dwrz

Is it possible to ride the D&R Canal Trail on a road bike? Or are mountain wheels necessary?

Any insight in general on the trail? I am thinking of riding it at the end of this month.

indyfabz

Which part? The trail along the feeder or the one along the main? I have ridden the former from L'Ville to Frenchtown on my road bike with 23c tires. It's doable. From what I have seen, the stretch south of L'Ville also looks doable on a road bike.

The web site for the park says that the trail along the main is a "natural" surface in most places. Not exactly sure what that means, but it's suitable for horses if that tells you something.

dwrz

Thanks, that helps. I guess the only question now is whether the section between Trenton and New Brunswick is also possible on a road bike.

I'm not exactly sure how the trail is divided into parts, and which is the feeder/main. I would be riding in from Newark to Trenton, then up to Frenchtown. The Wikipedia article seems to suggest that a mountain bike is necessary for good portions of the trail. I have 32mm knobby tires on my bike now, and I've taken the bike off road before, just never for very long distances.

Do you also have any insight for camping on the trail? I read the one campground on the trail is closed for the full 2013 season.

indyfabz

32c tires with tread should be fine.

Yep. Bull's Island campground is closed and may never re-open. It's a great loss. For several years I have ridden there from Philly on Good Friday and ridden back on Easter. The walk-in sites were nice and secluded and you could hear the river rushing by. And you could walk across the pedestrian bridge for drunks at the Black Bass Hotel when it finally re-opened. The first year my GF and I were the only people at the campground. Kind of spooky, but fun.

There are two alternatives along the PA side. The first is this place:

https://www.buckscounty.org/governmen...s/Tinicum.aspx

It's located a mile or two south of the PA side of the bridge in Frenchtown. Cross the bridge, turn left on PA 32.

The other option is a few miles north. Private place called Dog Wood Haven. You cross into PA and head north on PA 32. Make a left on Lodi Hill Rd. The entrance to the campground will be about 2.5 mile on your right, up a short, steep hill.

Never stayed at Tinicum, but I have seen it. It looks somewhat "rustic." Stayed at Dog Wood Haven last year during a tour down from Port Jervis, NY. The owner is a nice man. He offered me a discounted rate of $15 because I arrived by bike and then offered me a beer. He has three sites that are nice for bikes--A, B & C. B looked to be the best. Looks to be a lot of seasonal people there. I stayed there on a Saturday at the beginning of May. There were others there, but they weren't noisy. One nice thing is that you can walk along the PA tow path and cross the bridge into Milford, NJ, where you can buy groceries if you are cooking. There is also a decent pizza, etc., place in town along with The Ship Inn bar and restaurant, which I think it overrated and overpriced, and the Milford Oyster House.

dwrz

Thanks again, indyfabz. That helps a lot. It's really too bad about Bull's Island, sounds like it was awesome. I think Tinicum will be a good alternative.

indyfabz

BTW...Here is a link to some maps for both segments:

https://www.dandrcanal.com/maps.html

The main route is the New Brunswick to Trenton portion. The feeder is portion that comes down from Frenchtown to Trenton.

If you are interested in something different, check out this thread where I describe Port Jervis, NY down the river to the feeder section:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ing-Groups-NYC

If you are in N. Jersey, you could take the train from Seacaucus Jct. to Port Jervis and make a loop out of it or catch the train back north at Trenton. The station at Port Jervis doesn't have a full high level platform (not sure if it has a small one for wheelchair access, but I don't think it does), but you could take off your gear during the ride to make it easier to detrain. It's the last stop on the line so there would be no time pressure.

dwrz

Thank you. What road is taken from Port Jervis to the D&R? I am in NYC, I could see doing a nice loop Bear Mountain, Port Jervis, D&R, then back to Newark/NY.

indyfabz

Here is a map of the route from Port Jervis to Upper Black Eddy, across from Milford, NJ and not that far from Frenchtown:

https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/port-jervis-ube

There is a walkway along the I-80 bridge to get you across the river to Delaware Water Gap, PA.

Riding through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is very nice. When I did it in the beginning of May there was almost no traffic. The first leg of Old Mine Rd. after you cross U.S. 206, is banged up in places. But there is so little traffic that you can easy avoid the ruts and pot holes. Aside from Phillipsburg, the rest of the route has little traffic. Not sure if I mentioned in the other thread about the lack of services between Port Jervis and Delaware Water Gap, PA. You can either buy supplies at the Price Chopper grocery store off U.S. 6/209 in Matamoras, PA (just acorss the river from Port Jervis) or drop you gear at Worthington, ride into DWG for stuff, and then ride back. No grocery store there, but a there is a convenience store, diner and a few other places. It's a short day from Port Jervis to the campground at Worthington, so you shouldn't have a problem with being able to carry enough water. The campground is along the river and has showers, flush toiletes and a bear locker at one of the group sites. You definitely want to use that. There are bears up there. Usually you need to reserve a site for two days during the weekends. However, a worker I spoke with told me that they would not turn away anyone showing up on a bike. They put me in one of the group sites. There was no one else camping at the site.

There is also very little between DWG and Belvidere, NJ. Just a small convenience store at a gas station in Portland, PA that doesn't have much. I carried groceries from Port Jervis to Worthington and the next morning at the diner. Plenty of stuff in Belvidere and Phillipburg. In between, the roads are scenic and virtually devoid of traffic until you get to Milford.

Also, I forgot to mention that there is an IGA grocery store in Frenchtown if you end up camping at Tinicum. It's kind of hard to find. At Bridge & Harrison St. in the center of town, head north on Harrison to 6th and make a right. I have been riding in that area for years and never knew it was there until last summer.

dwrz

Can't thank you enough. All very helpful. I've put the IGA on the map too, good to know. Unless something happens, I should be on the trail this week!

rhm

As for the D&R towpath riding, and the surface, it's also a question of when you want to do this. At this time of year, the surface gets pretty wet, and the daily freeze-thaw cycle gradually turns the top few inches into mud. As soon as the freeze-thaw cycle stops, the surface starts drying out again, and pretty soon it is hard enough to ride. But if you hit it at the wrong time, it's a terrible slog. Even after most of the towpath dries out, there are muddy puddles.

I ride a section of the towpath, as part of my commute, on 32 mm tires every day. In the last month I've been opting for the road a fair amount.

dwrz

Rode the trail on Wednesday, and had no problems with 32mm knobby tires. I think the only cobbled spillway where I preferred to dismount was the first one at the start/end of the trail in New Brunswick. Fortunately, only a few sections were muddy, although I did ride on the road Thursday morning from Frenchtown to Lambertville, just to pick up some time.

Tinicum was a great campsite, very conveniently located. Thanks again for the suggestions, indyfabz.

I took NJ Transit to/from the trail, the bike/ride transition was not a problem.

nd2010

I honestly prefer route 27 or even route 1 between Princeton and New Brunswick. Route 1 is perfectly straight all the way and it has a wide shoulder.

coney46

Route 1 also has cars travelling at 65 mph

rhm

Riding on Route 1 is no fun. I've done it once, when my train konked out near Jersey Avenue. They managed to get the train into the station and told everyone to get off. At first I was getting dirty looks from the other passengers, because my folding bike was an inconvenience to them; these turned to jealous looks as I unfolded it and and rode off; but unfortunately Route 1 was my only option for getting where I was going. I had no trouble, but it was not the kind of place I would ever ride for recreation!

From what I've seen, Canal Road, just to the east of the canal for most of the way from New Brunswick to Princeton, is a fun road to ride on. I have ridden it many times between Princeton (or, more precisely, Kingston) and Millstone. North of that I know the road is incomplete, I don't know the options.

tom cotter

Indy, good stuff! Thx for posting!

OP, I've ridden the Jersey side of the D&R from below Washington's Crossing to Frenchtown. I did the ride as a fitness out and back ride using my Mountain Bike. The Mountain Bike was overkill and IMO the ride can be done on any road bike, though I think I'd preferr to to the ride on at least 28cms just for some extra flotation on some of the softer spots.

I was up on the Pa side this past weekend, and there some northern sections are still unridable, though much work has been done. Also, the Ped Bridge at Bull's Island is closed for construction.

tom cotter

BTW, anyone ever ridden the roads that come up away from the river on the Pa side? We did a car sight seeing/exploring trip this past weekend that included this area. We stopped by Ringing Rocks Park. WE decided to work our way back to the river, but construction forced a detour that kept us a few miles west and up on the ridge line. What a cool road!!! It was a blast to drive !! Lots of curves!!! of course i view all roads from a cyclist POV and these roads were definately ridable as the traffic was light and the curves kept speeds low. Don't know how much I'd enjoy the climbs away from the river, but the ride back down would be fun!!!

dwrz

I only looked at the roads running parallel to the river on the PA side on Google Street View. There seems to be a very long and very steep climb heading south. If I had been in fresher shape, I definitely would have tried it.