Selfie spots, Lucy the Elephant and other sights on a bike ride along the Jersey Shore

Bike at the Jersey Shore during the off-season. Rentals are cheap, streets are empty.

Reminder to self: Bike at the Jersey Shore during the off-season.

Rentals close to the beach are cheap, streets are empty, though yes lots of businesses are closed. (Our group based itself in Avalon.) But boardwalks during Easter week were busy, especially when temperatures hit 80. That’s where we ended up in our search for ice cream.

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I biked the entire 17-mile Cape May County bike trail — here’s what it’s like

Just tell me where the ice cream is.

My first reaction as I biked along this inland trail in Cape May County was jealousy — jealous that this trail could be built along power lines (and even adjacent to two large substations!) while the power company in my town resists requests to extend our trail under the transmission lines, citing all kinds of fears (including involving the rather puny substation that’s also along a road).

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Blue sky, blue water — here’s what else I found along the D&R Canal

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.

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A bike ride to one of those 50 must-eat New Jersey dishes for 2023

This bakery makes a must-eat foodie list. So we biked there. Here’s what we ate.

Pistachio donuts on top, that chocolate hazelnut baklava below
The chocolate hazelnut baklava is on the bottom.

Spring is here, the sun is out — and I was prepared with a new destination for a bike ride!

I’ve been entertaining myself with some of these “best” foodie lists on NJ.com, and the Baklava Lady in Englishtown popped up on the list of the 50 New Jersey dishes you need to eat in 2023 — specifically the chocolate hazelnut baklava. It also made the list of around the world in 23 New Jersey bakeries (that baklava again plus the spinach and cheese borek got shout-outs). It’s all vegan, if that matters to you. Yeah, sorry about the paywall on those articles, but trust me on this. (Well, the burger on a bagel entry closer to home didn’t sound persuasive…)

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Arney’s Mount: another stunning Burlington County trail

Thiis 2.2-mile trail is a loop that has the highest point in Burlington County as its backdrop.

Yup, that’s Arney’s Mount.

The climbing starts as soon as you leave the parking lot and hit the Arney’s Mount Trail. Climbing is a relative term, though, because this is flat, flat Burlington County, and the highest point is … Arney’s Mount. It’s all of maybe 249 feet, and that’s standing on tip-toes.

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Explore Burlington County’s new Rancocas Creek Greenway

How cool would it be to have this bike trail behind your neighborhood?

Burlington County formally opened the 4-mile Rancocas Creek Greenway in September. This trail stretches from Amico Island where the Rancocas Creek meets the Delaware River into Riverside, then across a bridge spanning the Rancocas Creek and into Delanco, then along the creek and past an over-55 neighborhood to beautiful Pennington Park.

How cool would it be to have this trail behind your neighborhood?

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The D&R Canal towpath from Princeton to partway to Trenton

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.

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New Brunswick to Princeton on the D&R Canal + East Coast Greenway

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.

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A loop through the Assunpink wildlife refuge

This bike ride, at close to 30 miles, goes from West Windsor through the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area and back via Hightstown.

I discovered the Assunpink area thanks to NJDOT’s High Point to Cape May route and have done many variations of a loop through it since then.

This one, at close to 30 miles, starts and ends by the West Windsor Senior Center (more parking than the nearby library and about a mile from the Princeton Junction train station). It takes you past the camping stop in Mercer County Park (more here), Union Transportation Trail (read about a ride here and a nearby farm brewery) and some horse farms, through the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area and the New Deal town of Roosevelt and into Hightstown and the posh Peddie School, right past the Old Hights Brewery (bike ride here) and back into West Windsor.

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A new bike crossing over the Delaware River

The bike-ped path on the new Scudders Falls Bridge is finally open.

Bike across … or pay the toll.

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).

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