Cycling The Raritan Across New Jersey
by Doug Dosdall in North America , USA , Pennsylvania , Cycling
Last weekend I took advantage of the last of the Indian Summer and did a 2-day 170 mile bike ride out to New Hope, PA. It was both an awakening to the possibilities of the Northeast and a confirmation that my lifestyle is better suited to the West coast.
The sun was shining gloriously last Saturday as my bike and I took the PATH train out to Newark, NJ to try and avoid the worst of the NY traffic. Unfortunately, even from the end of the line, the first 2+ hours of the ride were through ugly industry, battered neighborhoods and traffic filled streets. Parts of the Newark area resemble a bombed out war zone. But once I got beyond that it was sublime. In South Bound Brook, NJ, I discovered a trail alongside the Raritan Canal. I switched to the gravel trail where I rode with the Millstone River on my right, the canal on my left and a trail treed with stately trees resplendent in their fall colors.
The trail meandered along the canal for some 15 miles before I returned to my mapped out route along country roads. This route was no letdown after the canal. The narrow car-free roads wound through dense forests occasionally breaking out into farms and small villages which seemed to have changed little since the 17th century.
At the end of the day, there was the grand Delaware River and the bridge that took me into Pennsylvania. New Hope itself is a quaint little tourist town about 45 minutes drive from Philadelphia. The sort of place long term couples, straight and gay, go to shop for antiques and admire the fall colors but with a bohemian urban tinge with a couple of piercing and tattoo places alongside the New England properness.
The next morning I was enchanted by the memories of the canal and so as I crossed the Delaware River I struck out South instead of Northeast as the signs indicated that the park running along the Delaware River was the same Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park that I had followed the previous day. I now read about the history of the canal which was not indicated in yesterday's section. The 66 mile, 75 feet wide canal was dug by hand (!) opening in 1834. Initially the boats up the canal were towed by mules which explained the paths on both sides of the canal were not just added when the canal became a park.
The canal follows the Delaware river south some 22 miles to Trenton, NJ. On the way I passed through more picturesque villages including the historically significant Washington's Crossing. Trenton was a bit of a wakeup call though. It reminded me of what the urban Northeast is like. Quite suddenly the woods disappeared and shortly thereafter the trail just ended in a rundown neighborhood with no stores or resources where I might find a map telling where the trail might continue. After a few mystified looks from people I asked I fortunately found a local cycling on his way to the basketball courts who started to explain where, on the other end of town, the trail continued. Instead of finishing the explanation though, he cycled with me to the trailhead about 15 minutes away. I certainly would've never found it!
The next segment of the trail almost disappeared and became more of a goat path than a bike path but I muddled through until near Princeton the trail became gorgeous again. I could almost imagine I was in Cambridge, England watching the scullers from nearby Princeton University on the wide river practicing. Only the occasional ancient house dotting the far coast. The city reappeared gradually with the last hours again through increasing suburbs and traffic. The countryside was beautiful but if I had tried to do a single day ride I would have been able to see almost none of it before having to turn back. Although later I learned that instead of starting from the PATH terminal in Newark, I could have taken a NJ Transit train farther into the state to start the trip and avoided the worst of the urban blight.
