware Water Gap.

The hike

A Fastest Known Time route page measures the section at 35.5 miles with about 4,700 feet of climbing, from the bottom of the mountain at Lehigh Gap to the state line on the I-80 bridge over the Delaware.

The climb out of Lehigh Gap is the crux. Jason Durham, northbound in April 2023, described it as a “vehicle sized boulder scramble almost straight up” and stowed his poles. The slope above is the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund Site, heavily contaminated by decades of zinc smelting, according to the ATC. The ATC opened a 3.25-mile relocation here in June 2022 to keep hikers on lasting views as the land recovers, and asks hikers to follow blazes and stay off the closed 2008-2022 route, which crosses private land. WhiteBlaze posters say the climb is easier northbound than the descent is southbound, and one warns against being on the boulders after dark.

On the ridge, the route passes Weathering Knob and Smith Gap, then a side trail to Leroy A. Smith Shelter. Backpacker lists the shelter as sleeping 8, with water farther downhill from up to three possible springs; it also lists blue-blazed side trails to Delps Spring (0.3 mile) and Stempa Spring (0.6 mile). Wind Gap, at PA 33, is roughly the halfway point.

East of Wind Gap, the trail climbs to Wolf Rocks, which Backpacker describes as a rocky scramble, then passes Fox Gap and Kirkridge Shelter. Near a hang glider launch, Backpacker warns hikers to watch carefully for white blazes. Past Totts Gap, the last high point is Mount Minsi. The trail then descends past Lake Lenape into Delaware Water Gap, where Backpacker notes an outfitter and SummitPost mentions a hostel at the Church of the Mountain.

Across the river, the A.T. continues on Delaware Water Gap to Culvers Gap in New Jersey. To the west, see Port Clinton to Lehigh Gap.

Tips

Camping

Two land managers set the rules here. On State Game Lands, overnight camping is legal only for through hikers (walking from one access point to a different one), within 200 feet of the trail, for one night per location, and not within 500 feet of a spring, stream, or public access area (58 Pa. Code § 135.42). Inside Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the NPS allows backcountry camping only along the A.T., for through hikers on trips of at least two consecutive days, one night per site, up to 10 people. It bans camping within 100 feet of water, within half a mile of a road, or within 200 feet of another party, and allows stoves only, with no ground fires. The NPS says there are no A.T. shelters inside the park; Kirkridge is the closest.

The two shelters are Leroy A. Smith and Kirkridge. SummitPost says Kirkridge has water about 200 feet away and a privy about 50 feet away. A 2017 WhiteBlaze poster found camping “plentiful” along the ridge, but every site dry.

Inside Intel: No camper accounts recommending a specific site were found. Backpacker’s 2013 waypoints describe Kirkridge as a “nice brand new shelter with covered cooking and sitting area,” and the only shelter listed on its Wind Gap to Delaware River page.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Stowing poles for the Lehigh Gap boulders:

Out of Lehigh Gap, one hiker stowed his poles for a near-vertical boulder scramble, and the rocky Kittatinny Ridge follows. Our pole tips cover placement, rhythm, and rubber tips on rock.

Read the pole tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.