The best way to bike to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton

We tested two options to get to Grounds for Sculpture using the D&R Canal towpath. One is much better.

My favorite sculpture on the way to Grounds for Sculpture.

I’ve long 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…

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Expanded: 6 great one-day bike rides on central New Jersey trails

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.

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An updated list of 7 great bike-trail overnights within easy reach of New Jersey

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.

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How to bike to the Plainsboro Preserve

Two easy options to bike to the Plainsboro Preserve.

Not every bike ride needs to be 50 miles, or even 30 miles. This is a family-friendly ride done with my neighbors in mind, one that gets you across Plainsboro to the New Jersey Audubon Society’s Plainsboro Preserve and almost 1,000 acres of preserved land.

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A bike ride to River Horse Brewing in Ewing, New Jersey

The D&;R Canal and the Lawrence Hopewell Trail get you within 30 minutes by bike of River Horse Brewing in Ewing, New Jersey.

That’s a brewery.

Time for another “weird beer” ride. This time we decided to try one of the big boys.

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How to bike from Trenton to Camden, New Jersey

It’s not as daunting as you might think.

New trail along the Delaware River.

Biking to Philadelphia on the New Jersey side has long intrigued me, especially after having ridden to Philly on the Pennsylvania side. So when a group a sister has started riding with announced a ride from Trenton to Camden and then over the Ben Franklin Bridge to Philadelphia, I was all in (well, at least to Camden.)

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Tour de Pines 2020 finale: Perfection

Another day off from work to take advantage of perfect fall weather — and this bike ride was so worth it.

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More New Jersey Pine Barrens: The Forked River route in the Tour de Pines

A bike ride through an unfamiliar part of New Jersey.

We took a day off from work — the forecast called for 75 degrees and sun. Would this be the final glorious fall day? Hopefully not, but we weren’t going to pass up a perfect blue-sky day.

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Biking deep into New Jersey’s Pine Barrens

This bike ride from Hammonton is inspiring me to bike more in South Jersey.

Our second ride of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s 2020 Tour de Pines took us deeper into the Pinelands: A road lined with pine trees as far as you can see, a sandy road that we fortunately didn’t take, a fire tower we didn’t climb. Sunlight glistening off a lake on a sunny October day.

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Biking in the Pine Barrens: the Carranza ride

Who the heck is Emilio Carranza? A doomed Mexican aviator. We learn his story on a 49-mile bike ride in rural Burlington County, New Jersey.

We’re doing the Tour de Pines again after having such a great time last year. Thanks to COVID-19, it’s do it when you have the time, rather than on a set day with dozens of other cyclists, like so many other rides.

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