Three states meet in the middle of the Delaware river at Port Jervis, where the Neversink flows in from the north, and a stone marker on a spit of land at the confluence lets you stand almost in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania at once. This stop lies just south of there, near Milford, Pennsylvania, at the northern end of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where the river runs wide and clear between forested ridges.
Milford is a handsome small town with a grand stone mansion on the hill above it. Grey Towers was the home of Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the United States Forest Service and the man who more or less invented American forest conservation, and it is open to visitors. The town's streets are lined with old inns, galleries and cafés.
North of Port Jervis, Route 97 climbs onto the cliffs above the Delaware at Hawk's Nest, a stretch of road carved into the rock with stone walls and sweeping views down to the river, which carmakers have used in countless adverts. It is short but spectacular, and on summer weekends it is crowded with bikes.
The Delaware is clean, cool and inviting in summer, and people tube, canoe and swim in it in great numbers. But the river is also dangerous: its currents are strong and its depth changes suddenly, and drownings occur every year. The park service urges everyone to wear a life jacket on the water, and you should swim only at designated beaches with lifeguards.
Route 209, which runs south through the recreation area, is a pleasant, wooded road along the river, with waterfalls a short walk from the road at Dingmans Ferry and Raymondskill. Speed limits are low and enforced. Milford and Port Jervis have fuel, diners and shops.