List of rail trails in New Jersey
Appearance
This list of rail trails in New Jersey lists former railroad right-of-ways in New Jersey that have been converted to trails for public use, as well as proposed rail trails.
Established rail trails
- Atlantic County Bikeway - former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines; extends from the Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township, near Garden State Parkway exit 36, to the Atlantic County Institute of Technology in Hamilton Township
- Barnegat Branch Trail - former Central Railroad of New Jersey Barnegat Branch, formerly known as Toms River Railroad
- Beaver Lake Trail - former New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Hanford Branch. Trail is 3 miles long and is in Ogdensburg, NJ
- Black River Trail, part of the Patriots' Path - former Central Railroad of New Jersey Hacklebarney Branch, accessed from the Elizabeth D. Kay Environmental Center in Black River County Park, Morris County
- Capoolong Creek Trail - former Lehigh Valley Railroad Pittstown Branch. Starts in Pittstown, NJ and runs about 3.7 miles in Landsdown, NJ.
- Columbia Trail - former Central Railroad of New Jersey High Bridge Branch; trail runs for approximately 15 miles (24 km) and follows South Branch of the Raritan River for most of its length.
- D&R Canal Trail Along Delaware River - 32 miles of the D&R Canal Trail along the Delaware River between Trenton, NJ and Frenchtown, NJ utilizes the former Belvidere Delaware Railroad grade, later owned by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company which itself became a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Portions of the rail bed were built on the original canal towpath. Track remains intact in Lambertville, NJ. The rail-trail was created after track was removed in the early 1980s.
- Edgar Felix Bikeway - former Farmingdale and Squan Village Railroad and Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad.
- Great Valley Rail Trail - former Lehigh & New England Railroad. The trail is a 3.5-mile rail trail in Augusta, New Jersey, south of Branchville, New Jersey.
- Henry Hudson Trail - former Central Railroad of New Jersey Seashore Branch (extension to Freehold on former Freehold Branch was completed in 2006)
- Landsdown Trail - former Lehigh Valley Railroad Clinton Branch
- Middlesex Greenway - former Lehigh Valley Railroad rail line between Metuchen and Woodbridge; part of the planned East Coast Greenway trail
- Ogden Mine Rail Trail - former Ogden Mine Railroad trail, part of Mahlon Dickerson Reservation in Morris County
- Patriots' Path (Speedwell Lake to Woodland Road) - former Rockaway Valley Railroad; only portions of the Speedwell Lake to Woodland Road section of Patriots' Path use the former rail bed
- Paulinskill Valley Trail - former main line of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway to their former connection with the Lackawanna Railroad
- Pemberton Rail-Trail - extends from Hanover Street in Pemberton to Birmingham Road in Juliustown in Burlington County
- Rocky Hill Branch Trail - former Rocky Hill Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Runs along the east bank of the Delaware and Raritan Canal from Route 27 in Kingston to Rocky Hill. Most of the former rail right-of-way further east to Monmouth Junction is accessible, having been rail-trailed except where Route 1 crosses.
- Sussex Branch Trail - former Sussex Branch of Erie Lackawanna Railroad
- Thomas F. Hampton Memorial Trail - a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) portion of the trail follows an abandoned "donkey" railroad once located at Crossley[1]
- Traction Line Recreation Trail - former Morris County Traction Company trolley line. A two-mile (3 km) portion of the former trolley line along New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex line in Morris Township serves as a bike trail under the supervision of the Morris County Park System.
- Union Transportation Trail - A 7.2 mi rail trail in Monmouth County, New Jersey located on the former Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad
- West Essex Trail - former Caldwell Branch of Erie Railroad, part of the Lenape Trail system in Essex County
- Wharton Rail Trail - runs along the former Mount Hope Mineral Railroad right-of-way in Wharton; a short rail trail (approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km)) that is paved and has two covered bridges
- Wood Duck Nature Trail - former Hanford Branch of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
Proposed rail trails
- Camden County - The William Penn Foundation has granted $77,000 to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to study the development of rail trails on unused rail lines in and around the city of Camden and surrounding suburban areas. The study is a one-year project called the Camden Metro Region Trails Strategy.[2]
- Former Central Railroad of NJ line from Lakehurst to Winslow Junction - Momentum is increasing for support of the proposed Wharton Rail-trail in southern Jersey. The line was a remnant of the Conrail bailout of 1976 and has been abandoned since that date. Since then, trees have grown up through the rails. Most bridges remain intact and the right-of-way and its access roads are being used by rogue ATVs, mountain bikers and hikers. The area eastward beyond the Batsto River is barren, uneventful, and impossible to ride. However, westward to County Route 536, there are several interesting trestles over tea-colored cedar water streams and hardwood groves amongst the solitude of pine trees. This latter route is mostly single track and double track in places west of U.S. Route 206 at Atsion. The New Jersey Department of Transportation will be studying the conversion of the line.
- Union County Park Line rail trail - Two abandoned rails exist in the county. [3] The status of the abandoned railroad between Summit and Cranford is uncertain. The City of Summit and the Summit Park Line Foundation are working on turning the portion of the abandoned railroad from Morris Avenue to Briant Park in Summit into a rail trail that will be approximately one mile long. This rail trail, potentially called the Summit Park Line[4] would provide a greenway to connect several county parks, akin to a Summit High Line. It would create a path directly from Summit to the Arthur Kill in Linden, New Jersey by utilizing the Rahway Valley Railroad and the Staten Island Rapid Transit line. The Summit council applied for a $1 million grant toward the Park Line project in November 2016. [5] “If Summit is able to complete the project, it might help other parts of the greenway come through,” said Union County Public Relations Coordinator, Sebastian Delia.[6] The Rahway Valley Railroad runs from Summit to Roselle Park. Beginning in Hidden Valley Park, the railroad right-of-way continues by connecting Houdaille Quarry, Briant Park, Meisel Park, Rahway River Parkway, Galloping Hill Golf Course and Black Brook Park. The ending of the railway is on Westfield Avenue in Roselle Park. The Staten Island Rapid Transit runs from Cranford to Staten Island, although the project would only include the section that runs from Cranford to Linden.[7] The possible beginning in Cranford would be a lot adjacent to the railroad right-of-way on South Avenue East. The lot is currently owned by Lehigh Acquisition. The ending of this trail would be in Linden along another empty lot. A boardwalk could be placed over the existing tracks due to the possibility of the line being reactivated. The impact of the controversial planned Pilgrim Pipeline, which would use this particular abandoned rail line to pipe crude oil, kerosene, and diesel fuel through Cranford, New Jersey and Roselle, New Jersey, is not known.[8]
- Essex-Hudson Greenway, from Montclair to Jersey City, running along a track bypassed by the Montclair Connection[9]
References
- ^ "Crossley Preserve". New Jersey Natural Lands Trust. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ Rails to Trails, Fall 2006, Page 7.
- ^ <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1DBBlGLp93s1zuQRC_SVzk-8gR5g" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
- ^ "Home - The Summit Park Line".
- ^ "Summit Council Applies for $1 Million Grant Toward Park Line Project; Parking 'Holidays' for Thanksgiving Weekend, December Approved".
- ^ http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/2465[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/2465[permanent dead link]
- ^ Detailed map of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline route https://arcg.is/0iaOHr
- ^ "Essex-Hudson Greenway".