Touring - Route through/map of southern NJ

I'm looking to head from Philadelphia to Chatsworth in the pine barrens. Short ride, ~50 miles, but New Jersey is notorious for aggressive driving. I've got a great bicycling map of the greater Philadelphia area, but that only goes so far east into NJ. Anyone have any info on cycling in NJ? Anyone else planning on riding to the Cranberry Festival?

Hey Ken,
Check out njbikemap.com, it should help you out.

Rick(PA.)

Thank you!

I'm looking to head from Philadelphia to Chatsworth in the pine barrens. Short ride, ~50 miles, but New Jersey is notorious for aggressive driving. I've got a great bicycling map of the greater Philadelphia area, but that only goes so far east into NJ. Anyone have any info on cycling in NJ? Anyone else planning on riding to the Cranberry Festival?

Just because we take speed limit signs as "suggested" doesn't necessarily mean we're aggressive. OK, Jersey drivers fit the classic Northeast driver stereotype. But we make up for it by having very bikable roads. Flat, with nice shoulders.

Chatsworth from Philly is doable on some excellent bike roads. Go to map quest or some other map site and look at a route to Chatsworth from Kresson road at Browning Lane in Cherry Hill. You could ride across the BF Bridge and hook up with a direct route to Kresson, but a better bet is to use the Patco HiSpeed Line from center city to Woodcrest station in Cherry Hill. That station is about 3 easy miles from Kresson road. Once on Kresson you want to work your way out to Medford/Medford Lakes using back roads(not Rt 70). From Medford lakes use Rt532 to Chatsworth. Once in Chatworth you'll notice that the main drag, Rt563 has bike lanes in both directions. Go west for five miles to hook up with Rt72 or East about 20 miles to New Gretna. Or you could peel off to Rt 542 and do Batsto, then loop back to Kresson using country roads thru Pleasant Mills, Nesco, Hammonton, Waterford, Atco, and Marlton Lakes. You could also extend your trip by continuing on to Ship Bottem, Beach Haven or Barnegat Light. It doesn't have to be a 50 mile trip.

From the Speed line look for the overpass over the speed line and take that road until it ends. T/L onto Burnt Mill Road. This road is one of the few you'll encounter without a shoulder. It's a short ride to the light at Rt561. Cross 561 onto Browning Lane and follow to Kresson Rd. Kresson Road is suburban riding with a bike lane all the way to Rt 73. Lots of bikes on the weekends and used by all the fund raisers for their charity rides. Once across 73 there are a hodge podge of country back roads to get you to Medford Lakes. Some are more heavily travelled than others. Most aren't bad traffic wise. At this point you are on the western edge of the Pinelands National Reserve. Known as the Pine barrens(Soil too sandy to farm) this area represents one of the largest undeveloped areas of land on the east coast. Excellent for bike riding as the are many paved roads throughout the area. The western edge is developed with the towns of Medford, Medford Lakes, Atco, Hammonton, Shamong and Tabernacle. About 10 miles east of RT 73 things thin out and it's all woods for the next 30 miles.

Rt532 is a 50mph road, well patrolled by the state police. The shoulder isn't very wide but there are always bikes on this road and drivers are use to them. Rt 70 offers much wider shoulders but much heavier traffic with lots of trucks.

Chatsworth is an interesting little town. There's only a few businesses there. Ocean Spray has a processing plant there. In the middle of nowhere, property values have soared as the the town has been included in the Lenape School District, one of the nation's top public school systems.

Remember that riding in the Pine Barrens after dark isn't advised lest you want to meet Mrs. Leeds 13th child, AKA The Jersey Devil. Or worse, you could run into some Pineys. Stay away from pick up trucks with bumper stickers that read; I'm a Piney, from the tip of my head all the down to my hiney. Hey, I didn't write, I'm just the messenger here!

Have Fun.