Equinunk, Lookout, and Lordville are three tiny Pennsylvania hamlets strung along the Upper Delaware between Hancock and Callicoon. None of them has a restaurant. None has a gas station. Two of them have a post office. The reason to know they exist is that they all sit on the river within twenty minutes of the cabin, they have public access points for fly fishing, and they make the drive to Callicoon and Narrowsburg one of the best slow Sunday drives in the area. If you're looking for a destination, look elsewhere. If you're looking for an afternoon to just be in the country, these roads are the answer.
Equinunk, the biggest of the three.
Equinunk has a post office, a small general store, a historical society, and a few hundred residents spread out across the township. It sits on the Pennsylvania side of the river, directly across from Hancock, about 20 minutes from the cabin. The Equinunk Public Access on the Delaware is a serviceable fly fishing access point, less busy than the Shehawken Access on the West Branch. Wade-friendly water on a moderate flow.
The Equinunk Historical Society has a small museum about the Lenape, the lumbering era, and the early river settlements. Open limited summer hours, mostly by appointment. Worth a call if you're interested in the area's longer history.
Drive to it from the cabin: north on 191 to Hancock, then back south on the PA side via Equinunk Road. About 20 minutes.
Lookout and Lordville, the two even smaller ones.
Lookout is a hamlet of maybe a hundred people on a hill above the river. It has a small handful of houses, a church, and one of the best Delaware River overlooks in the entire region from the road that climbs above it. The overlook isn't marked. If you pull off at the wide spot near the church on the way down, you can see five miles of the river. Best in early evening light or on a fall morning when the mist comes off the water.
Lordville is even smaller. A handful of houses, a railroad bridge across the river, and one of the most-fished pools on the Main Stem Delaware right at the bridge. The Lordville access is popular with drift-boat anglers who put in at Hancock and take out here. If you're wade-fishing, this is one of the better spots on the Main Stem.
Cell service in all three: don't count on it.
Why drive these roads, when there's nothing there.
The honest answer: because the country is beautiful and almost no one comes out here. The roads are paved but lightly trafficked. The river runs alongside you for most of the drive. The hardwood forest closes in. The farms are still working farms. It's the closest thing to being on a Pennsylvania back road in 1955 that you can do without working at it.
One specific drive: from the cabin, north on 191 to Hancock, then south on the PA side along the river through Equinunk and Lookout, all the way to Lordville and the bridge. Take the bridge across to the NY side and pick up 97 south to Callicoon for lunch. About 90 minutes including stops. The best Sunday drive in the region.
Drive times to the villages.
- To Equinunk: 20 minutes from the cabin
- To Lookout: 25 minutes
- To Lordville: 30 minutes
- From Lordville to Callicoon (across the river): 25 minutes
- Full loop (cabin → Hancock → PA side → Lordville → cross over → Callicoon → back to cabin): about 3 hours of driving plus stops
For the named draw towns, the Hancock guide and the Callicoon guide are the bookend stops on the river loop above.
Where to stay.
If you're reading this and not yet booked, here's the quick pitch: the better stay for couples and small groups is a private cabin on a quiet lake within an hour of here. Three bedrooms, private dock, paddle boards, a kayak, a row boat, and a fire pit. About 3 hours from NYC. 4.86 stars on Airbnb, Guest Favorite. See it on Airbnb, or check availability and ask a question first.
