ABOUT THE PARKS: Although the bike paths have different names, it is one continuous paved path from mile 17 to mile 0.
NOTE: As as 10/17/2025 a section of the bike path is closed between Sand Spring Road (about mile 10) and Goshen Road (about mile 9). Check the
Dennis Township website for updates.
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 39.17831, -74.76176
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| Parking at the northern end of the bike path at mile 17.3. There are only two spots but there are other parking options early on at Wescot Road at the Hagen Road crossing and off of Route 83. |
TRAIL MAPS:
Cape May Bike Map - Cape May City (for continuing after the bike paths end at mile 0)
DISTANCES:
Bike - 22 miles
Hike - 5 miles
Bike - 21 miles
THE BIKE AND HIKE:
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| Starting out at the very northern end of the trail at about the 17.3 mile point. |
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| The Dennis Township Bike Path has signs, trash cans and benches for about the first 3 miles. The rest of the bike path does not have any of that. |
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| Every mile is marked throughout. |
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| Every street crossing shows the name of the street. |
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| Parking off of Hagen Road. |
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| Large parking lot off of Route 38. |
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| Going through this wooded area, the Lizard Tail Swamp Preserve is just off to the right trough the woods but there is no access from here. |
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| I wanted to incorporate the Cape May County Zoo which would be a left turn at the light but it was too early and the zoo was not open yet. I would try on the return route. |
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| Crossing over to the right instead and then left. |
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| The northern end of the trail closure at Sand Castle Drive. From here I turned left ... |
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| ... through a series of quiet residential streets. |
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| Then at the stop sign ... |
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| ... right on Court House South Dennis Road where there is a wide area to bike. |
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| When that fizzled out, I hopped over to ... |
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| ... the sidewalk where there was nobody walking. |
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| Passing by Acme ... |
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| ... then turning right. |
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| Right on Church Street at the railroad crossing although those tracks are defunct. |
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| Then a right on Goshen Road which leads back to the bike path just beyond the closure. |
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| That line of cars was for paper shredding. |
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| Somewhere along here I was almost run over by a pickup truck. I mean literally within a hair. He was parked in that grassy area between the bike path and the road. He was getting into the pickup just as I was coming up on him. Never in a million years would I have thought that he was going to turn left ONTO THE BIKE PATH!!! And that is exactly what he did at the precise moment I was riding by. I yelled right into his ear (because I was right next to his window) and he slammed on his brakes just in time. I think he was trying to turn to go the opposite way by circling around using the bike path but he never looked to see if a bike was coming. |
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| Cold Brook Train Station |
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| Mile 0 at Route 9. |
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| Turning right there is another short bike path ... |
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| ... to the intersection with Seashore Road where I crossed left then right to take Seashore Road. |
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| There is a dedicated bike path along this road. |
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| It's uphill on the bridge over ... |
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| Cape May Canal |
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| Then a nice, easy cruise downhill. |
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| As the bike path narrowed and fizzled out, I turned right to take residential streets. |
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| Then right on Sunset Boulevard ... |
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| ... to the South Cape May Meadows Preserve on the left. |
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| Bike parking at the far left corner. |
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| Now the hike begins. |
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| I don't know what it was about these ducks but you are going to be seeing a lot of duck butts. |
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| Really, it was ridiculous! There must have been some fine dining under that water. |
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| I thought great egrets would have all migrated by now but when I checked the range map, turns out they spend all year in Cape May! |
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| A bunch of napping green-winged teals. |
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| Green-winged Teal |
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| Common Buckeye - apparently they sometimes overwinter in South Jersey. |
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| White-throated Sparrow |
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| Wood Duck |
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| Groups of Canada geese were taking off every few minutes. |
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| The backsides of Buffleheads. See, very few were cooperating for photos. |
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| No clue what this is going under. |
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| Heading out to the beach. |
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| Taking the ramp up towards the lighthouse. |
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| People in the lighthouse. |
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| So many ducks ... |
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| ... or rather, duck butts. |
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| Trying my luck to the left at the bird blind. |
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| Oh, look at that, no duck butts! I see Gadwalls and an American Wigeon. And of course, the swans. |
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| Mallards |
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| Another bird I was not expecting to see this time of year - a Yellow-rumped Warbler. But indeed, they do overwinter in New Jersey and there were tons of them here. |
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| This little guy had better go hunker down for the winter because a deep freeze is a-comin'. |
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| Back at the beginning ... |
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| ... and grabbing the bike for the looooong ride back. |
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| Is everyone confused by this warm weather? This praying mantis was smack in the middle of the bike path so I grabbed a stick to guide him over to the side. He did not go willingly. I tried to explain he was going to get squished and he finally complied. |
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| So I had been watching for the bike path closure to detour back around. I got to this area and did not remember seeing electrical poles being replaced on the way out. I was really getting confused. |
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| Then I get to Sand Castle Drive which would have been the end of the closure not the beginning but there is the closure sign. Really, really confused. |
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| Now the part I had been on earlier was full of equipment and new poles. I then realized that while I was away they moved the construction area and the closure signs! I just went on through (because I did not have a detour planned for this part) and it was fine. |
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| So beyond that, at exactly 3:30 PM I reached the Cape May County Zoo directly across the street. Guess what time they close? 3:30 PM. Oh well, for another time. |
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| Northern Flicker |
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| Almost at the end. |
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