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…
For detailed hike directions, maps, photos and GPS coordinates, visit our Helyar Woods page.
With a ton of snow predicted and it already flurrying, we headed for a short hike at Helyar Woods, a small parcel of woods adjacent to Rutgers Gardens, in New Brunswick.
2.5 miles; very easy, little elevation gain. This is a very short, easy hike at a piece of woods mainly used for dog walking and light walking. Some of the trails are marked, others not, in a seemingly haphazard way… but it’s not a large or confusing park. There may be a trail map available but nothing was open the day we were there, and I’ve located nothing online.
Headed to our favorite go-to park when we don’t have a lot of time to drive to something longer: Cheesequake State Park. Did a quick 4.3 miler that combined the YELLOW, BLUE and GREEN trails. It was a nice day, but you could certainly tell that winter is coming – was glad I grabbed my fleece at the last moment.
A lot of the park is marshy with boardwalks and the trail surface is easy. One of our favorite parks for getting a quick 4 or 5 miles in.
For detailed hike directions, maps, photos and GPS coordinates, visit our Maurice River Bluffs page and our Parvins page.
Hiked two small and easy parks in south, south Jersey, in Cumberland County. And I don’t mean like Cherry Hill south Jersey. I mean south south Jersey.
Both parks have rock-free trails that are characteristic of south Jersey so you cover ground a lot quicker. If you are from central or north Jersey, the terrain here will seem very different. Very little elevation change, easy trail surface, lots of pine trees and some cedar at the Bluffs….
For detailed hike directions, maps, photos and GPS coordinates, visit our Sourland Mountain page.
4.9 miles. Easy to moderate, trail surface has rocks and roots, minor elevation gain in the beginning. Follow the SQUARE markers the entire way for the Ridge Trail.
Weather was really nice, not quite as hot and muggy as August in Jersey usually is. We only had one morning available this weekend to get a hike in, so we picked a park somewhat nearby – this park is about 50 minutes away for us. We hadn’t been to Sourland in quite a few years, and when we went before the longest trail was maybe 3 or 3.5 miles which is just too short for us to drive for, we would be hiking as long as driving. They’ve since extended the Ridge trail to 5 miles.
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.