Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, New Jersey - Day Trip

No bike ride is too far when you have good company.

- Unknown 

June 2, 2024

Our plan for bike riding in 2024 was to complete the Delaware & Lehigh Trail by picking up where we left off in Easton, PA, and following it in sections until we completed it in Bristol, PA. We wisely checked the website for the D&L and found that many sections were closed for trail and bridge maintenance. So, instead of attempting the D&L, we decided to try crossing over the Delaware River into New Jersey and riding the trail that runs along that side of the river.

The Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park is a 70-mile long corridor and one of New Jersey's most popular places for outdoor recreation. The canal, completed in 1834, was a route for transporting freight between Philadelphia and New York City. The canal ran from Bordentown on the Delaware River down to Trenton, then turned inland along the Raritan River before reaching its terminus in New Brunswick. Water is supplied to the main canal by a 22-mile "feeder" canal that begins in Lambertville and runs north next to the Delaware River to Bulls Island. After the canal was closed in 1932, ownership was tranferred to the state of New Jersey and it was slowly transitioned into a linear park. In the 1980s a portion of the Belvidere & Delaware Railroad corridor from Bulls Island to Frenchtown was added to the park.

Sign from the former Belvidere &
Delaware Railroad along the trail

We started our ride early on a beautifully sunny June 2nd, starting our ride from the trailhead at the Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum in Lambertville, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from New Hope, Pennsylvania. We rode north on the gravel canal towpath from there with the Delaware on our left and the canal on our right. The trail passes by locks and lock tender houses and crosses over numerous bridges under a wonderfully cool canopy of trees that line the trail. 

D&R Canal A modern sluice replaced the original  canal gates at this lock

D&R Canal Towpath The Wickecheoke Creek passes under the railroad bridge on the right and flows into the canal. Overflow water from the canal flows down the dam face and into the Delaware River on the far left.

We passed through Stockton, then stopped for lunch at Prallsville Mills, a historic industrial complex including a 1790 linseed oil mill, a 1877 gristmill, a 1850 sawmill, a 1900 grain silo, and a 1874 railroad trestle.

Trailside eatery in Stockton in the railroad station

Prallsville Mills

Heading north past Bulls Island, the trail becomes the Bel-Del Rail Trail, which is more of a two lane dirt track. After passing through Frenchtown the trail narrowed considerably into a  single dirt track which we followed until it disappeared in dense undergrowth where it became a hiking trail. We were surprised to note that we had biked a very easy 17 miles without breaking a sweat!

On our return we stopped at Bulls Island Recreation Area, a really nice park with a long pedestrian suspension bridge that gave us the opportunity to briefly cross over the Delaware to Pennsylvania and the D&L Trail on the other side. This is one of 7 bridges that allow you to easily transfer from each side of the river on the bike trails.

Ramp leading to the pedestrian bridge Fun on the river

Memorial marker for canal workers Delaware River View across the bridge to Pennsylvania

Looking north at the D&L Trail on  the Pennsylvania side of the river

Pedestrian bridge to Bulls Island from the Pennsylvania side of the river

Then we headed back past Prallsville Mills, finally arriving back at the trailhead in Lambertville almost 4 hours after we had started out.

The view of the canal and river at Prallsville Mills

Surprisingly, we only had 61 feet of elevation change along the trail, which helped make our ride much more enjoyable and less strenuous. We highly recommend riding this section of the D&R Canal Trail. Views of the canal and river were beautiful, and the majority of the trail was tree-shaded. There were a couple of rough patches along the trail, but for the most part our ride was smooth. We look forward to returning at some point in the future so we can ride the section from Lambertville south to Trenton.

* All photos and videos are the property of the authors except where otherwise noted. *