Delaware Bayshore Byway

Location

The Delaware Bayshore National Scenic Byway is a scenic two-lane road that follows roads and views along the Delaware River and Bay. From its northern limit in the historic City of New Castle to the southern beach resorts just outside Lewes, the byway corridor offers visitors and locals an intimate experience with preserved coastal marshlands and historic river towns along Delaware's east coast. The byway covers much of the state geographically and is approximately 100 miles of travel depending on your route selection. See all sorts of wildlife and understand the importance of bird migratory flyway zones & resting areas. Best of all, discover the small natural beaches and tranquil open vistas. Take this route to visit a number of smaller towns that began and continue their history with maritime commerce.

Length

100 miles or more pending your level of interests and route.

Drive Time

Approximately two to three hours (assumes no stopping)

Full Enjoyment Time

Two to three days as assumes a number of visits, camping/hotel, or walking ventures.

Byway Contacts

Steve Borleske 
Adam Crosby 
Delaware Greenways
1910 Rockland Road
Wilmington, DE 19803
302.655.7275

Delaware Bayshore Byway Traveler Website

Learn about the charm and history of a colonial region, shaped by water. Plan your adventure with more information about Byway attractions, destinations, themed itineraries, and more.

National Scenic Byway Designation

In 2021, the Delaware Bayshore Byway received designation from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration as a National Scenic Byway. To be designated as a National Scenic Byway, a road must significantly meet stringent criteria for its intrinsic qualities. The byway corridor features 19 Discovery Zones which offers visitors and locals an intimate experience featuring coastal marshlands, abundant wildlife, rich hunting, fishing, and farming heritage and historic river and bay towns and communities. While traveling this 157-mile route spanning 100 miles of the Delaware coastline, the Delaware Bayshore Byway provides a connection to all that is Delaware: history, wild open space, horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, fresh and saltwater marshes, small communities, fishing villages and large farms, coastal rivers, the bay and its beaches, lighthouses and dark skies, historic mansions and migrant shacks, and waterfowl and watermen. See more information about this honor in the full press release below.

Corridor Management Plan

For a complete listing of this final report including all appendices, maps and directions are included.

Delaware Bayshore Bay is a Delaware treasure - a scenic, two-lane road that follows along the Delaware River and Bay Estuary. It offers visitors an intimate experience with the largest preserved coastal marshland on the east coast.
The byway lies entirely within the Atlantic Flyway where each spring, hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds can be found feeding and resting while they continue their journey to their northern breeding grounds. While in the fall, the byway corridor displays thousands of waterfowl migrating south for the winter.

Delaware Bayshore Bay provides a rare glimpse of a simpler time where one can unwind and savor the state's pastoral scenery and conservation areas. Delaware's Coastal Heritage Byway is a road of rhythm and rhyme. It offers a connection to all that is Delaware: history, open space, fresh and saltwater marshes, small towns and large farms, rivers and the bay, lighthouses and dark skies, historic mansions and migrant shacks, and water birds and watermen.