List of Delaware River tributaries


The watershed of the Delaware River drains an area of and encompasses 42 counties and 838 municipalities in five U.S. states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. This total area constitutes approximately 0.4% of the land mass in the United States. The Delaware River rises in New York's Catskill Mountains flowing southward for 419 miles into Delaware Bay where its waters enter the Atlantic Ocean near Cape May in New Jersey and Cape Henlopen in Delaware. There are 216 tributary streams and creeks—an estimated 14,057 miles of streams and creeks—in the watershed.
The waters of the Delaware River's basin are used to sustain "fishing, transportation, power, cooling, recreation, and other industrial and residential purposes." While the watershed is home to 4.17 million people according to the 2000 Federal Census, these bodies of water provide drinking water to 17 million people—roughly 10% of the population of the United States. It is the 33rd largest river in the United States in terms of flow, but the nation's most heavily used rivers in daily volume of tonnage. The average annual flow rate of the Delaware is 11,700 cubic feet per second at Trenton, New Jersey.

Tributaries of the Delaware River

The main tributaries in New York are the Mongaup and Neversink rivers and Callicoon Creek. From Pennsylvania, the major tributaries are the Lackawaxen, Lehigh, and Schuylkill rivers. From New Jersey, the Big Flatbrook, Pequest, Musconetcong, and Maurice rivers, plus Oldmans, Raccoon and Rancocas creeks, flow into the Delaware.
Tributaries are arranged generally north to south from the source of the river to its mouth, its confluence with the Delaware River, tributaries within that rivers' watershed are mentioned in notes.

Tributaries in New York

The Appalachian Trail crosses the following tributaries or the watersheds of these tributaries in New Jersey: Flat Brook,, Dunnfield Creek, Stony Brook, Paulins Kill.
PhotoTributaryRiver lengthWatershed areaNotes and remarks
Flat Brook11.6-mile-long
Paulins Kill41.6-mile 176.85 square miles
  • Flows into the Delaware near the Delaware Water Gap and Columbia in Knowlton Township in Warren County, New Jersey
  • Tributaries include: Lake Owassa, Culver's Lake, Dry Brook, Culver Brook, Trout Brook, Keen's Mill Brook, Neldon's Brook, Swartswood Lake, Blair Creek, Jacksonburg Creek, Susquehanna Creek, Dilts Creek, Walnut Creek, Yards Creek
    • Pequest River35.7-mile-long 162.62 square miles
  • Flows into the Delaware at Belvidere in Warren County, New Jersey
  • Tributaries include: Pophandusing Creek, Beaver Brook, Mountain Lake Brook, Furnace Brook, Bear Creek, Trout Brook
    • Musconetcong River45.7-mile-long
  • Flows into the Delaware across from Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, 10 miles south of Phillipsburg in Warren County, New Jersey
  • Tributaries include: Lake Hopatcong, Lake Musconetcong, Punkhorn Creek, Lubbers Run

    • Tributaries in Delaware

  • Naamans Creek
  • *South Branch Naamans Creek
  • Perkins Run
  • Stoney Creek
  • Shellpot Creek
  • *Matson Run
  • *Turkey Run
  • Christina River
  • *Brandywine Creek
  • **Alapocas Run
  • **Husbands Run
  • ***Willow Run
  • **Wilson Run
  • **Rocky Run
  • ***Hurricane Run
  • **Carney Run
  • **Ramsey Run
  • **Beaver Creek
  • *Little Mill Creek
  • **Chestnut Run
  • **Willow Run
  • *Nonesuch Creek
  • *White Clay Creek
  • **Hershey Run
  • **Red Clay Creek
  • ***Hyde Run
  • **Mill Creek
  • **Pike Creek
  • **Middle Run
  • *Leathermans Run
  • *Muddy Run
  • **Belltown Run
  • *West Branch Christina River
  • **Persimmon Run
  • *East Branch Christina River

    Tributaries of Delaware Bay

    • Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, as an estuary, forms a transitional zone between the river environment provided by the Delaware River and maritime environment of the Atlantic Ocean that is subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. Delaware Bay covers in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware. The bay's outermost boundary separating it from the Atlantic are two capes: Cape Henlopen and Cape May.
    The shores of the bay are largely composed of salt marshes and mud flats, with only small communities inhabiting the shore of the lower bay. Besides the Delaware, it is fed by numerous smaller streams. Several of the rivers hold protected status for the unique salt marsh wetlands along the shore of the bay. The bay serves as a breeding ground for many aquatic species, including horseshoe crabs. The bay is also a prime oystering ground. The Delaware Bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on May 20, 1992. Further, it was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

    Tributaries in New Jersey