Great Places

Alapocas Woods Natural Area

39°46'10.68"N  75°33'39.08"W

1914 West Park Drive
Wilmington, DE 19803

Phone: (302) 577-1164
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Located above the old Bancroft Mill Dam, Alapocas Woods is an oasis at the edge of Wilmington, Delaware's largest city. This forested retreat is home to native plants, wildlife, and geologic formations like nowhere else in Delaware. Many people go here to walk the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail.

Climbers from miles around flock to Alapocas Woods to take advantage of the 100-foot rock face and its six permanent anchors. These allow for a variety of ascents and descents, with varying degrees of difficulty. But not so fast, you need a permit to climb here. These can easily be obtained inside Blue Ball Barn, which is located nearby at 1914 West Park Drive. That or simply register for one of the park's occasional group climbing activities.

The park's main climbing wall can best be accessed from a parking lot located across the Brandywine River, at the end of Bancroft Mill Road. To get there from Pennsylvania Avenue, otherwise known as Route 52, drive north on Woodlawn Avenue, turn left on Delaware Avenue, and then make an immediate right onto Rockford Avenue. Take this until it ends half a mile later at Bancroft Mill Road and then turn right. Visitors are welcome to park in the public lot located at the end of this road before taking the footbridge across the river into the park.

Photo by Shaun Bailey

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