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”Summerseat is one of those forgotten mansions.
I know, George Washington spent a lot of time in New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the Revolution, so he slept in plenty of places. (And in the tent, of course).
But this was a new one for me: Summerseat, up on a hill not far from the Delaware River in Morrisville, PA.
Continue reading “George Washington slept here: a bike ride on the D&L Trail from Scudders Falls to Bristol and back”This is so much better than hauling your bike up stairs or cutting through a hotel parking lot to reach the D&L Trail.
When I first discovered the section of Pennsylvania’s D&L Trail that goes south to Bristol, the route would almost dead-end at an auto-repair shop in Morrisville. You had to creep around the side, then dash across Bridge Street/Lincoln Highway and finally haul your bike down a flight of stairs to reconnect with the canal towpath.
On the way back it was even worse, because you’d have to push your bike up those stairs.
Continue reading “Good news: Another gap on the D&L Trail disappears”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”The bike-ped path on the new Scudders Falls Bridge is finally open.
There’s now one more way for bicyclists (and walkers and runners) to cross between New Jersey and Pennsylvania — using the new 0.7-mile bike-ped path along the new $534 million (or is it $570 million? After once being projected to cost “just” $310 million?) Scudders Falls Bridge project on I-295.
It opened about a week ago so of course we had to check it out. And it’s great, with long ramps on both ends up to bridge height about 23 feet above the river from the D&R Canal towpath on the Jersey side and the Delaware Canal towpath (part of the D&L Trail) on the PA side as well as a few bump-outs so you can pull over and stare northward (or downward).
Continue reading “A new bike crossing over the Delaware River”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”
The third beer ride of 2019. Destination: Neshaminy Creek Brewing in Croyon, Pa.
After cycling to Screamin’ Hill Brewery and the Referend Bier Blendery this summer, our next beer destination was the award-winning Neshaminy Creeek Brewing Co. in the Philadelphia suburb of Croydon.
Our 13-mile route was mostly on trail, giving the six of us a chance to chat rather than keep a mindful eye on motorists and making sure we didn’t miss a turn. Even better, we got to explore a section of the D&L Heritage Trail that is now fully open to Bristol, unlike our (still-fun) experience last year that involved following some dirt trails to get around blockages. Plus this will soon officially become part of the East Coast Greenway. What an improvement on the Trenton-to-Philadelphia route we rode a few years ago! (For a fresher report on the route to Philadelphia, click here.)
Here’s how we did it:
Continue reading “A milkshake latte IPA? Another bike ride to yet more ‘weird beer’”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”A bike ride in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with a food destination in mind.
I always say a bike ride is better with a destination or theme in mind. Or that it’s all about the food. Our latest two-state ride did both.
After stumbling across the Stockton Fire Department‘s pancake breakfast years ago, we’ve been talking about going to its roast beef dinner. When the post card announcing this spring’s date arrived in the mail, it went on the calendar. No more stalling.
Stockton is along the Delaware River, and we’ve ridden both the D&R Canal on the Jersey side and the D&L Trail on the Pennsylvania side. (We picked up lunch here on our bike ride to watch polo last fall, for example.) This time, though, we weren’t going to take it easy with a flat ride. Instead we picked out a ride posted on Ride With GPS that took us into the hills on both sides of the Delaware River.
Early on, we crossed New Jersey’s only covered bridge, the one-lane Green Sergeant with wooden planks for the floor as well as wooden sides and top. (Traffic going the other way takes a flat modern bridge.)
Continue reading “A bicycle ride over 4 covered bridges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to 1 firehouse roast beef dinner”
Exploring by bicycle 