Delaware & Raritan State Park, New Jersey - Day Trip

 I've never met anybody who regretted taking a long ride. But I've met many who regretted not doing one. 

- Alistair Humphreys

June 27, 2025

The Delaware & Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park is one of central New Jersey's most popular places for boating, jogging, hiking, bicycling and fishing. The 70-mile-long park includes wooden bridges, spillways, locks, waste gates, and stone-arched culverts, as well as bridge and lock tender houses. The canal is a great place for history and canal lovers.

The canal consists of two parts: the 22-mile long "feeder canal" wanders along the Delaware River from just north of Frenchtown to Trenton. The 36-mile main canal winds northward from Trenton to New Brunswick.

Trail from Frenchtown to Lambertville

We rode our bicycles on the northern portion of the feeder canal from Frenchtown to just north of Lambertville in June 2024 (click here for our blog post about that trip). One year later we returned to ride our bikes south from just above Lambertville where we left off previously and headed down to Trenton's Cadwalader Park.

Trail from Lambertville to Trenton

We parked at the same access point as our last ride on the trail, just past the Holcombe Jimison Farmstead Museum. Heading south on the trail we passed under a train trestle where people had placed "love locks" on the fence along the canal. 

A short time later we arrived at the Alexauken Creek Aqueduct. The aqueduct still carries the canal over the Alexauken Creek. During high periods of water on the Delaware River a waterfall cascades down the east side of the aqueduct.

Further down the trail we passed the wooden remains of an old bridge on the Belvidere-Delaware Railroad and caught brief glimpses of Lambertville's "Grafitti Train" across the canal through the trees.

Once we entered Lambertville we passed behind buildings and houses, crossing over the main street near the historic 19th century Lambertville train station, which is now a restaurant and inn.

Entering Lambertville

Lambertville Station Restaurant

After passing through Lambertville we continued on past the ruins of the Lambertville Outlet Lock. The outlet lock allowed canal boats crossing over the Delaware River from Pennsylvania's Delaware Canal to enter the D&R Canal. From there they could travel on through Trenton before heading inland to New Brunswick and crossing the state to arrive at New York Harbor. All that remains of the lock today are some ruins hidden in the overgrowth. Next we passed a second lock and the lockkeeper's house.

Even though it was a little cool and the sky was cloudy, we enjoyed riding along the level trail, passing by many bridges over the canal and watching for signs of wildlife. 

At one point we passed by the historic Titusville Coal Tower across Route 23, which parallels the trail for much of its distance. The tower is not a true coal tower, but instead is a rock crusher and loader that was once used by the Belvedere-Delaware branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad to serve a nearby quarry. The railroad line is now the canal trail.

Further along the trail we arrived at Washington Crossing State Park. The park was founded in remembrance of the historic crossing of the Delaware River by General George Washington and his troops on December 25, 1776. Park visitors can tour the visitor center museum to learn about the Revolutionary War. The nature center offers year-round programming and displays representing the local environment. Picnic areas, playgrounds, trails and group camping offer something for everyone. We stood on the banks of the Delaware and took photos across the river to Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Pennsylvania side.

Bridge between New Jersey & Pennsylvania

Washington Crossing Historical Park, Pennsylvania

The Johnson Ferry House, built in approximately 1740, is located in Washington Crossing State Park near the Delaware River. In 1776 General George Washington used the ferry and probably the house at the time of the historic Christmas night crossing of the Delaware. Today the house offers living history programs that immerse visitors into the 18th century.  

Johnson Ferry House

Reproduction of an 18th Century Ferry boat

Back on our bikes, we continued south until we arrived at the recently rebuilt Scudder Falls Bridge. The bridge has a one-of-its-kind shared used path for trail users wishing to cross over the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The "falls" after which it is named are really just some rapids, and are located about 1/2 mile north of the bridge. We rode up onto the bridge for the view of the river before heading back down onto the trail again.

View of the Delaware River From Scudder Falls Bridge

From this point south we had the trail pretty much to ourselves until we got closer to Trenton. Once again we enjoyed views across the canal and the wildlife we found along the way. Before long, the trail started to become more urban in nature, with houses on one side of the trail. Finally, we saw ahead the small pedestrian bridge leading to Cadwalader Park.

Cadwalader Park is the largest urban park in the city of Trenton. The nearly 100-acre green space is also the city's oldest park. At one time the park had a train stop along the long gone Belvedere & Delaware Railroad. As mentioned previously, much of the D & R Canal Trail passes along the former rail corridor.

After taking some time to eat our lunch on a park bench we headed back over the bridge to return to where we had started. The heavy clouds had become darker and we ran into some light rain on the way back, but it wasn't enough to soak us through our clothing. We arrived back at the trailhead above Lambertville 4 hours after we had started, having ridden our bikes just over 28 miles. 

We really enjoyed our ride on this trail. There is a lot of history surrounding it. We would definitely be returning again to pick up the trail in Trenton.

If you would like to watch the YouTube video of our ride on this section of the D&R Trail, which includes footage of nearly all the places mentioned in this post, click here.

* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *