Delaware River Loop Trails, PA and NJ - Ewing to Washington Crossing with Washington Crossing Historic Park

ABOUT THE PARKS: 

D&R Canal State Park

Delaware Canal State Park - Pennsylvania DCNR

Washington Crossing Historic Park

Loop Trails for Hikers and Bikers - Friends of the Delaware Canal

November 16, 2021 News Release: Commission Opens New Delaware River Crossing - Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission

DIRECTIONS: 

GPS Coordinates 40.26483, -74.84787

Scudder Falls Parking Lot on the New Jersey Side

TRAIL MAP: 

This hike is the second from the bottom.

HIKE DISTANCE: 10.3 miles

THE HIKE: 

From the Scudders Falls parking lot, a right on the towpath ...

... then a right onto the newly opened ramp to the I-295 shared use path.

A few bump outs along the way for views ...

.. of the Delaware River on this dreary, foggy day.

On the PA side the path veers left then right over the crosswalk onto the ...

... towpath.

The path goes under several small bridges with no more road crossings.

The highlight of this hike was the beaver in the canal who "hiked" with us for quite a stretch.

Belted Kingfisher

To complete the 7-mile loop shown in the graphic, this would be the right turn to access the bridge but we continued straight to explore the Washington Crossing Historic Park first.

This great blue heron ...

... was overseeing the takeoffs and landings of many, many groups of Canada geese.

At the next bridge after the pond on the right ...

... we turned right along the soccer fields along the opposite side of the pond.

We meandered around the other side of the park and would return to the pond side later.

These must be the boats used in the Washington crossing reenactment.

The bridge we would be crossing later.

Back over at the pond, all of the many, many geese were gone.

But that great blue heron was still there.

On the road heading towards the bridge back into New Jersey.

I-295 where we had crossed at the beginning of the hike in the fog in the distance.

The ramp on the right ...

... leads straight to the towpath between the canal and the Delaware River.

Back at the parking lot, we first made a hard right onto a road that was closed to traffic.

This backtracked parallel to the towpath but along the Delaware River.

It ends at a gas cut.  A gravel path leads steeply back up to the towpath but we retraced as the towpath was now getting busier.

The annual slideshow of one picture from each hike over the past year:

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