Delaware River Heritage Trail: 16 miles from Burlington to Bordentown

The Delaware River Heritage Trail is a developing loop on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania sides of the Delaware River. I hadn’t been on the stretch between Bordentown and Burlington in a while. Plus New Jersey Transit is free this week. Two good reasons to check it out again!

I took the RiverLine to the Burlington South station, in the shadow of the bike-unfriendly Burlington-Bristol Bridge, and hopped onto the multi-use path alongside Commerce Square Boulevard. You can spot the Junior’s Cheesecake bakery outlet on the right. Stop for a bite if that’s your thing.

I was more focused on the ice cream shop Ummm, ranked no. 61 among the state’s best ice cream shops this year by NJ.com. (The retro look was a factor.) It was just a couple blocks off the route once I reached downtown Burlington, and I went for a generous single scoop of chocolate amaretto.

Another sight in Burlington, along the water:

The name on this made me smile. Did his parents like the guy who opposed the king during English civil war? Or was it a long-standing family name?

Giant warehouses have sprouted up all over Burlington County, so I was curious how many I would pass along the Delaware River. First, an Amazon fulfillment center. It was there when I biked here several years ago, and the gap in the off-road path in the middle of its property is still there. How did the planning board let this happen?

Then the second, third, fourth … I had reached eight, with a ninth under construction when I hit the border with Florence. Two were seeking tenants — so the warehouse glut may still be with us. Two more warehouses (occupied) were across the line on the Florence side. This is all in addition to the abandoned factories, the older, smaller businesses still operating and the companies making concrete and asphalt that have been there for a long time.

Sure, there are some multi-use paths along this stretch. But they just dead-end at a property line, making them frustrating/worthless for my ride. Fortunately, I could bike in a wide shoulder. To my surprise, I didn’t encounter 18-wheelers hauling goods to and from the warehouses. Maybe I just got lucky on a weekday? Or is traffic OK most of the time?

My route — taken from the East Coast Greenway’s mapping tool — left the Delaware River shortly after passing under the I-95 bridge connecting the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes and headed into residential Florence.

This is new: a multi-use path down the median of Fifth Street.

Some Florence pride. Curtis is Curtis Thompson, javelin thrower (unfortunately, nowhere close to a medal).

Then I reached Roebling, once the factory town for the company that built the Brooklyn Bridge. A bit of zigging and zagging from Hornberger Avenue and 10th Avenue toward the river and I was on the amazing 5 1/2-mile trail that goes past the old Roebling factory (stop at the Roebling Museum!) and onto Crystal Lake Park and then to the crossing at U.S. 130. I’ve been in love with this trail since before it officially opened in 2021.

After crossing U.S. 130, it was an easy few miles to Bordentown, home of Thomas Paine, Clara Barton and Joseph Bonaparte. When I reached the top of Farnsworth Avenue, it was decision time: take the RiverLine again or bike the D&R Canal to Trenton? It’s an easy ride by bike, but when the train is just a few minutes away, it’s an even easier call to ride the train.

There’s very little signage for the Delaware River Heritage Trail on this route and none for the East Coast Greenway (it’s the alternative option between Trenton and Philadelphia). So map out your route beforehand or download mine.

Want to bike between Trenton and Bordentown? Here’s my experience.

Also: Two ways to bike from Princeton to Philadelphia — which is better?