A bike-friendly bridge near Cavallo Park in Lambertville on the D&R Canal State Park towpath. Photo: Colin Miller
As the most densely populated state in the country, crisscrossed with a web of busy roads, New Jersey can be less than hospitable to bikers. One major exception is Delaware and Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park, a whopping 70 miles of protected paths along the old waterways that were used to transport goods in the 1800s.
The second-most visited state park after Liberty State Park, D&R crosses five counties (Middlesex, Mercer, Burlington, Somerset and Hunterdon) and 32 towns. Its tree-shaded dirt trails, rich with wildlife and river views and free of motorized vehicles, are a biker’s paradise.
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Cycling along the trail, one watches out for beaver, turtles, frogs and birds, including eagles, osprey and great blue herons—not cars.
“Some people come to the park just to count the turtles basking in the sun,” says Vicki Chirco, resource interpretive specialist for the park, adding that more than 100 species of birds have been counted along the canal, and many make it their nesting place. “It’s a gem and a unique resource, offering bikers of all abilities a chance to cycle safely, away from traffic,” she says. “People can’t believe they’re in New Jersey.”
Bikers cross over the Swan Creek in Lambertville on the D&R Canal State Park towpath. Photo: Colin Miller
Nature isn’t the only draw to the linear park, the two main branches of which run from Frenchtown to Trenton and from Trenton to New Brunswick. The area is rich in history, with much of the original 19th-century canal system intact, including locks, spillways, stone-arched culverts and bridges, and clapboard lock tenders’ houses. Quaint towns with shops, art galleries, restaurants, flea markets, and historic homes and landmarks, such as Washington Crossing State Park, provide charming rest stops.
“You get a very rural, forested feel, but then you hit these really beautiful, iconic river towns that offer you different places to stop off, get an ice cream or a bite to eat,” says Stephanie Fox, also a park resource interpretive specialist.
Leaf-peeping perch
The spacious trails along the canal are used year-round for walking, biking, jogging, horseback riding and cross-country skiing, yet are generally uncrowded. (There are also boat launches along the path.) Autumn brings prime leaf peeping. Walk your bike across any of the three pedestrian bridges spanning the Delaware in Frenchtown, Lambertville and Lumberville (designed by the Roeblings, of Brooklyn and Golden Gate Bridge fame) for outstanding views of the foliage on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides.
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The bridges also make it possible to bike a circular route and end up at your departure point without having to retrace your steps, since the Pennsylvania side also has a towpath trail along the Delaware. If you want to take a 14-mile ride, for example, you could start in Lambertville and bike north 7 miles to Bull’s Island Recreational Area. From there, walk your bike across the Lumberville Bridge and ride south until you hit New Hope, Pennsylvania, another charming river town, before crossing the Lambertville bridge back to your starting point.
At Bull’s Island, a stone plaque honors the mostly Irish immigrants and locals who, for a dollar a day, dug the canal in the 1830s to ship coal, farm products and other goods to New York City and Philadelphia from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Originally, canal boats were towed by mules on a path parallel to the waterway, now the D&R Trail. Once shipping was supplanted by freight trains in the early 1900s, the canal was abandoned, but 50 years ago this year, the state began work to preserve it for recreation and as a public water supply.
Visit dandrcanal.org for a schedule of events and rides through year-end to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
In Lambertville, you can view a lock with a plaque that explains how it worked. There were originally 14 locks along the shipping routes that helped vessels navigate elevation changes. Several of the clapboard homes of the bridge and lock masters still stand in Griggstown, Port Mercer and Blackwell’s Mills. Lock masters had to open and close the locks so ships wouldn’t get stuck; bridge masters operated swing-arms to let the vessels through.
Cyclists travel the towpath along the Delaware River between Frenchtown and Lambertville. Photo: Colin Miller
Mapping it out
To plan your trip, decide on your destination and desired mileage. The D&R Canal State Park website has a mileage chart with distances between each town. It also recommends loop trails of various lengths and lists the park’s free parking lots. (In nice weather they can fill up, so arrive early.)
Bike rentals are available in the bigger towns, such as Frenchtown and Lambertville. For more sights and things to do, visit the website for the Delaware River Scenic Byway.
Keep in mind that the towpath is not for racers or road bikes, says Chirco. The surface is not paved, so hybrid or all-road bikes are best. Even then, keep your speed moderate. “You are sharing the road with walkers, runners, and families with small kids and dogs on leashes. This is not a throughway,” she says.
Pass on the left after ringing your bell (it’s required by law in New Jersey to have a bike bell) and calling out, “Passing on your left!”
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