Bill and Laurie Foot at Cape Henlopen State Park, DE, eastern terminus of ADT

Entrance sign at Cape Henlopen on the day the Scouting Team completed their trip (July 30, 1991)

Cape Henlopen State Park

ADT in Delaware

State Coordinator
David Bartoo
121 Smith Mill Rd.
Newark, DE 19711
Email: David.bartoo@state.de.us

General Overview of Trail
The American Discovery Trail (ADT) has its eastern terminus at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of Delaware Bay. It is appropriate that the ADT begins in the state which on December 7, 1787, became the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The route of the ADT through Delaware travels about 44.6 miles of sidewalks and rural roads, most with paved shoulders. The trail passes through the towns of Lewes, Milton, and Bridgeville, but is mostly in open farmland.

Cape Henlopen is located near Lewes, the 1631 site of the first Dutch settlement in Delaware called Zwaanendael, "Valley of the Swans." Settlers from Holland intended to establish an agricultural and whaling industry, but when Captain David Pietersen de Vries arrived a year later, he found the town deserted. Today, the settlement is commemorated by the DeVries Monument and the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes.

The American Discovery Trail begins on the beach near the bunker overlook. During World War II, the park was the site of an U.S. Army coastal fort. Several of the fortifications are still in place, including the bunker, which is an excellent location from which to watch ship traffic entering and leaving Delaware Bay. There is a sign at the bunker marking the location as the eastern terminus of the ADT.

Detailed Trail Description
The trail begins in Delaware and is 44.6 miles long, largely on paved county rural roads.
Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Delaware to Maryland State line — 44.6 miles

For more details on the route, click here.

The most up-to-date, detailed trail directions are published in the ADT Data Books.

Affiliated Trails

• Cape Henlopen Bike Trail

Forests

• Redden State Forest

Parks

• Cape Henlopen State Park

Points of Interest

• Historic towns of Lewes and Milton
• Zwaanendael Museum
• Cape May-Lewes Ferry
• Atlantic Ocean beaches

For more information about the ADT Society, please email us at info@discoverytrail.org.

For membership inquiries, please email us at membership@discoverytrail.org.

© Copyright 2001-08, American Discovery Trail Society. All rights reserved.