ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.27904, -74.70107
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| Parking off US Route 1 at the D&R pedestrian bridge. |
TRAIL MAPS:
BIKE DISTANCE: 35.3 miles
THE BIKE:
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| Taking the pedestrian bridge over US Route 1. |
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| The trail to the left leads to the Lawrence Hopewell Trail - this is where I left off before. That bird in the upper right ... |
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| ... that would be a bald eagle. |
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| Heading back. |
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| Now continuing towards Trenton on the D&R Canal Towpath. |
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| At Bakers Basin Road the trail continues on the other side of the canal. |
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| At the Carnegie Road bridgetender's house the D&R towpath skips back over to the other side of the canal but I kept straight and would be returning from the other side. |
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| This trail comes out at Whitehead Road which is a very dicey crossing. Actually, there is no crossing over 4 lanes of speeding traffic mingled with busy US Route 1 on and off ramps. So there is a plan that started in 2021 for a bridge replacement with pedestrian crossing with construction in 2026-2027. Say what? In the meantime there is NOTHING - no crosswalk, no pedestrian crossing signs, no nothing. So how about grabbing a $20 bucket of paint and painting some stripes across road until construction happens? This totally blows my mind. Fortunately I crossed early on a Sunday morning when traffic was light. I was concerned about the return later in the day but would have to deal with that when the time came. |
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| So for now a right on Whitehead Road over the canal then left to cross over just beyond the end of the guardrail on the left. |
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| A left on Mulberry Street ... |
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| ... leads to an adequate crossing with signs. |
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| And once over Mulberry Street, the trail becomes paved all the way into Trenton. |
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| What is this poor baby doing here with US Route 1 a stone's throw away to the right? |
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| And then there is this one. She was friendly, not feral. |
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| I would have taken her with me had there been a way to but there was not and she took off. |
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| Coming into Trenton there is the towpath and the greenway. I would be taking the greenway back. |
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| It's mostly walking the bike through Trenton with lots of road crossings, sidewalks and twists and turns. It's a pretty sad area in a state of disrepair with litter everywhere. |
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| Interesting pedestrian crossing. |
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| This part was particularly creepy. The trail goes along the fence to the end then to the right through a dark, trashy area. |
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| I took the trail to Calhoun Street up ahead past that large beige building where I crossed and turned left leaving the D&R Towpath. |
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| Following Calhoun Street to ... |
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| ... the Calhoun Street Bridge over the Delaware River. |
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| While I was standing on the bridge taking pictures, I zoomed in to the brown pier thing (?) jutting out into the water to see what birds were there. |
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| Nice! A great egret and a juvenile little blue heron. |
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| Here they are again. And when I uploaded the next picture I was shocked to see something other than a bird that I had not seen when I took the picture. |
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| Where the heck did that fox come from? |
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| Entering Pennsylvania the other side of the bridge I turned left at the crosswalk ... |
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| ... then left again ... |
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| ... then right on the Capital View Riverwalk. |
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| At the end a hard right ... |
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| ... on Park Avenue then at the bend a right through Williamson Park to... |
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| ... a right on North Delmorr Avenue for a short distance. |
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| Then a left on Franklin Street (there was no street sign) that leads to the Delaware Canal Towpath. |
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| I turned left where the trail shares a paved residential road before leaving to the right. |
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| Greater Yellowlegs |
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| I rode out a few miles to Old Bristol Pike where I turned around and headed back. I could have kept going because it was such a picture perfect day but I had to keep in mind the mileage to get back. |
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| On that short paved section where I had come off of Franklin Street and keeping straight to Scudders Falls. |
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| I thought it was a statue at first because there was no movement. But it was real. |
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| I would hate to be a frog or a fish looking into that eye. |
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| Leaving the Delaware Canal Towpath to the Scudders Falls Shared Use Path over the I-295 Bridge. |
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| You are allowed to ride a bike on this one but there are also pullouts to stop ... |
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| ... for a shot of the Delaware River to the left of the island ... |
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| ... and to the right of the island heading back over to New Jersey. |
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| Different species sharing the space so nicely. |
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| Taking the ramp all the way down ... |
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| ... to a hard right on the Delaware and Raritan Canal Towpath. |
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| The other end of the greenway/towpath split. I went right to do an out-and-back over to Calhoun Street where I had left off previously. |
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| At Calhoun Street turning back. |
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| Now taking the greenway to the left which is a much nicer path - no trash, no road crossing, no creepy sections. |
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| Just before this spot is where the greenway and towpath converge; now retracing on the towpath. |
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| Battle Monument Park |
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| Leaving Trenton back on the paved portion. |
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| Coming up on that horrid Whitehead Road crossing I was lucky - got there just as there was a break in the traffic and was able to immediately cross. I had a backup plan had I needed it. If you turn right and go to the next intersection there are traffic lights where you can cross more safely to the other side then return back. |
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| I know, turtle picture overload but I love them! |
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| Back at the parking lot where I was still the only car there. Doesn't seem to be heavily used at all. |
