Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park [NJ]
Park Overview:
A linear park consisting of 64 miles of flat trail and towpath along an historic canal, with many 19th century structures still standing.
Park Description:
The Delaware and Raritan Canal was built in the early 19th century as an effective means of transportation between Philadelphia and New York, facilitating connections to the rest of world. Once completed, it became one of America's busiest navigational canals. In 1871, its busiest year, total tonnage shipped surpassed the longer and more famous Erie Canal. The canal was abandoned as a route for navigation in the 1920s, but it was preserved virtually intact because it also served as a source of water supply for the neighboring towns (unlike the Morris Canal, which was largely obliterated). Today, with its 19th-century bridges, bridge-tender houses, past and present locks, cobblestone spillways and hand-built stone-arched culverts, the canal is an attraction for history lovers.
The D&R Canal State Park provies a corridor for wildlife to move among forests and preserves in Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Burlington Counties.
The 24-acre Bull's Island Natural Area is on a small forested island surrounded by the Delaware River and the Delaware & Raritan Canal in Stockton. The lowland floodplain forest is dominated by sycamore, silver maple and tulip poplar and contains several rare plant species. Check its website for details.
Trails Overview:
The park is in the shape of a lazy "V," as the feeder canal parallels the Delaware River [for about 30 miles] and then the main canal extends from Trenton to New Brunswick [for 34 miles]. Unfortunately there is a gap where the canal crosses US 1 outside Trenton.
- The entire length, both main and feeder trails, are ADA accessible. Most of the pathway is surfaced with light gravel; very little is paved, however.
- A four-mile loop hike is possible between Kingston and Rocky Hill by following the towpath in one direction and an abandoned rail bed in the other direction.
- Loop hikes are also possible along the feeder canal by crossing over the Delaware River to Delaware Canal State Park in Pennsylvania.
- Public transportation is available. You can take the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line to the Bound Brook station, from where the canal (in South Bound Brook) is a half-mile walk. From the NJ Transit Princeton station (take the Northeast Corridor Line to Princeton Junction and transfer to the one-car "dinky" for the ride to Princeton), the canal is about one mile away. The distance from Bound Brook to Princeton is 20 miles, which can be covered in a (long) day, with both ends accessible by train.
- Click for a set of maps, including a mileage table and distance charts. Use the Web Map link on this site for a map of the canal.
Park Acreage:
6595.00 acresMunicipality:
Princeton [main office]A linear park consisting of 64 miles of flat trail and towpath along an historic canal, with many 19th century structures still standing.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal was built in the early 19th century as an effective means of transportation between Philadelphia and New York, facilitating connections to the rest of world. Once completed, it became one of America's busiest navigational canals. In 1871, its busiest year, total tonnage shipped surpassed the longer and more famous Erie Canal. The canal was abandoned...
NJDEP News Release, October 13, 2009
NEW PATHWAY WILL COMPLETE BIKE LOOP FROM FRENCHTOWN TO NEW BRUNSWICK
09/P23)TRENTON - Department
of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Mark N. Mauriello today
announced construction will begin on pathway that will complete the 70-mile
trail running along the Delaware & Raritan
Canal from Frenchtown to New Brunswick .
“This unique public-private partnership will open an area previously inaccessible to outdoor enthusiasts,” Commissioner Mauriello said. “This final stretch will allow cyclists, joggers and walkers to enjoy a scenic route throughTrenton .
Under Governor Corzine’s leadership, we’re blazing new trails that will put our
extraordinary natural resources within everyone’s reach.”
The easement along theD&R Canal
in this area was owned by Conrail. As a result of negotiations, Conrail agreed
to release its easement on 12 acres and to convey two small parcels to the
state so that the trail project can go forward. Conrail will be able to
continue rail operations on its remaining property.