Recreation

Get out and enjoy the beauty right here in our backyard. Port Jervis, NY — 42 miles of hiking and biking trails for you to experience.

Presenting LIVE music, dance, theatre, cultural arts and special events all summer long! Farm market every saturday Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day weekend.

The Hancock Town Square is also available to host your private special event (weddings, reunions, etc.).

Location: Crawford Road, Narrowsburg, NY
GPS 413316 – 750108.9

Length: 3 miles
Duration: 1 – 3 hours
Difficult: steep inclines, uneven footing

Size of Area: 3-miles round trip

Geography and Use: Approximately 500 vertical feet, for a moderately strenuous hike. Allow 1.5 to three hours minimum. Open from 8:30am until 6:00pm only. View the Tusten Stone Arch Bridge, Tusten Rd. at Ten Mile River, on the National Register of Historic Places.

General Site Information: In July 1999, the National Park Service (NPS) entered into an agreement with the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts of America to provide public access to one of its trails along the Delaware River. Please respect the authority of the Ten Mile River Scout Camps as you enjoy their Tusten Mountain Trail near Narrowsburg, New York.

Restrictions: No fires or camping. No bikes or motorized vehicles. Pets must be leashed. Hunting in season by permit only.

Trailhead: The trailhead is near the Ten Mile River public access site off New York State Route 97 – between Barryville and Narrowsburg, New York.

A trail brochure is available from the National Park Service
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
274 River Road
Beach Lanke, PA 18405
570-685-4871

From Narrowsburg, NY: Take New York Route 97 South approximately 5.5 miles. Turn right onto Crawford Road. River access parking is one half mile on your right.

From Barryville, NY: Take New York Route 97 approximately nine miles. Turn left onto Crawford Road. River access parking is one half mile on your right.

From Lackawaxen, PA: Cross Roebling Bridge. Turn left onto New York Route 97 North. Go approximately six miles. Turn left onto Crawford Road. River access parking is one half mile on your right.

There is no admission fee, park hours are from 8:00 A.M. to dark.

Blood and Mayhem on the Delaware

The ringing words of “the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America” had a special meaning for the people of the upper Delaware River valley in the late 1770’s and early 1780’s for this was the frontier during the American Revolutionary War. And it was subject, on numerous occasions, to the depredations of Indians allied to the British – though the raiding parties often contained as many white Loyalists, or Tories, as Indians. The most significant of these raids was the second Minisink raid in July of 1779 led by Joseph Brant, a Dartmouth-educated Mohawk warrior commissioned a colonel in the British Army. The actual attack on the settlements at Minisink (present-day Port Jervis and the Town of Deerpark, New York) was destructive enough, but it was the ensuing Battle of Minisink, in which nearly fifty New York and New Jersey militiamen lost their lives, that really sent shockwaves of loss and grief though the frontier population along the Delaware. The Minisink battle has become part of the heritage of the region encompassed by Sullivan and Orange counties, New York, Sussex County, New Jersey, and Pike County, Pennsylvania. The Storm Gathers.

On July 20, 1779 Brant and about ninety Tories and Iroquois Indians swept through the Neversink Valley settlements of Peenpack and Mahackamack destroying farms, a school, a church, and other buildings, leaving a path of misery and bringing great fear to the frontier. On the next day, after an alarm had gone out, two groups of militia led by Lt. Col. Benjamin Tusten of Goshen, New York and Maj. Samuel Meeker of Sussex County in New Jersey met in Mahackamack (Port Jervis). They began to follow Brant up the Delaware River with the intent to ambush him and to recover some of the horses, cattle and personal items his group had taken.

Ambush at Minisink Ford

Later on July 21 Col. John Hathorn’s militia unit from Warwick, New York met up with Meeker and Tusten’s units somewhere near Sparrowbush, New York and joined forces. The militia numbered about 120 and began the pursuit. On the next morning the patriots discovered that Brant and his raiders were crossing the Delaware River at Lackawaxen and were getting ready to begin their ambush when one of the militia’s scouts either accidentally or purposely, (it will never be known) fired his gun alerting Brant of their presence. Soon Brant had outflanked the patriots on the hillside above the river, cutting off one of the three militia units and leaving the remaining two in disarray. Last Stand on The Rocky Hill.

The patriots began a rushed retreat up to the top of the hill overlooking the river in an effort to regain the strategic advantage. Only about forty-five or fifty of the original group were left. They battled most of the afternoon and until late in the day. Brant and his forces finally broke through their small defensive square and the battle ended with remaining militia men and officers killed or scattered. Between forty-five and fifty men had been killed on the American side and perhaps seven of Brant’s men were killed.

In Memory of Our Fallen Heroes

Today the Minisink Battleground Park is hallowed ground where so many patriots fell in defense of an ideal – liberty. They were passionate men who perished here, a long distance from their farms, their families and friends. Because of their sacrifice and that of thousands of other patriots during the American War for Independence, our nation was born.

When visiting the park you may choose to walk the trails to see the following sites.

Sentinel Rock

Tradition has long held that this is the location where the final push by Brant into the heart of the militia’s defensive square that it had held for most of the day began. It was believed that a sentinel standing guard here was killed. However more recent research indicates that Brant’s final assault began from the northeast, not far from Hospital Rock. Sentinel Rock is believed to stand at the approximate southwest corner of the militia’s square.

Hospital Rock

Hospital Rock is the most historically significant location on the battleground. Once the enemy broke the American’s defensive square late in the afternoon, it was here in the shadow of this rock that Lt. Col. Benjamin Tusten, a physician, and seventeen wounded militiamen under his care were trapped and killed by Brant’s raiders. Probably fewer than a dozen of the forty-five men who made a protracted “last stand” on the hilltop escaped.

Minisink Monument

The Minisink Battle Monument was erected on the site of the militia’s “last stand” and was dedicated in 1879 on the centennial of the battle. It is built of native bluestone and is capped by a rounded glacial boulder. The Battle of Minisink is commemorated at four sites: here at the battleground, on the village square in Goshen, New York, in the Lackawaxen Cemetery adjoining St. Mark’s Church in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania and Fort Decker in Port Jervis, New York. Ceremonies are held annually at the first three sites on the anniversary of the battle. The Minisink Battleground Park was initially established by the Minisink Valley Historical Society in the 1890’s in order to head off destruction of the landscape by bluestone quarrying operations. The hillside is still dotted with these quarries, some of them now barely discernable. In1955 the Sullivan County Park and Recreation Commission took over administration of the site and still maintains it today.

Indian Rock

This oddly placed rock also has an interesting tradition as it has long been suggested that at the conclusion of the battle Joseph Brant buried his dead under or near it, setting the rock in its present position as a memorial. No evidence for this legend has ever been found. Though Indian Rock may have been deposited in this position as the continental glacier that once covered southeastern New York melted, it is more likely that it was gradually pushed upright by the growth of generations of nearby trees such as the one presently standing behind it.

Copyright 1996-2007 The Minisink Valley Historical Society.

Rafting,canoeing, kayaking & tubing on the pristine Delaware River. We give personal service, safe instruction and our employees are experienced in all aspects of boating on the Delaware.

We also provide daily guided group ” Evening Excursions” with a brief history tour. Eagles,deer,and many other wildlife species are seen daily,some river trips take you through the Scenic Delaware River as it was when the Lenni-Lenape Indians lived here. Our livery is adjacent to the landmark Carriage House Restaurant & Motel, which can offer food & drinks before or after your river trip.

*Canoeing * Rafting * Kayaking * Camping * Mountain Biking*

Providing full service River Trips on the Delaware River since 1955.

10 locations and 4 campgrounds on 75 miles of the scenic upper Delaware River.

“We Know River Trips”

We welcome you to a scenic river trip along the Delaware River.

Our staff helps plan your canoe or raft excursion. We offer canoe and raft rentals, 2-Day adventure trips and camping.

If you’re a first timer or a seasoned veteran, Jerry’s will make sure you have the best experience.