Explore the best rated trails in Paterson, NJ. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the D & H Canal Linear Park and Norwalk River Valley Trail. With more than 94 trails covering 661 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The former “Old Put” commuter rail corridor that ran from the Bronx to northern bedroom communities in Westchester and Putnam Counties is popular once again, only this time it’s for people riding...
The Cross Island Parkway Trail closely follows its namesake thoroughfare through northeastern Queens. From its northern end, you will soon enter Little Bay Park, which offers lovely views of the...
The Joseph M. McDade Recreational Trail runs nearly the length of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River across from New Jersey. The protected...
The Jones Point Path occupies an abandoned motor vehicle route (old US Route 9W). The path provides bicyclists with a relatively safe bypass to a dangerous section of busy US Route 9W near Bear...
The two diverse sections of the Shore Parkway Greenway Trail blend urban and scenic, offering views of sights ranging from the Statue of Liberty to wildlife refuges. Following the Belt/Shore Parkway,...
Tallman Mountain State Park Bike Path is partially paved and bisects the Tallman Mountain State Park. The route provides a motor-vehicle-free way for bicyclists using US Route 9W to connect with...
The Saddle River County Park Bike Path is a beautiful suburban trail that winds alongside the Saddle River. Most of the trail runs through moderately dense suburban development, with residential and...
The Landsdown Trail runs 1.8 miles between Lower Landsdown Road and W. Main in Clinton. The trail passes among open fields, woodlands and wetlands and provides access to the South Branch of the...
Freedom Trail Bikeway will eventually be a 10-mile route linking parks and open spaces throughout South Brunswick Township in northern New Jersey. The trail follows a former rail line through...
The Klara Sauer Trail (formerly known as the Beacon Riverside Trail) runs for 1 mile along the Hudson River on the west side of New York's village of Beacon. The trail occupies the same corridor as...
The Ocean Parkway Trail closely follows its eponymous thoroughfare nearly 5 miles through several Brooklyn neighborhoods, ending only a block from the popular Coney Island boardwalk. Those traveling...
The Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail is built on a former Conrail right-of-way. Conrail and its predecessors, Penn Central, New York Central, and The Wallkill Valley Railway, provided service to farmers...
New York City's East River Greenway offers views of the East River, Queens, Brooklyn, and the iconic bridges that connect these boroughs to Manhattan. The paved pathway traces the waterfront on one...
When complete the Green Brook Multi-Use Trail will meander for 7 miles through the communities of Plainfield and North Plainfield, New Jersey. The trail will connect major regional trails and parks as...
The Perth Amboy Harbor Walk offers scenic views of the Raritan Bay and Raritan River as it hugs the shoreline of the City of Perth Amboy, founded in 1683 and home to one of the nation's oldest ports....
The D & H Canal towpath is nestled within the 300-acre D & H Canal Park in the New York hamlet of Cuddebackville. The crushed-stone trail, stretching just over a half mile, is one section of a larger...
The South County Trailway rolls 14.4 miles through one of the most densely populated parts of New York, but its route through pocket woodlots, parks, and golf courses and along riverbanks makes it...
The City of Port Jervis is the latest community to save a portion of the former D&H Canal and turn it into a greenway for use by residents and visitors. A section of the canal, which is approximately...
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk follows Staten Island's eastern shore from Miller Field -- a recreational area for sports, picnicking and bird watching -- to Fort Wadsworth. Highlights of the...
While not a "rail-trail," the Hook Mountain/Nyack Beach Bikeway is a very scenic trail along the Hudson River in Rockland County. The southern half of this trail is flat and runs right along the...
The Laurelton Greenway is a short but well-maintained multiuse path connecting the neighborhoods of Jamaica and Rosedale in southern Queens, NY. The two-lane paved trail starts in Jamaica, and travels...
At 2.6 miles, the Staten Island Greenbelt Multi-Purpose Trail offers a nice jaunt for joggers, walkers, and cyclists alike. The crushed-stone path is 6-feet wide and runs from Rockland Avenue to...
The 2.8-mile eastern phase of the Bedminster Hike and Bikeway allows pedestrians and cyclists to safely traverse part of Bedminster Township by crossing over I-287 and US 206/202 via a series of three...
The Joseph M. McDade Recreational Trail runs nearly the length of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River across from New Jersey. The protected...
The corridor now home to the Sussex Branch Trail was originally the narrow-gauge, mule-drawn Sussex Mine Railroad, which opened in 1851 to haul iron ore from mines in Andover to the Morris Canal....
The Ridgefield Rail-Trail meanders for nearly 2.5 miles through the forested exburbs of Ridgefield, Connecticut. The trail passes among suburban acreages, along a creek at one point, and past a couple...
The Old Erie Path reveals spectacular views of the Hudson River Valley as the rail-trail rolls along cliffs that border the river’s western shore. Although fairly short, it joins two other...
The Kingston Branch Loop Trail is a trip up one side and down the other of the scenic tree-lined Delaware and Raritan Canal. The eastern half of the loop follows the bed of the Rocky Hill Railroad and...
Although just a mile long, the Beach Channel Drive Greenway in Queens offers expansive views of Jamaica Bay and the beautiful Marine Parkway Bridge as it traces the border of Jacob Riis Park. On the...
Freedom Trail Bikeway will eventually be a 10-mile route linking parks and open spaces throughout South Brunswick Township in northern New Jersey. The trail follows a former rail line through...
The Saddle River County Park Bike Path is a beautiful suburban trail that winds alongside the Saddle River. Most of the trail runs through moderately dense suburban development, with residential and...
Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue Greenway parallels its namesake roadway for just over a mile from Marine Parkway Bridge to a connection with the Shore Parkway Greenway Trail. The two trails are part of the...
The High Line trail runs 30 feet above the bustling Manhattan streets and sidewalks below, which for trail lovers makes it an attraction in the same league as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State...
The Ocean Parkway Trail closely follows its eponymous thoroughfare nearly 5 miles through several Brooklyn neighborhoods, ending only a block from the popular Coney Island boardwalk. Those traveling...
The Cross Island Parkway Trail closely follows its namesake thoroughfare through northeastern Queens. From its northern end, you will soon enter Little Bay Park, which offers lovely views of the...
The former “Old Put” commuter rail corridor that ran from the Bronx to northern bedroom communities in Westchester and Putnam Counties is popular once again, only this time it’s for people riding...
The Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway is a 12-mile linear park that runs from the town of Ossining north to Westchester County's Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill. The trail is built on land...
This 2.1-mile long paved path runs directly adjacent to (about 30-40 feet off of) the Boulevard in Mountain Lakes, NJ, and follows the exact route of a former trolley line operated by the Morris...
The Hudson River Greenway (HRG) is one of the most popular places to ride, walk, and jog in New York City. It makes up part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway loop, the cross-state Empire State...
The Great Valley Trail, built on the former Lehigh & New England Railroad, offers an unpaved, natural experience through quiet woodlands between the townships of Hampton and Frankford. Although...
The paved pathway running through West Hudson Park offers a scenic, tree-lined escape between Harrison and Kearny, NJ. The trail provides access to the park’s stocked lake, water park, athletic...
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A short rail trail with two covered bridges occupying a portion of the former Mount Hope Mineral Railroad right-of-way in Wharton, NJ. In the future this trail will be linked with the Rockaway...
The Delaware & Hudson Canal Linear Park is 45 acres with a trail situated along the historic D&H Canal. Remains of the original locks, dry dock and waste weirs are visible from the towpath trail....
The Perth Amboy Harbor Walk offers scenic views of the Raritan Bay and Raritan River as it hugs the shoreline of the City of Perth Amboy, founded in 1683 and home to one of the nation's oldest ports....
It’s hard to believe that a noisy locomotive once ran through here, given that stillness is a defining characteristic of the Middlesex Greenway. Even when people pour onto the trail from the adjacent...
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Built on the former Erie Railroad main line, the 15-mile Heritage Trail runs through the small Orange County towns of Goshen, Chester, Monroe, and Harriman. The shaded trail runs through different...
The Kennedy Trail begins at the northwest corner of the 68-acre campus of John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers. The town, which sits 30 miles from White Plains and 55 miles from New York...
The William R. Steinhaus Dutchess Rail Trail—named for the county executive who championed it—is a local treasure in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The 13.1-mile trail runs through what seems...
The old New York Central rail line that ran from the Bronx to northern bedroom communities in Westchester and Putnam Counties carried commuters during the workweek, but on the weekends tourists...
Randall's Island Park Trails offer a series of interconnected paved loops on an island in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park offers a quiet setting, especially enjoyed by runners, with...
This trail is located in the Mahlon Dickerson Reservation which is a unit of the Morris County Park Commission. The trail follows an abandoned railroad bed through hardwood forests, past ponds, swamps...
The two diverse sections of the Shore Parkway Greenway Trail blend urban and scenic, offering views of sights ranging from the Statue of Liberty to wildlife refuges. Following the Belt/Shore Parkway,...
At first glance, there’s no evidence that an aqueduct ever existed along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. The trail is often a singletrack dirt pathway that winds through communities and trees and...
The Old Erie Path reveals spectacular views of the Hudson River Valley as the rail-trail rolls along cliffs that border the river’s western shore. Although fairly short, it joins two other...
The Columbia Trail has the distinction of being named for a natural gas pipeline that runs beneath it for 15 miles in rural northern New Jersey. The crushed-stone trail rolls along the South Branch of...
The Bronx River travels from the mouth of the East River north to the Kensico Dam, providing views of the natural history of the area. Because the trail is under development, there are several gaps...
Like Wantagh State Parkway, Ocean Parkway was built in the postwar 1930s to provide access to the crown jewel of the state park system, Jones Beach State Park. Unlike the former road, however, this...
<p>This trail is the legacy of the first elevated roadway in the United States, constructed by William K. Vanderbilt in 1904. Vanderbilt created the parkway to get to his family’s estate in Long...
The New Springville Greenway stretches just over 3 miles, primarily paralleling Richmond Avenue on New York's Staten Island. A highlight of the paved pathway is its proximity to Freshkills Park, a...
Spanning more than 70 miles, the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail is the longest completed multiuse trail in the state and is described by many as the crown jewel of New Jersey trails. A...
The trail along the boardwalk has been extended west by an asphalt path to the west end and to the nature preserve.
I have biked about two-thirds of this trail, and it's great. There are several access points, and many places where you can exit the trail to ride on local roads.
I parked at the westernmost parking area and rode west. Nothing much to see (other than the Orange County prison) and fairly populated on a Monday.
I then rode East towards Goshen. Just before the town, a resident has put up several "No Trespassing; Private Property" signs and the trail is no more although the map shows it jagging left and coming back into town.
What you have to do is ignore the signs for about 10 yards and make a u-turn onto a road that leads up to West Main Street. Take that through town to North Church and then to St. James. You'll find the rest of the trail headed to Harriman.
The trail is excellent and well-maintained. I only went as far as Chester. That will be my starting point next time. From Goshen to Chester there were a lot of walkers and dog-walkers -- all extremely polite and practicing trail etiquette. It's a little too tame and populated for my taste, but I am guessing as you go further east, it is less so.
I will be returning.
My wife, dog and I ride the trail nearly every day. The Hartley road entrance is a bit tricky but once you figure out how to get to in its a piece of cake. Hint...when you get into Goshen and get to the end of the first part of the trail follow the dirt path to the fence, there is a gate, be courteous and shut it behind you and ride thru the development and you will be in connect with railroad ave and see the connection for the rest of the trail. Enjoy!!!
Beautiful in fall, but a workout going from Brewster. A few major hills.
Been on this trail many times! Will return!
Some sections are worse than others with tree roots under the pavement, signs are not located thru Matawan, (train station, etc.) need clean bathrooms along the route.
Recommend!
Beautiful scenery. (some points you can see NY!)
This trail is currently closed for PSEG construction until June 2020! I went there on Friday Sept. 20 for the relatively short ride it affords and was met with heavy construction equipment and signs. I don’t know if they’re making trail improvements as well but they were working on the section of right of way that goes through the park. Hopefully that will now be included as part of the trail.
Only acceptable for the large wheels bikes. Can not enjoy rollerblading or a ride on a smaller bikes.
This is a great, scenic route that weaves its way through at least 3 different parks in the area, and under quite a few bridges. Mainly flat and most of the trail is covered by nice tree canopy to keep you shaded. We had a great time traveling the entire length of the trail (and back) today. However, that said, I do have to agree with some of the other posts on this site...the path can get a bit congested in areas (like the trail head by the duck pond, and as you ride through the parks). This is the only reason i didnt give a 5 star review. A lot of the walkers didnt honor the keep right except to pass rule, others walked 2 sometimes 3 abreast taking up the majority of the pathway, and still others stopped in groups in the middle of the trail. My advice would be to hit this on off peak days/hours, but if you do go on a weekend or holiday, and your on a bike, just make sure you announce yourself and advise those in front of you that you are passing on the left. The majority of trail users were considerate and moved over to the right when needed. All in all, it was a great ride, and i would recommend it to beginner to intermediate cyclists.
i love walking here with my dogs. i see turtles, snakes, butterflies, hummingbirds, (lots of other birds) and countless native plants.
It’s mostly flat and has lots of great scenery, especially towards the south of the tail. I biked with my friend for 7 miles before we realized it would take another 7 to get back to the car. We loved it anyway! Great workout without feeling you worked out!
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