In 1881 John Burroughs, a native of the area, published "A Summer Voyage", recounting a solo boat trip down the East Branch from Arkville to Hancock.

[1] The East Branch Delaware River rises in eastern Delaware County, from a small pond next to a gas station on Route 30 just below the divide with the Hudson River watershed southwest of the hamlet of Grand Gorge and flows initially SSW, through the town of Roxbury.

The two roads remain alongside for the next few miles as the East Branch widens into Pepacton Reservoir.

Pepacton Reservoir continues, with the Blue Line along its north shore, carrying the river through the towns of Andes and Colchester as its course moves more to the west.

A few miles below that, at the village of Hancock, it turns south and joins the West Branch to create the Delaware's main stem.