Tubing can be dangerous!
Read disclaimer below.
Tubing Trips along the Delaware River in mid summer are the best way to beat the summer heat. All you need is an old tire tube, a life preserver, and a way back to where you started from. I’ve enjoyed many tubing expeditions down the Delaware River in my younger years, but lately, my Jon Boat does just fine.
You shouldn’t tube parts of the river you’re unfamiliar with because of dangerous rapids and wig dams. Tubing alone isn’t recommended, especially in secluded sections of the river. Also, you should never tube without a life preserver. What would happen if your tube sprung a leak on a sharp rock? You would have to walk to your pickup area along the shore. At least with a life preserver, you can float back. If you’re tubing in the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area, the Rangers will not let you in the water without one.
Perhaps the safest place to tube is the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area. The reduced river speed limit, ban on personal water craft, and patrolled waters make this a safer place to tube. Hundreds of people tube this section of the river each week. I enjoyed putting a tube in at Worthington State Forest and floating to the visitor information center on Interstate 80 (about 4 miles).