Rancocas Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Delaware River in southwestern

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in the

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. The creek's main stem is long, with a North Branch of and a South Branch flowing .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 The creek system drains a rural agricultural and forested area on the western edge of the Pinelands north and northeast of Camden and the New Jersey suburbs of

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Overview

Rancocas Creek rises as two main branches in the Pinelands National Reserve. The North Branch rises in northern Burlington County, in Mirror Lake, just south of Fort Dix. It flows west-northwest past Mount Holly. The South Branch rises in central Burlington County near Chatsworth and flows generally northwest. It receives the Southwest Branch from the south approximately south of Mount Holly. The North and South branches join near Rancocas State Park, approximately west of Mount Holly, near the crossing of the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 295. A few hundred yards downstream of the Interstate 295 and New Jersey Turnpike bridges, Burlington County Route 635 passes over the Creek on a bridge built less than over the average water level, but this bridge has been closed for several years and was physically removed in its entirety in 2020/2021. This bridge had the capability for the center section of the bridge to swivel from the perpendicular to the river to parallel, to allow small boat traffic through. After rehabilitation of the bridge in the 1980s, the powered mechanism was removed due to the near-lack of creek barge traffic and expense of maintenance. The bridge could be opened in case of emergency, but required manual labor to be swiveled open. It is navigable for approximately upstream from its mouth on the Delaware.

Tributaries

* North Branch Rancocas Creek *

South Branch Rancocas Creek The South Branch Rancocas Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Rancocas Creek in Burlington County, New Jersey in the United States. The Sou ...

Southwest Branch Rancocas Creek The Southwest Branch Rancocas Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the South Branch Rancocas Creek in Burlington County, New Jersey in the ...

Accidents

On April 23, 1853, the engineer of Camden & Amboy's 2 p.m. train out of Philadelphia missed stop signals and ran his train off an open drawspan between modern-day Riverside and Delanco on Rancocas Creek. There were no fatalities.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Burlington County, New Jersey Tributaries of the Delaware River Rivers of New Jersey

Overview

Tributaries

Accidents

See also

References