While I had no special destination in mind, it’s amazing what you discover when you’re just taking your time.
A gorgeous day — temps eventually topped 70, and it’s only the beginning of April! — called out for a bike ride. And while I had no special destination in mind, it’s amazing what you discover when you’re just taking your time.
Continue reading “Blue sky, blue water — here’s what else I found along the D&R Canal”Would the D&R Canal towpath be the best way to reach Duke Farms? Or would a road option be better?
Biking to Duke Farms has been on the list for a while.
But if we wanted to benefit from the calmness of the D&R Canal towpath for much of the ride, the trade-off would be some stretches of busy road. Would it be worth it?
Continue reading “How to bike to Duke Farms (with a detour to the new Flounder Brewing)”Here’s the state of the D&R Canal towpath from Washington Road to the Lawrence Hopewell Trail.
At the beginning of May, we checked out the state of the D&R Canal towpath from New Brunwick to Princeton. For Memorial Day, we pushed further south.
Continue reading “The D&R Canal towpath from Princeton to partway to Trenton”The D&R Canal towpath was a mess after the one-two punch from Henri and Ida in late August and early September of 2021. Eight months later, it was time to check out how much repair work had been done and how rideable the route is.
The D&R Canal towpath was a mess after the one-two punch from Henri and Ida in late August and early September of 2021. Eight months later, it was time to check out how much repair work had been done and how rideable the route is. So we hopped New Jersey Transit to New Brunswick to find out.
Continue reading “New Brunswick to Princeton on the D&R Canal + East Coast Greenway”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”I dreaded seeing the damage from Henri and Ida. What a mess.
The remnants of Hurricanes Henri and Ida walloped New Jersey in August and September, and the D&R Canal towpath was smack in the path of both. The Millstone River flooded, Canal Road flooded, all kinds of major roads flooded … it was not pretty.
I dreaded seeing the damage to the canal towpath (also part of the East Coast Greenway).
We finally biked the section from Trenton to Princeton after Sunday’s big rally for the Essex-Hudson Greenway. Here’s what we found:
Continue reading “Hurricanes Henri and Ida ripped up the D&R Canal towpath”Beautiful scenery, but oh those climbs!
First, the rolling hills of upper Bucks County mean the scenery is gorgeous, even if my iPhone photography skills can’t do them justice. The roads through the woods, with a stony creek alongside. And then the old stone homes.
But getting out of the river valley to the top of those hills? That’s another matter. Hard work! Or perhaps that’s the danger of just taking a random ride off Ride With GPS and there is an easier (and less trafficked) climb than Upper York Road? What should we have done instead?
Continue reading “Biking Bucks County covered bridges to New Jersey beer”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?
OK, it was 50 miles on Saturday, 58 on Sunday. One day for the Pennsylvania side, one for the New Jersey side, using parts of the Philadelphia area Circuit Trails network. We’d biked sections of the two routes so what we really wanted to know is which way is better.
The answer?
Continue reading “Two ways to bike from Princeton to Philadelphia — which is better?”We tested two options to get to Grounds for Sculpture using the D&R Canal towpath. One is much better.
I’ve thought about biking to Grounds for Sculpture, a sculpture garden in Hamilton, N.J. started by Seward Johnson, a J&J heir and sculptor. But I didn’t like the routes Google Maps suggested, and then there is the industrial area around it…
But COVID has had me thinking about things to do locally. Then I heard there are now bike lanes on that industrial road, so it was time to check it out. Yes, that little bit of paint has made it seem much more comfortable — one lane in each direction instead of two and a clear place for trucks to park.
We tested two options, both using the D&R Canal towpath for a good part of it. There was one clear winner.
Continue reading “The best way to bike to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton”Some kid-friendly bike rides in central New Jersey … also good when adults would 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 options, and more trails are coming (it’s just not a fast process, unfortunately). I think these five are fabulous; I hope you’ll love them too.
Of course there are more trails than just these five, so keep exploring and add your favorite to the comments section.
Continue reading “5 great one-day bike rides on central New Jersey trails”
Exploring by bicycle 