Explore the best rated trails in Rutherford, NJ. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Norwalk River Valley Trail and Ridgefield Rail Trail. With more than 100 trails covering 688 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.
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The Patriots' Path covers roughly 35 miles of terrain and is open to mountain biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing and hiking. The multi-use trails links parks, open space, recreational...
The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway is a 1.5 mile walkway along the bank of the Hudson River in Jersey City. The walkway offers stunning views of Manhattan as well as access to a number of ferries and...
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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...
When completed, the Norwalk River Valley Trail will run from Danbury to Long Island Sound in southwestern Connecticut, for a total of about 27 miles. Currently, several disconnected sections totaling...
The tree-lined 22.5-mile Henry Hudson Trail is the definition of scenic variety. Traversing both urban and natural environments, the route passes wetlands, streams, fields, and the Garden State...
The Oxford Bikeway is a .9 mile long pave trail constructed on an abandoned railroad right-of-way. The trail can be accessed at three points. To the north the trail ends at Pequest Road, however there...
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...
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...
Running alongside a New Jersey Transit passenger line, the Traction Line Recreation Trail has been around since 1986, when Jersey Central Power & Light donated portions of the land to the Morris...
The Kings Park Hike & Bike Trail runs for 1.5 miles between Old Dock Road at Church Street in Kings Park and Nissequogue River State Park. The trail is a town of Smithtown park and follows an...
The Maybrook Trailway is a paved multiuse trail stretching across Putnam and Dutchess counties in New York state. The trail, which is owned and was built by Metro North Rail, occupies the former...
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...
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...
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 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...
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 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 Hutchinson River Greenway offers a convenient alternative to the Hutchinson River Parkway, which it closely follows. Although adjacent to the busy thoroughfare, trees have been planted along the...
Traveling north-south through Wall Township is the Route 18 Bike Path. The northern terminus is the Municipal Compex, which houses the County Library, the Municipal Court and the Police HQ, as well as...
Running alongside a New Jersey Transit passenger line, the Traction Line Recreation Trail has been around since 1986, when Jersey Central Power & Light donated portions of the land to the Morris...
This trail is much better suited to walking than to biking. It provides excellent access to the Pequest River which is stocked with trout. Not all of the bridges across the river have been decked and...
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 Fort Washington Park Greenway brings residents and visitors to Washington Heights right up to the edge of the Hudson. The mile-long trail begins near the pier at the end of Dyckman Street and...
The Jones Beach Boardwalk traverses Jones Beach State Park, running parallel (and south of) Ocean Parkway. The pleasant pathway offers views of the beach and the ocean. Although bicycles are...
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...
The Manasquan Reservoir Trail is located in the Howell Township and provides a great natural destination in the heart of the town. The trail forms a perimeter loop around the 770 acre reservoir...
You might expect a 4-mile rail-trail that passes through three downtowns to be excessively urban, but the quaint town centers on the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail are compact and surrounded by...
The Raymond G. Esposito Memorial Trail travels from one end of the village of South Nyack to the other in 1 mile but greatly expands its reach by connecting with the Old Erie Path and a new shared-use...
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 Lawrence Hopewell Trail (LHT) offers more than 19 miles of pathway on a developing loop through public and private land in Lawrence and Hopewell Townships, about 5 miles north of Trenton. The...
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 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...
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The Lenape Trail is an paved multiuse pathway stretching two miles end-to-end. The winding trail sits on the tree-covered bank of Plainsboro pond, home to geese, swans and other waterfowl. Residents...
The tree-lined 22.5-mile Henry Hudson Trail is the definition of scenic variety. Traversing both urban and natural environments, the route passes wetlands, streams, fields, and the Garden State...
<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...
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...
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...
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...
The Kings Park Hike & Bike Trail runs for 1.5 miles between Old Dock Road at Church Street in Kings Park and Nissequogue River State Park. The trail is a town of Smithtown park and follows an...
Roosevelt Island Greenway, a little-known gem in the Big Apple, was named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1973. To reach this scenic pathway, board New York City’s only aerial tram,...
The Oxford Bikeway is a .9 mile long pave trail constructed on an abandoned railroad right-of-way. The trail can be accessed at three points. To the north the trail ends at Pequest Road, however there...
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The Trolley Line Trail is a 2.5 mile paved pathway between Rabbit Hill Road and Penn Lyle Road in West Windsor. The trail is on the right of way of the former Fast Line electric trolley that connected...
When completed, the Norwalk River Valley Trail will run from Danbury to Long Island Sound in southwestern Connecticut, for a total of about 27 miles. Currently, several disconnected sections totaling...
The Sandy Hook Multi-Use Pathway travels 8.7 miles alongside the picturesque beaches and historical monuments of the Sandy Hook peninsula. The pathway begins in the Gateway National Recreation Area...
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...
The Jones Beach Boardwalk traverses Jones Beach State Park, running parallel (and south of) Ocean Parkway. The pleasant pathway offers views of the beach and the ocean. Although bicycles are...
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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 nicely paved Bethpage Bikeway runs alongside suburban roads for long segments of the route, but it’s much more than a suburban trail. Each on-road suburban stretch is broken up by one of three...
Traveling north-south through Wall Township is the Route 18 Bike Path. The northern terminus is the Municipal Compex, which houses the County Library, the Municipal Court and the Police HQ, as well as...
The system of trails in Loantaka Brook Reservation are open to hikers, cyclists and equestrians, although the trails are marked as to which uses are permitted on each segment. Loantaka Brook...
This trail is in an area rich in geological history. Zinc and Iron Ores were transported along this branch from mines in the area that operated for over 200 years. The trail is scenic with a slight...
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....
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The Wood Duck Nature Trail, appropriately named for the secretive duck, was made possible through the hard work and dedication of refuge volunteers. This beautiful trail now extends about 1.5 miles on...
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...
Just an hour north of New York City, the Timp-Torne Trail offers a scenic hike through Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks with panoramic vistas of the Hudson River. The rugged blue-blazed trail...
Prepare to be whisked into the past when you take the Edgar Felix Memorial Bikeway. The paved trail follows a short-line railroad corridor from the coastal city of Manasquan to a village at Allaire...
The Eastern Parkway Trail is a 2-mile route along a tree-lined boulevard in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. The path begins at Prospect Park, which houses some of Brooklyn's most popular...
The John Kieran Nature Trail is a short loop that borders Van Cortlandt Lake and its associated wetlands. It is a wonderful site for bird-watching. The trail also passes several sites of significance...
The Manasquan Reservoir Trail is located in the Howell Township and provides a great natural destination in the heart of the town. The trail forms a perimeter loop around the 770 acre reservoir...
We did the entire trail as an out and back on 1/18/21. This trail is a great smooth ride with some nice scenery. The western end is being extended and about 2.5 miles is now open, making the out and back 34+ miles. Another 2.5 miles or so in underway and looks to be close to opening.
This newly paved trail and great for a walk or ride. Enter either side. Great views and some nice rolling hills. Hopefully the trees along the sides will stay upright and not fall and ruin the new fences and pavement.
I arrived around 11 at the trailhead. Parking lot was almost full. The first two miles of the trail were muddy, but the ground was firm enough to ride comfortably. Some rural road crossings. Beautiful views of farms, bridges, tunnels and streams. Friendly people, uncrowded, some elevation. There were some steep ravenes without guardrails and quite a bit of swampy areas so not sure what conditions will be like in summer.
I have yet to find a similar trail since I moved to NJ. I am always trying to get back there!
A hidden gem in Queens. The actual Vanderbilt section might only be 3 miles but you can bike from Alley Pond Park near the tennis bubble all the way to Citifield in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. That’s more than 8 miles of biking only crossing 4 or 5 streets. All of it is through or alongside parks where cars cannot run you over. Great, underutilized trail!!!
Smooth trails all around. Mostly shaded area. Highly recommend any skaters to trail skate here.
We have been riding this trail for about the past 10 years. Our first time out, we started out at the Hialeah trailhead. Will not do that again. Only for the younger, more adventurous mountain biker, not older geezers like my buddy and myself. Now, we start at the trailhead near Bushkill. We bike out 12 to 15 miles and come back. Nice views of the Delaware. Trail is pretty well-maintained. No skinny tires recommended for this trail. Also not recommended for riders looking for a "smooth" ride.
This is not really a one long trail but a series of segmented trails. While the beginning of each segment is marked with an "OCA" post, at the end of most segments there is no indication about where to find the next thread of the trail. Often you have to go through busy suburban streets to make the connection, some of which are quite dangerous. Other reviews recommended using GPS on your phone, but Google maps only indicates where the various trail segments are and it is difficult to find out how they connect. My friend & I attempted to do the northern half of the trail from Tarrytown up to the Old Croton reservoir. When you get to the Clearview School in Scarborough, you have to ride on a very busy Rt. 9, which has no shoulder, until you can take up the trail on Scarborough Rd. When we got to Ossining, the trail ended with no indication how to continue, so we again had to ride on Rt. 9. Then my friend hit a broken drainage grate on the side of the street, which was covered with leaves so that she could not see the gap in the pavement. It threw her head-first onto the asphalt. She was knocked out for several minutes, had a concussion, was bleeding profusely and nearly broke her neck. I called an EMT which took her to a hospital, where she stayed for two days and had stitches to her face and several tests. She was lucky she was not paralyzed (thanks to wearing a helmet). Exercise GREAT caution if you take the Ossining part of the trail. Some of the other segments are O.K. but some of them are just like riding through peoples' backyards.
Took my bike for 30 miles on this trail. What a relaxing, scenic experience. You want to get out there early if your biking, as the foot traffic increases around 11am. I enjoyed the different surfaces, the natural areas. A lot of deer and chipmunks. Definitely worth the experience. Whether you are on foot or wheels, pack plenty of water and a light snack. You will need it on this trail!
Renovation wrapped in early November. The revamped and now paved Jones Point path is great, used it today. Quiet, scenic, and much gentler than the steep up and downs on the parallel segment of 202/9w. This makes the 9w corridor my favorite way to bike to Bear Mountain overall now. It's that good.
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