I’m here for the seven tomato pies, not the miles.
Everyone has an opinion on pizza. Especially in New Jersey.
Continue reading “The best Trenton tomato pie? This bicycle ride tries to find it”An adventure using the Upper Bucks Rail Trail, the Saucon Rail Trail, the South Bethlehem Greenway and the D&L Trail.
How did this bike ride end up being 49 miles?
Continue reading “Quakertown to Allentown and beyond plus a dinosaur footprint, 4 rail trails and a bike”The Delaware and Lehigh Trail is Pennsylvania’s other long-distance bike trail. Four of us headed out for two days of biking fun (and a few pinball games).
The Delaware and Lehigh Trail is Pennsylvania’s other long-distance bike trail, much less known than the Great Allegheny Passage but almost as long now (and will be longer once it’s finished).
I’ve biked the southern half of the D&L, from Bristol (outside Philadelphia) to Bethlehem. With some sunny and warm days in the forecast for November, it was time to tackle another big chunk.
Continue reading “2 days biking on the D&L Trail with some pinball wizards”Both have great sections — and messy parts too.
I shocked a few of my neighbors when I said I was biking to Philadelphia this past weekend. It takes an hour to drive using I-95 so it seems crazy far to bike … and besides, how would you go?
Continue reading “Two ways to bike from Princeton to Philadelphia — which is better?”Some kid-friendly bike rides in central New Jersey … also good for adults who prefer biking on trails instead of with traffic.
So you’re looking for a new place to ride your bike but don’t want to deal with traffic? Or you’re encouraging someone to bike who gets nervous around traffic? You need some kid-friendly options?
Central New Jersey has some great choice, and more trails are coming (it’s just not a fast process, unfortunately). I think these five six are fabulous; I hope you’ll love them too. I’ve listed them in no particular order and updated them for 2025.
Of course there are more trails than just these, so keep exploring and add your favorite to the comments section.
Continue reading “Expanded: 6 great one-day bike rides on central New Jersey trails”These bike overnights are all trail or mostly trails. Trips range from one night to closer to a week.
I started this list with 5 favorite DIY bike overnights using trails or mostly trails and (important for me) easily reached from New Jersey. Now it’s 2025, and my list has grown to 7.
More trails are coming, so biking within a day’s drive of New Jersey will only get better.
Continue reading “An updated list of 7 great bike-trail overnights within easy reach of New Jersey”A gorgeous day, and a trail has reopened. What more could we want?
The D&R Canal towpath has reopened — yay! And it’s finally sunny and warm! Time for a longish but easy bike ride.
So on Saturday we headed to the blue water tower along the Delaware River in Morrisville, Pa., the same place we met friends last year for a “weird beer” ride to Neshaminy Creek. Only this time we were headed north, chatting with a friend as we went (with social distance, of course) along the Delaware & Lehigh Trail.
Our first stop: this odd historical marker at the edge of Morrisville. It’s taller than me and commemorates the nearby spot where William Penn bought the first section of Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “30 socially distanced miles on the D&L and D&R trails”
A belated reply to a question I was asked at a talk about cool places to bike,
This is for those who want to camp along the 165-mile Delaware and Lehigh Trail. The question of campsites came up at a recent talk I gave at REI about great places to bike in New Jersey and beyond, because two people independently said they wanted to bike the entire route and cut costs by camping.
I was stumped. I know you can camp at Tinicum Park and at a private campsite just a bit north of it (as I discovered on a bike ride), and then there’s Washington Crossing State Park on the New Jersey side. (Info about an upcoming group bike ride and camping trip from Easton to Tinicum Park here.)
But beyond Easton and Bethlehem?
So I asked Brian at the D&L for help, and he kindly shared his map of campsites on or near the trail. (Let him know if you know of others.)
You can also check out Hipcamp, which includes camping possibilities on private land.
For those who want an indoor option, there’s this trail-friendly business in Lehighton (south of Jim Thorpe) that offers cheap sleeps in a bunkhouse.
Anyone else have suggestions? Or experiences with the campsites?
If you’re looking for a campsite in New Jersey that’s close to the main D&R Canal towpath (the one between Trenton and New Brunswick), there’s now one in Mercer County Park.
– Bristol to Morrisville: A milkshake latte IPA? Another bike ride to yet more ‘weird beer’
– Morrisville to New Hope: 30 socially distanced miles on the D&L and D&R trails
– New Hope to Bethlehem: 24 soft-serve flavors on a 2-day bike adventure along the D&L Trail to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and back
What a shakedown ride: 133 miles over 2 days, going through New Hope and Easton on the D&L Trail. Plus the food report.
We’ll soon be heading out on another of our longer bike rides, and like last year, we have some new gear. So we needed another shakedown ride, like last year. Also like last year, we chose to make the Delaware & Lehigh Trail the focus. But unlike last year, we made it a two-day affair over Memorial Day weekend.
For a 165-mile trail (admittedly with a few road sections), the D&L Trail seems to still be pretty unknown, as I first said four years ago and again two years ago. Oh sure, people in our area may know there’s a trail on the “Pennsylvania side” of the Delaware between Lambertville and Frenchtown, NJ, and maybe as far south as Washington Crossing. But few realize the trail begins in Bristol, a Philadelphia suburb, and goes through Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown and ends north of I-80. I just keep trying to spread the word.
Continue reading “D&L Trail: 24 soft-serve flavors on a 2-day bike adventure to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and back”Polo matches along the Delaware? Who knew?
This bike ride began with a tip: you can watch polo matches in Tinicum Park, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just across the Delaware River from New Jersey.
Polo? That blue-blood sport? Who knew?
Continue reading “Biking 2 trails — the D&R and D&L — to watch polo in Pennsylvania”
Exploring by bicycle 