The Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River is a favorite with many paddlers/NPS
Without water, there’d be no paddling or floating, and without the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act we’d be missing, and losing, some incredible landscapes and habitat.
It was not-quite 50 years ago that President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act into law. The legislation was driven by such environmental legends as John and Frank Craighead and Olaus Murie, who appreciated and were concerned about the damage that decades of damming, development, and diversion had inflicted on the country’s river systems.
The act sought to preserve “certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.” Under the Act, rivers are classified as wild, scenic, or recreational.
Rivers that roll and tumble through the National Park System are well represented on the list of Wild and Scenic Rivers. From Alaska’s remote rivers to streams that weave through the bucolic countryside of Vermont and Wisconsin, each preserves a natural setting as well as part of American history and heritage.
The following list focuses on river miles within jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Some designated rivers are longer as segments flow outside units of the National Park System.
Wild River Areas
Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.
Scenic River Areas
Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive, and shorelines largely undeveloped but accessible in places by roads.
Recreational River Areas
Those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.
Alatna River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Classification: 83 miles Wild, 83 miles total
Anikchak River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Anikchak National Monument and Preserve
Classification: 67 miles Wild, 67 miles total
Prized for its scenery, the Bluestone River offers limited paddling during the spring runoff/NPS
Bluestone River, West Virginia
NPS Unit: Bluestone National Scenic River
Classification: 10 miles Scenic, 10 miles total
Charley River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Classification: 208 miles Wild, 208 miles total
Chilikadrotna River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Classification: 11 miles Wild, 11 miles total
Eightmile River, Connecticut
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 25.3 miles Scenic, 25.3 miles total
The “wild” designation is readily apparent for the Noatak River, which drains the largest mountain-ringed river basin in the United States/NPS
Farmington River, West Branch, Connecticut
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 14 miles Recreational
Flathead River, Montana
NPS Unit: Glacier National Park, U.S. Forest Service
Classification: 40.7 miles Scenic, 62.6 miles
Recreational, 103.3 miles total
John River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Classification: 52 miles Wild, 52 miles total
Kern River, California
NPS Unit: Sequoia National Park
Classification: 27 miles Wild, 27 miles total
Running a rapid at Obed Wild and Scenic River and coming out upright is cause for celebration/NPS
Kings River, California
NPS Unit: Kings Canyon National Park
Classification: 49 miles Wild, 6.5 miles
Recreational, 55.5 miles total
Kobuk River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Classification: 110 miles Wild, 110 miles total
Lamprey River, New Hampshire
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 23.5 miles Recreational
Lower Delaware River, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
NPS Unit: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Classification: 25.4 miles Scenic, 41.9 miles Recreational, 67.3 miles total
Lower St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin
NPS Unit: St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
Classification: 12 miles Scenic, 40 miles Recreational, 52 miles total
Maurice River, New Jersey
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 28.9 miles Scenic, 6.5 miles Recreational, 35.4 miles total
Merced River, California
NPS Unit: Yosemite National Park
Classification: 53 miles Wild, 14 miles Scenic, 14 miles Recreational, 81 miles total
The Rio Grand Wild and Scenic River will carry you through Big Bend National Park/Rebecca Latson
Middle Delaware River, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
NPS Unit: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Classification: 35 miles Scenic, 5 miles Recreational
Missisquoi & Trout Rivers, Vermont
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 46.1 miles Recreational
Missouri River, Nebraska and South Dakota
NPS Unit: Missouri National Recreational River
Classification: 98 miles Recreational
Mulchatna River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
Classification: 24 miles Wild
Musconetcong River, New Jersey
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 3.5 miles Scenic, 20.7 miles Recreational, 24.2 miles total
Caribou swimming in the Kobuk River/NPS
Noatak River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Noatak National Preserve
Classification: 330 miles Wild
Niobrara River, Nebraska
NPS Unit: Niobrara National Scenic River
Classification: 68 miles Scenic, 28 miles Recreational, 96 miles total
North Fork Koyukuk, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of The Arctic National Park and Preserve
Classification: 102 miles Wild
Obed River, Tennessee
NPS Unit: Obed Wild and Scenic River
Classification: 43.3 miles Wild, 2 miles Scenic, 45.3 miles total
Rio Grande River, Texas
NPS Unit: Big Bend National Park
Classification: 95.2 miles Wild, 96 miles Scenic, 191.2 miles total
River Styx (Cave Creek), Oregon
NPS Unit: Oregon Caves National Monument
Classification: 0.4 miles Scenic, 0.4 miles total
Various sections of the Virgin River are viewed as Wild, Scenic, and Recreational/NPS
St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin
NPS Unit: St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
Classification: 181 miles Scenic, 19 miles Recreational, 200 miles total
Salmon River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Kobuk Valley National Park
Classification: 70 miles Wild
Snake River Headwaters, Wyoming
NPS Unit: Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks
Classification: 52.7 miles Wild, 44.1 miles Scenic, 96.8 miles total
Sudbury, Assabet, Concord Rivers, Massachusetts
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 14.9 miles Scenic, 14.1 miles Recreational
Taunton River, Massachusetts
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 26 miles Scenic, 14 miles Recreational
Tinayguk River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Classification: 44 miles Wild
Tlikakila River, Alaska
NPS Unit: Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
Classification: 51 miles Wild
Tuolumne River, California
NPS Unit: Yosemite National Park
Classification: 37 miles Wild, 17 miles Scenic, 54 miles total
Upper Delaware River, New York and Pennsylvania
NPS Unit: Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
Classification: 23.1 miles Scenic, 50.3 miles Recreational
Virgin River, Utah
NPS Unit: Zion National Park, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Classification: 123.6 miles Wild, 11.3 miles Scenic, 12.6 miles Recreational
The Kings River in Kings Canyon National Park/Patrick Cone
Wekiva River, Florida
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office
Classification: 31.4 miles Wild, 2.1 miles Scenic, 8.1 miles Recreational
White Clay Creek, Delaware and Pennsylvania
NPS Unit: National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office
Classification: 7.4 miles Scenic, 1.6 miles Recreational
Wolf River, Wisconsin
NPS Unit: Wolf National Scenic Riverway
Classification: 24 miles Scenic
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