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The only section I have not ridden on this trail is the 10 mile section from Mtn. Top south to White Haven but I'm told it's rough and single track - best for a mountain bike. There's a little strip mall at the trail head in White Haven, pizza, ice cream, drinks, bike rentals and restrooms all available. The 26 miles section from White Haven to Jim Thorpe is smooth, compact gravel with sections of shade, making it an enjoyable ride for any style bike. Quite scenic with numerous water falls. Restroom and water is available in Rockport, about the half-way point of this section. 1 star deduction for the following: tourist crowds on the weekends that don't know bike etiquette, it's a little rough for about the 1st mile south of White Haven and there's a soft spot or two as you approach Glen Onoko right after your cross over the railroad tracks. Follow the trail into Jim Thorpe, you have plenty of places to get something to eat and drink. The newly constructed bridge at the end of the parking lot will eventually connect the gap between JT and Lehighton. Once completed (2019, 2020?) you'll be able to bike about 3 1/2 miles of the eastern section of the trail, cross over the vehicle bridge in Weissport
and re-connect to the trail in Lehighton. Be careful of traffic on the bridge.
The 20 mile section from Lehighton to Northampton is similar to the White Haven to JT section, compact gravel, smooth, mostly shaded and perfect for any style bike. It's just about 10 miles to Slatington, which has a trailhead with restrooms and places to get drinks and eats. I recommend the hot dogs from the trailer in the parking lot. (The Slate Heritage Trail connects to the D&L in Slatington and offers an additional 6 mile round trip ride if so desired.) Continuing south the trail reaches Northampton. Take the left and ride across the bridge, then an immediate right and it's about 1 1/2 mile to a park and the end of this section.
NOTE: From Northampton and Allentown there's about a 7 mile gap that can be ridden on roads and streets also open to vehicle traffic. Use caution when riding on roads.
The trail starts again at Canal Park in Allentown and is now a towpath vs. a rail trail. The 18-20 mile section from Allentown to Easton can be bumpy, single track or tire tracks and there's one or two sections that can be very narrow. That said, I've had no issues riding this section with my hybrid bike. Predominantly shaded with a few places to stop and rest, but water and food may not be readily available without wandering off the path and into one of the towns along the way.
Once reaching Easton, the trail continues south along the Delaware for about 51-52 miles to Morrisville. Much of this section is a towpath, can be single track or tire tracks for much of the ride, but it's smoother than the towpath from Allentown to Easton. There's a couple of places along the way for refreshments and rest areas between Easton and Upper Black Eddy and be sure to make time to visit New Hope and Washington Crossing Park before finishing the ride in Morrisville.
We started at Glen Onoko parking lot, easy flat couple of miles back across the river to the Scenic Rail station and then a steep 200 ft climb up Packer Hill Ave to the start of the South trail. This trail is easy, has a hard packed surface and is suitable for most bikes able to handle the odd rock. The ride to the lake took us about 35 mins of gentle uphill (total of about 300 ft climb). The trail then crosses the road and starts climbing steeper all the way into Summit Hill (another about 45 mins and 400 ft of climbing). We stopped in town for a snack and beer, and on the return ride took the North trail (fork well marked). This trail is mostly also a good hard surface, with a couple of fallen small trees that need to crossed. Most of the trail is relatively flat, other than 2 steep sections near the end, the first a short drop where the "bridge to clouds" used to start, and then a longer (half a mile?) steep rocky switchback section starting at far end of original bridge location. Both these section are rideable by an experienced mountain biker, but could be a walk if nervous or if on any other type of bike. Speaking of walking there is a section a couple of miles from the end that you need to portage your bike across a narrow ledge. This is not a major challenge for most, but there is a bypass trail that can be used - we did not check it out but it is clearly not rideable due to growth on the trail. All told the return trip took us 70 mins, and that included a quick stop at the viewpoint.
Trail very nice...surprised that test facilities are available. But access to get to the trail is horrible. No signs and also signs are posted "PRIVATE PROPERTY - NO TRESPASSING." No parking is available due to all the heavy duty machine parked there instead. Taylor has a trail but it does not allow access. What are we taxpayers paying for?
This is the tail of two rides. The one going out... And the one coming back...
I joined the trail at the Virginia Forrest trail head north of New Hope. I'm riding an ICE Adventure HD recumbent trike and heading north to Uhlerstown.
The ride up was gorgeous... Nice warm weather, not a lot of traffic, really picturesque. The trail is basically flat with the exception of a few quick climbs at the lock sites. I had an issue with just one where there was a lot of loose stone on that quick climb. That's really the issue when climbing with a 'bent trike. Keeping the traction to the ground. I had just a little problem that I overcame with a little repeated effort.
The problem started with about 6 miles left in the ride on the return trip. The "problem" being the trail became what I'm going to call a single-track. Instead of a nice wide cinder lane, it became a single track of cinder that was just wide enough for a walker or someone on a bicycle. I'm riding a nice wide trike, so two of my tires were in the grass all the time and I felt like I was riding a high resistance trainer for the last 6 miles. So, between that and the increased heat, I was pretty cooked by the time I got back to my truck.
Now, I did ride this stretch going out. But being fresh, it didn't affect me the way it did on the way back. I'm giving this review 4 stars because it is a beautiful ride. And for walkers and folks on bikes, my issues won't be their issues.
I'm going to be interested in finding out if the single track was an anomaly of the stretch I rode, or if it's prevalent the entire length of the trail. I know that the upper portion of the ride the trail was wide and the ride comfortable. I just had an issue with that last 6 miles when the temps climbed into the 90s and my brain was cooking.
My wife and I entered on the 54 side and road across and back. The 54 side of the trail has logging going on currently and was muddy in spots. Next time I will start on the 42 side and maybe go halfway and back. The trail map does not show the restrooms in the middle or the 42 trail head. A great easy ride with enough grade not to be boring.
We rode this as an extension of the Susquehanna Riverwalk. It was paved and had a park with a restroom but no water fountain. For part of the ride, you are in a bike lane on the road but the road appears to be a dead end, so not much traffic. Once you get to Montoursville and the bridge, there is crossroads with no clear signage as to where the bike path should be. We took a right and biked to a boat launch behind the airport which was nice. I think we were supposed to cross the main road at the intersection where the bike path continued a little further - something for next time!
This is a nice trail to bike on a hot day. Lots of shade. There is a covered picnic pavilion right after the covered bridge.
Was on Trail today between Bethlehem and Easton. The last mile to Easton is currently closed because of the recent heavy rains. Also the area around Old Orchard is fairly muddy and some trees are down. Some erosion in trail because of rain.
We rode the 38-mile-long D&H Rail-Trail going South on July 29th, 2018 starting at the northern end at the PA/New York border near Susquehanna. There is a town park at the Starrucca Viaduct where we parked the car overnight. In theory the trial crosses through the park, but it was over grown and almost impossible to find. Once we did find the trail we rode and pushed thru the brush for about a ¼ mile to the Starrucca Creek only to find that there is no deck on the old rail bridge. Luckily the Starrucca Creek was not deep here, so we waded across with bikes and bags. I recommend starting some place south of the Starrucca unless you don’t mind getting wet. From the northern end heading south to Uniondale the trail is really rough and probably best ridden on Mt bikes, on this 15-mile section we averaged 5 miles per hour because the trail was so rough and rocky. Having said that we rode the trail on drop bar touring bikes with 35mm wide hybrid tires. Its probably the most interesting section of the trail but be aware it is not a smooth ride. From Uniondale South the D&H was undergoing many improvement projects and the trail was closed in several places for construction. It was easy to switch to the road and then pick the trail up again later. We were told by the construction crews that by the fall 2018 all these improvements are supposed to be done. Once the improvements are complete the 23 miles of trail from Uniondale South to Carbondale will be a nice ride for Hybrid or Mountain bikes. We spent the night of the 29th in a Hotel in Carbondale and rode the trail back North the following day on July 30th.
The trail stopped and started many times. No portion longer than 5 miles, not for the rider that wants to put on mileage.
Rode this train from White Haven to Jim Thorpe on 7/5/18. Shuttle from Blue Mountain Sports in Jim Thorpe was friendly and convenient; we parked our car at the day parking lot near downtown, which is situated at the end of the trail. The trail itself is cinder and crushed stone; we used hybrid bikes which were perfect (I wouldn't recommend a road bike). As advertised it's a slight downhill, but you still have to pedal to get where you're going! Most of the route is shaded and gives you nice views of the river. One caution: the last 30 minutes or so to the southern end (Jim Thorpe) are not shaded and thus took the wind out of our sails at the end a bit. There are other lots you can park in besides the day lot that are a little further up the trail, but I don't know how that would work with the shuttle. All in all, very nice trail and worth the trip.
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