ChipSeals

When it comes to taking the train to my ride it's usually been up to Westchester and Putnam counties.

I recently moved to where Penn Station is convenient, and I'm thinking I'd like to explore some roads near stops off the Morristown NJ Transit line... Madison, Denville, etc. From photos I've seen those areas look great but I'm not familiar much with them.

Anyone have any favorite routes or GPX tracks they'd like to share? Mixed surface is fine, welcome even. Thanks!

njlonghorn

I don't have any particular GPX tracks in mind, but the area is beautiful and well worth exploring. You really can't go wrong by heading out and just riding.

Where you should go depends on what you are looking for. The further you go, the prettier it gets but the harder the rides. (If you haven't been out here, western NJ is really hilly.) Ideas:

(1) For a nice, fairly lazy ride with good natural scenery, get off at Madison and head southwest into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

(2) For a somewhat more challenging ride, get off at Lake Hopatcong and ride all the way around the lake. The lap itself is about 20 miles, but there are plenty of opportunities to add mileage by exploring nooks and crannies and/or adding Lake Mohawk to the loop. For still more mileage, add in Allamuchy Mountain State Park. There will be lots of up and down, but no serious climbs.

(3) If you really want to climb, go all the way to Hacketstown (end of the Morristown Line) and head to the west and north. You can easily put together a century with 10k+ feet of climbing.

A final idea is to meet up with a ride by the Morris Area Free Wheelers, Link. There are regular rides in that area.

ChipSeals

Very cool. How would you characterize the weekend traffic around Lake Hopatcong? I remember being around there once, thinking it was very scenic but slightly congested on the roads.

indyfabz

The Morristown service doesn't go all the way to Lake Hopatcong on the weekends. It stops at Dover. Montclair-Boonton won't help you either as it only goes as far at Montclair on the weekend.

goodvibe

If you are riding off of Morristown and you want to ride off road, you can ride a ton on the Patriots Path and Lewis Morris Park. You can find trail maps on Maprika of the Patriots Path and Lewis Morris.

Dahon.Steve

I like taking that train and riding back to Newark Penn station. It's too bad this line has horrible weekend service so I end up taking the train out of Hoboken during the week days.

goodvibe

You can try this one. It starts on a paved path then goes to a dirt path, then goes to full on MTB. It is a good route and is fairly close to the train station.
https://www.strava.com/activities/473099161

ChipSeals

Awesome. Thanks!

davlafont

So how does this story end? Did you make your way out to bear country?

bubbagrannygear

njbikemap.com

excellent source - rates road by traffic density and scenery. Recommend taking a gladstone train and getting off at Far Hills. Going west from there you have some fantastic options.

How far are you looking to ride?

thehammerdog

Come west young man morristown area is great riding rolling hills go oug towards chester to horse country.

davlafont

Indeed, the various courses of the Revolutionary Ramble and the Gran Fondo NJ are proof.

Rev Ramble is accessible from the Madison station stop. Revolutionary Ramble Bicycle Tour ? North/Central New Jersey
GFNJ is at Morristown station stop. https://granfondonj.com

noglider 

I used to live in Maplewood, NJ. The only way to have scenic rides from there was to go west. Once you're in Chatham, things get even more scenic. There are plenty of good roads in that area, but there are also some horrific ones, and a map alone won't give you a hint.