Anyone have a good route for this? Does the Northern Tier spur work well? I was a little wary of that since it takes you through Newark, and after driving through it a couple times, I can't imagine is the most bike friendly of areas. I could be wrong, though. I was looking at heading to New Jersey and taking a ferry to the WFC, but I'm not really sure if that's the best way. Thanks for any advice

some friends and i just did nyc to philly last weekend and we used this route i found on line:
https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=583381

you can't cross the goethals bridge since the pedestrian path is closed these days. that's too bad since the ferry to and from staten island is free.

some other guys i know took the PATH train to Newark and started from there.

Some places are better than others to be certain, but you're going through these areas in broad daylight and you're not going to be hanging around. There's enough people going around with tons of stuff hanging off their bikes, and you're not going to be seen as a particularly juicy target. Optionally, SEPTA and NJ Transit allow bikes on off-peak trains for free (with paid passenger, of course), so you can take a little train sag whenever you want.

You can take a look at the East Coast Greenway route, which is somewhat different from the one that brooklyn_bike posted.

https://www.greenway.org/

In PA, it uses Bike Route E, which is an OK on-road route with plenty of markings. After you cross into Trenton, you can take Calhoun St. to Princeton Ave., which turns into Princeton Pike. Probably a better bike route to St. Hwy. 27 than taking US 206 all the way.

When we were riding that route a few years ago I contacted a bike club in New York city to ask them about routes. They suggested taking the ferry from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersy over to Manhattan. that's what we did and it was great! The roads to Atlantic Highlands was great for cycling and the ferry was easy. You would have to research and make sure it still runs and all that, but I suspect it does. It's the easiest way to get into NYC.

The Atlantic Highlands ferry still runs, and that would be a good option. One way fares are $23/passenger and $5/bike.

https://www.seastreak.com/faresandschedules.aspx

Only possible drawback is that the ferry runs only four times a day on the weekends, but it's not a bad place to wait.

I was looking at the Belford Ferry, which is right down the road from Atlantic Highlands, so that's good to know. All the bridge crossings seemed super sketchy, so that's good news. Getting out of PA seems pretty easy (mostly bike lanes/paths), but any recommendations of NJ? I might give the Google Maps bicycle directions a shot, but I'm pretty sure it takes me on a road that doesn't exist anymore.

Google Maps wants to route bikers on US 1 for some reason. Google Maps tends to complicate the route unnecessarily by turning you onto side roads that might not even exist. If you keep off the major highways like US 1, and you cut out some of those unnecessary turns, you should be fine with the Google Maps directions. Interstate crossings are a problem, but once you're inside NJ, if you can bike on the road, you can cross any bridge that the road uses.

Here's a convenient list of interstate crossings into NJ and whether you can get a bike across:

https://www.state.nj.us/transportatio...e/bridges.shtm

How much climbing is there on this route and does anyone know when/if the Goethals bridge pedestrian path will open?

I will buy you dinner at any retaraunt in NYC if the Goethels Bridge path opens during my lifetime.

Send me a PM and I can give you a route that the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia uses for its annual ride to NYC. Most people start in New Hope, PA, but there is a route all the way from Philly. About 95 miles from New Hope, 135 from Philly. You end up in Hoboken, where you can take PATH or the ferry to Manhattan. Unfortunately, weekend ferry service from Hoboken only goes to Midtown and it sails not from the downtown train station but rather from a dock at the north end of Hoboken. You catch PATH at the Hoboken train station. On the weekends you will need t change trains to get to the WFC stop.

Note that our route is only do-able on the weekends as it goes through the Port of Elizabeth & Newark. Great place to ride when we do our annual event the Sunday before Labor Day. But it would be suicide during a normal weekday.