Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

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Mohican Outdoor Center Area Trails Home Page

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Length:  2.4 miles, one way (4.75-mile loop with the Appalachian Trail)
Time:  3 hours for the loop
Difficulty: Mainly flat but extremely difficult terrain due to the amount of rocks on the trail. There are also two strenuous half-mile climbs on either end where the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail connects to the Appalachian Trail.

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is located near the Mohican Outdoor Center on the New Jersey side of the park. It is an out-and-back trail that is best combined with a 1.4-mile segment of the Appalachian Trail to form a 4.75-mile loop. The Appalachian Trail segment is a great hike, but the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail is Certified Rotten. This report covers only the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail. See the Appalachian Trail: Rattlesnake Swamp Segment report for information on that part of the loop hike.

Map of trails near the Mohican Outdoor Center at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

To access the trailhead for the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail, drive to the Mohican Outdoor Center and park at the end of the road. You cannot drive all the way to the trailhead, as no vehicles are allowed beyond a certain point. There is a sign at the parking lot that states passes are needed for guests or visitors dropping off watercraft at Catfish Pond. Since I wasn’t a guest of the Mohican Outdoor Center, and I wasn’t dropping off a watercraft, I assumed I didn’t need a pass. If so, I’d deal with it later. For the record, I had no problems, but I also did the hike in mid-October when nobody was there. I later went into the Outdoor Center and talked with one of the employees but forgot to ask about parking. It may be advisable to stop in and see if passes are needed before parking on a busy day.

It is a quarter-mile walk down the dirt road from the parking lot to the trailhead. Look for the Trails End Lodge, the first building you come to on the right. The trailhead is on the left side of the building.

Trailhead for the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail starts off through a wet area on an elevated boardwalk that runs for 400 feet. This is not the swamp, which is at the far end of the trail.

Boardwalk portion of the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail when starting at the Mohican Outdoor Center, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Two hundred feet beyond the boardwalk, the trail splits. A left sets you off hiking on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in the clockwise direction. A right leads up a steep hill to the Appalachian Trail, and from there you can hike the loop in the counterclockwise direction. Getting onto the Appalachian Trail from either end of the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail requires hiking up a very steep hill, so there is no benefit of going around one way over the other. I took a left and hiked the loop in the clockwise direction, and this report is written from that perspective.

Fork at the beginning of the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail when starting from the Mohican Outdoor Center in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail covers fairly level terrain. It’s not completely flat, but any hills of significance don’t last any longer than 100 feet (there are a couple of short-but-steep ones). However, what makes this trail Certified Rotten is the extreme amount of rocks on the surface combined with its very narrow width, which means you will be constantly brushing up against vegetation where ticks love to hide. Be sure to check the fronts of you legs every few minutes to make sure you haven’t picked one up. I definitely recommend long pants when hiking this trail, regardless of the season. For the record, I did not get any ticks on me during my mid-October hike.

Rocky terrain on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The narrowest sections usually seem to be hemmed in by some type of mountain laurel or rhododendron plant (I’m not a plant identification expert, so forgive me if I am wrong). There are even a few tunnels, which I always referred to as rhododendron tunnels. These are common in the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, but evidently the same types of plants grow in New Jersey. Regardless of the plant name, plan to be bushwhacking for much of the hike. I had hiking poles with me and often couldn’t even bring them forward until there was a gap in the bushes. To make matters worse, you can’t see the rocks on the trail when all of your effort is put towards bushwhacking.

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail is often hemmed in on both sides by vegetation, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

“Rhododendron” tunnel on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The only good thing to say about the rocks is that most of them are embedded in the dirt and not loose, so they won’t slip out from under your feet like marbles. I did, however, trip often since the don’t move. There was no way that I could enjoy the scenery on the trail because I had to constantly look down at my feet to make sure I stepped right.

A half mile into the hike, the rocks get even worse—what I’d call extreme rocks. There are sections that are not as bad as others, but my hiking pace was slowed quite a bit by the rough terrain. Other than a couple of creek crossings (no water when I did the hike), nothing much changes all the way to the end.

Extreme rocky terrain on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail crosses a couple of small streams, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Rattlesnake Swamp is at the far end of the trail. The trail itself was a little wet in this area, and at one point I stepped off the trail into a clearing and found the ground to be very spongy, like walking on one of those rubber playground matts. I read some reviews of the trail on other websites, and many people report that it is extremely muddy, and I don’t doubt it. But in mid-October when I did the hike, I didn’t see any standing water. I didn’t see any rattlesnakes either.

Long before the end, the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail wears out its welcome. I eventually ended up twisting an ankle, even with an ankle brace on, which is the first time that happened to me. This was certainly one of the most miserable hikes across level terrain that I can recall. Ironically, the only other one that comes to mind is the Gator Hook Trail in Big Cypress National Preserve, a trail also named after a reptile.

The aforementioned uphill climb to the Appalachian Trail begins 2.2 miles into the hike, which is at the northern end of the trail where it makes a U-turn (see trail map). At the base of the hill, the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail merges with a wide, dirt road. There is a sign post at the intersection, with one sign identifying the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail for those arriving at this point on the road from the opposite direction, and another sign pointing to the FIRE TOWER, which is where you want to go (the dirt road allows firefighters to drive to the tower). Keeping with the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail’s theme of misery, though it is now a wide road, it is still full of rocks.

Intersection of the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail and a dirt fire road, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The last quarter mile of the Rattlesnake Swap Trail at its northern end follows a fire road to the Appalachian Trail, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

From the trail signs, it is a .2-mile uphill hike along the road to the intersection with the Appalachian Trail. The climb is pretty steep, with an average grade of 14% (15% is where difficult hiking begins).

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail eventually merges with the Appalachian Trail (AT). Unless you notice the white blazes on the trees, which mark the route of the AT, you wouldn’t even know you were on it. If you were coming the other way on the AT, you would definitely see the fork, with a left being the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail and a right being the AT heading north. At this point, the AT is nothing more than the fire road, and it continues uphill for another half mile.

The Rattlesnake Swamp Trail merges with the Appalachian Trail, which at this point is a fire road, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

I cover the entire AT portion of the loop in the Appalachian Trail: Rattlesnake Swamp Segment report here on National Park Planner. Just know that the AT climbs high above the valley on terrain every bit as rocky as the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail, only its not as narrow and hemmed in by vegetation. This article now picks up 1.4 miles later where the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail intersects with the AT at its southwestern end. The intersection is on the right hand side of the AT and is marked with some sort of log sculpture.

Southwestern intersection of the Appalachian and Rattlesnake Swamp trails in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The last leg of the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail starts off up a moderate hill. However, in 200 feet you’ll be at the top, and after that it’s downhill for a half mile all the way to where the hiked started. And this hill is even steeper than the one on the northern end. The overall average grade is a moderate 13%, but there is a 100- and 300-foot section with a 19% grade, and a 400-foot section with a 26% grade. On top of that, it’s just as rocky as it is at the lower elevation.

Steep, downhill terrain when hiking from the Appalachian Trail back to the Mohican Outdoor Center on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

There’s not much more to say other than the misery continues all the way to the bottom. You might as well be walking down a landslide, that’s how many rocks there are on the trail. Only a sadist would cut a trail through this area. I can hear the guy now: “Let’s make a trail that’s just miserable. Then let’s call it the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail so people will be more worried about running into a rattlesnake than how awful a time they are having.” Even when the trail levels out at the bottom it’s still slow going.

Extreme rocky terrain on the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail between the Mohican Outdoor Center and the Appalachian Trail, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

When you get back to where the Rattlesnake Swamp Trail split, stay straight to return to the Mohican Outdoor Center.

Back at the start of the Rattlesnake Swamp-Appalachian Trail loop hike near the Mohican Outdoor Center in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

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