The Columbia Trail is a 15 mile long rail trail that runs from High Bridge in Hunterdon County to Bartley in Morris County. The trail goes through scenic Ken Lockwood Gorge and along the Raritan River, running through woods, behind houses, and through some small towns along the way.

It’s also mostly in shade, so that is where we headed on another hot day. The multi-use trail (walk/bike/horse) is easy, mostly level  (slightly uphill going from High Bridge) and covered in crushed gravel. We prefer it for biking, but it would be good for easy hiking as well.

30 miles. We started at High Bridge and did the entire trail to Bartley, then back.  A nice shorter route would be High Bridge to Califon, and back, at about 10.2 miles roundtrip. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking Easy Hike, Hunterdon, Morris

We had a ton of heavy rain the night before, so we decided to grab the bikes for a change and head over to the towpath at the Delaware & Raritan Canal, one of our favorite places for biking.  Parked at the Rocky Hill lot and headed north.

We aren’t into mountain or road biking and prefer to stick with towpath/railtrails. The level towpath follows the canal is good for easy biking, walking, or jogging. The towpath is free from traffic, but there are road crossings (which can be busy).

The trail had some muddy ruts and some puddles in spots, but not bad considering the downpour the day before.  Some crushed gravel had been added to the trail further north, making it even easier. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking

We had such a nice time the week before at D&R that we had to head over there again on Labor Day Weekend. Beautiful upper 70s day, but very windy due to the hurricane passing off shore.

We prefer to bike the towpath, but it makes for very easy hiking as well.

Route: 21.75 mile loop from Washington Crossing State Park, north through Lambertville. We turned around at Prallsville Mill. When back in Stockton, took a right and headed over the bridge into PA. Followed the towpath south to Lambertville, crossed the bridge, and retraced our route. We had planned on coming back over the bridge at Washington Crossing, but it was closed for repairs.

Notes… It’s pretty busy around Lambertville, and you need to cross the street and watch a lot of walkers on the trail… go slow… very slow. In Stockton, there are some stores and restaurants right on the trail too. Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking Easy Hike

Opted for a bike ride since it was going to be mid-90s and sunny today and we hadn’t been for a ride in awhile.

We headed over to our favorite bike route… the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath. We usually park at Rocky Hill because it’s closer, but decided to head over to Lambertville because it had been awhile since we’d done that section.

It was so nice and breezy cruising along on our bikes. (We like rail trails and comfort bikes… we’re not that into mountain biking, and road biking in Jersey is… well… small shoulders and tons of whizzing traffic isn’t really our cup-o-tea)

The trail surface is level packed dirt or fine crushed stone, basically a rail trail. It is mostly shaded, and runs along the canal and river. On this section of the towpath, there are about 28 miles of trail… so you can get a real long ride in if you like. We prefer to bike the towpath, but it would make for easy hiking as well (more like walking really). Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking Easy Hike

16 miles roundtrip; south from the Rocky Hill parking area.

Fourth of July weekend was so perfect out, we got to fit in another day of outdoor fun. After hiking 11 miles the day before in Wawayanda, we opted for an easy ride in our favorite biking spot – The Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath… Read more…

NJ Hiking NJ Biking