For more than 100 miles, the Delaware River follows north upstream from its mouth at Delaware Bay, the boundary line separating New Jersy from the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The four-mile section of the River from the Bay to the Salem Nuclear Power Plant is an example of undeveloped rivers in a regionally unique estuarine area. The area in total is composed of several distinct subareas which in combination form a highly exemplary, productive and important river mouth estuarine system.
Ample recreational opportunities are accessible because of the river's proximity to high concentrations of urban populations in Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Camden. Many of the river segments are wild and undeveloped, offering sanctuary for wildlife and wintering sites for waterfowl.