Find the top rated walking trails in Gloucester City, whether you're looking for an easy short walking trail or a long walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Tyler State Park, located in Newtown, Pennsylvania, covers over 1,700 acres on the grounds of an old farm in a charming woodland setting. The park features a network of interconnected trails,...
This community trail begins at the intersection of Main and Pearl streets in the town of Port Norris, near the mouth of the Maurice River. It connects Port Norris with Bivalve. At one time the area...
Maryland's Ben Cardin C&D Canal Recreational Trail links to Delaware's Michael Castle Trail; both run along the north bank of the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal and meet at the state line. The...
The Chester Valley Trail provides opportunities for recreation and alternative transportation in the congested commercial center at the northern edge of Greater Philadelphia. The paved rail-trail...
Named after Dr. Ulysses Simpson Wiggins, a prominent doctor in Camden in the early 1900s, the Ulysses Wiggins Waterfront Park Promenade extends for 1.2 miles from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the...
The nearly 3-mile long Chester Creek Trail is finally a reality after nearly two decades of planning. Phase 1 of the multi-use trail was opened to the public in late 2016. It follows the path of the...
Part of Limerick Township's ambitious plans to build a network of multi-use greenways, the paved Limerick Trail currently extends nearly 2 miles through the southeastern PA municipality. The trail...
The Northern Delaware Greenway Trail spans 10 miles of northern New Castle County from Bellevue State Park on the Delaware River to Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware’s largest city. The surface...
A little less than a mile long, the Barrel Run Trail is part of Milford Township's growing system of multi-use trails. The paved, asphalt trail begins at Woodview Drive, immediately west of...
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 roughly half-mile long Frog Hollow Trail currently begins at Miller Road and follows a creek south between two subdivisions before dead ending at a point near French Creek. The crushed stone trail...
Located about 25 miles east of Philadelphia, the Pemberton Rail-Trail is an excellent example of grassroots activism resulting in the creation of a community-based rail-trail. The Pemberton Rotary...
The Route 52 Bridge Trail is an important connector between Cape May County and Atlantic County in New Jersey's growing trail network. On its southern end, the paved pathway begins in Ocean City,...
The Frankford Creek Greenway trail is a 1.2 mile trail which connects Aramingo Ave and Wheatsheaf Lane to Delaware Ave and Lewis St and the East Coast Greenway/Port Richmond Trail at its southern end....
At one time an important thoroughfare for commerce carried by canal barges and railroad cars in southeastern Pennsylvania, the Schuylkill River corridor now accommodates walkers, bicyclists, and...
Straight as an arrow, the Merchantville Bike Path runs through Merchantville Borough, paralleling Chestnut Avenue. The paved 0.75-mile trail provides a pleasant route dotted with tall pines and leafy...
Note: This developing route is not yet fully contiguous; please refer to the interactive maps on the websites in the Related Content section. The D&L Trail runs for more than 140 miles through...
The Schuylkill River West Trail will one day span 15.5 miles beginning in downtown Philadelphia and heading northwest through Lower Merion Township, West Conshohocken, Bridgeport, and Upper Merion...
The Peace Valley Park Hike & Bike Trail offers 4 miles of blacktop along the shores of Lake Galena, just north of Doylestown in eastern Pennsylvania. The scenic trail travels through woodlands and...
This bike path begins along Southwest Boulevard at Harding Highway (US 40). It continues alongside the boulevard, then crosses Central Avenue and slipping into Bruno Melini Memorial Park, Buena’s...
This 2.4-mile paved trail provides a quiet, scenic escape northwest of Philadelphia, from Encke Park at Radnor-Chester Road to the shopping center at Sugartown Road and Route 30. The trail travels...
Camden's Cooper River Park is found on both the north and south shores of Cooper River Lake. The urban park is open daily from dawn to dusk and offers a paved loop path for bikers and pedestrians, as...
The Delaware River Trail hugs the Philadelphia waterfront proving access to parks and recreational amenities. It's part of a larger effort called The Circuit, which will link 750 miles of trail...
A work in progress, the 2.5-mile Uwchlan Trail currently extends from the Struble Trail off the intersection of Dowlin Forge and Shelmire roads, north along the Shamona Creek and primarily following...
Linking the communities of Palmyra, New Jersey and Tacony (a historic neighborhood within Philadelphia) is the over 3,600-foot-long Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Built between 1928 and 1929 for about $4...
For birders and other wildlife watchers, the short West Deptford Scenic Trail offers an opportunity for a remote and tranquil stroll through a beautiful natural area. Located within a 90-acre area of...
The Pleasantville to Somers Point Bike Path connects four cities along 8.2 miles of trail: Pleasantville, Northfield, Linwood, and Somers Point. The path travels through city centers, neighborhoods,...
With the 32-acre Poquessing Valley Park and the 500 acres of parkland of the Benjamin Rush State Park, it’s easy to feel like far Northeast Philly is fortunate when it comes to green space. But the...
The Cynwyd Heritage Trail connects the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA’s) Cyn-wyd Station to Bala Cynwyd Park, the historic West Laurel Hill Cemetery, and Westminster...
The K&T Trail, also known as the Kensington & Tacony Trail for the former railroad line on which is runs, spans a mile along the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Beginning at the Frankford Arsenal Boat...
If you’re looking for a change of luck on your gambling getaway to Atlantic City, try visiting the 7.6-mile Atlantic County Bikeway. The paved trail runs straight and flat as it offers a relaxing...
The Exeter Scenic River Trail traces the north bank of the Schuylkill River. The tree-lined route provides views of the river and runs to the Klapperthal Trail at the base of Neversink Mountain. Visit...
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The paved Power Line Trail carries users between residential neighborhoods, parks, schools, and other destinations in Horsham Township. The 5.5-mile utility--easement trail also heads north to green...
Philadelphia's MLK Drive Trail offers a paved 4-mile route along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive that's popular for both transportation and recreation. The trail begins near the Philadelphia Art Museum...
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The Pennsy Trail is a short, but sweet rail-trail located in Haverford Township, to the west of Philadelphia. The trail's southern and northern ends are currently broken up by Manoa Road, with the...
Although less than 2 miles, the Port Richmond Trail—a key component of the North Delaware River Greenway—provides an important connection between northeast Philadelphia and the Delaware River. It's...
Philadelphia’s Rail Park is an exciting project developing across Center City, which will connect several neighborhoods and provide access to Fairmount Park and other cultural attractions. The 3-mile...
The Hunters Crossing and Brayton Garden trails form a paved, multi-use greenway that extends 2.7 miles from the Country Square Shopping Center in Quakertown to Dovecote Drive immediately south of...
The Peace Valley Park Hike & Bike Trail offers 4 miles of blacktop along the shores of Lake Galena, just north of Doylestown in eastern Pennsylvania. The scenic trail travels through woodlands and...
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The Gloucester Township Health and Fitness Trail, formerly known as the Blackwood Railroad Trail, is a paved bicycle/pedestrian path in Blackwood, Gloucester Township. The bikeway is constructed on an...
This pleasant, flat rail-trail parallels Capoolong Creek through the Capoolong Creek Wildlife Management Area for nearly 4 miles. The surface is varied, so the trail is best suited for hiking or...
The Warrington Township Multi-Use Trail spans nearly 3 miles on the west end of town. The trail is part of an effort to make the community more pedestrian-friendly, connecting major points of...
The Audubon Loop Trail is only 2.5 miles in length, but is over four miles when adjacent sections of the Perkiomen and Schuylkill River trails are added. The trail begins in Lower Perkiomen Valley...
The Delaware River Trail hugs the Philadelphia waterfront proving access to parks and recreational amenities. It's part of a larger effort called The Circuit, which will link 750 miles of trail...
The Creek Road Trail extends north from a connection with the Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail in White Clay Creek State Park. The scenic park features over 37 miles of hiking trails through wooded...
The roughly half-mile long Frog Hollow Trail currently begins at Miller Road and follows a creek south between two subdivisions before dead ending at a point near French Creek. The crushed stone trail...
The Woodbine Railroad Trail occupies the right-of-way of a former Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad line. The paved pathway traverses Woodbine as it parallels Dehirsch Avenue; a wide grassy median...
The John Heinz Refuge Trail and various footpaths at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum stand in stark contrast to the urban setting that surrounds this refuge. At different points on this...
The James F. Hall Trail—a rail-with-trail—packs a lot into a short stretch: Its paved surface is great for bicycling, in-line skating, and strolling, and there are multiple playgrounds, picnic areas,...
The Frankford Creek Greenway trail is a 1.2 mile trail which connects Aramingo Ave and Wheatsheaf Lane to Delaware Ave and Lewis St and the East Coast Greenway/Port Richmond Trail at its southern end....
Although just 1.4 miles long, the 58th Street Greenway is an important connector in the southwestern Philadelphia neighborhood of Kingsessing. Although most of the greenway is off-road trail, note...
The Swamp Forest Trail loops through Lums Pond State Park on a packed earth surface that accommodates hikers and cyclists. The trail is the shorter of two loops; the Little Jersey Trail runs closer to...
The Northern Delaware Greenway Trail spans 10 miles of northern New Castle County from Bellevue State Park on the Delaware River to Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware’s largest city. The surface...
The Peace Valley Park Hike & Bike Trail offers 4 miles of blacktop along the shores of Lake Galena, just north of Doylestown in eastern Pennsylvania. The scenic trail travels through woodlands and...
The Gloucester Township Health and Fitness Trail, formerly known as the Blackwood Railroad Trail, is a paved bicycle/pedestrian path in Blackwood, Gloucester Township. The bikeway is constructed on an...
The Manayunk Bridge Trail opened in late 2015 to great fanfare, and for good reason: the trail, which crosses the Schuylkill River, Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76), and active train tracks,...
Located in Media Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Ridley Creek State Park encompasses over 2,600 acres of woodlands and meadows. The park is only 16 miles from Center City, Philadelphia, but...
The Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail offers urban connections to the University of Delaware campus, Newark Shopping Center, DART Transit Hub and the downtown area, as well as the recreational amenities...
With the 32-acre Poquessing Valley Park and the 500 acres of parkland of the Benjamin Rush State Park, it’s easy to feel like far Northeast Philly is fortunate when it comes to green space. But the...
This trail connects the historic Thomas Leiper House (built in 1785) to Smedley Park, hence its name. The 2-mile multipurpose trail is mostly shaded as it winds through the Crum Creek Valley and zigs...
Do not Bother. Not worth it! Not really a Rail Trail. It was like someone took a Grader back there "Years Ago" and it has not be touched since. 3 to 4 inches of standing water in some sections and not really much of a trail in other sections so you are basically riding through field like conditions with high grass. Never Again!
Pros: Great for bikers who just want to practice riding their bike and not having pedestrians in their way!
Cons: The scenery is okay - I biked in August in 90 degrees weather and there were dragonflies and butterflies in the air. I ALSO ran into a wild boar. I was biking and I saw a brown fluffy animal around 15 feet ahead of me, lumbering around. At first, I thought it was a baby bear but when I biked a bit closer, I saw it's white tusks from a distance. I had to turn my bike around and bike back to the starting point. I am not sure how safe it is to bike around wild animals, but there's my warning to you! Not taking any chances!
Overall experience: It could be better, but it wasn't really worth the drive up. I would bike there if I lived closer. Overall, it is a nice path to practice on - I would try again in the Fall.
Pros: Beautiful scenery! There are huge farms, pretty sunflowers, and interesting houses. I think I passed by an alpaca and saw a couple of horses and cows as well. There were a lot of dragonflies and butterflies in the air. I biked in 90 degrees weather but the land was vast and it made the weather feel more cool/clear.
Cons: Be careful when you are riding your bike on the road because the speed limit goes up to 50 mph for the cars. I always slow down when I hear a car coming up behind me, but it's always better to be safe than sorry!
Overall experience: Out of the three bike routes I took so far, this area had the most beautiful scenery. As a beginner, I didn't have any trouble navigating the area. I do have to say to not wander off too much because some of the driveways of the homes in the field look like off-bike routes. Don't get confused and stay on the road!
Plenty of shade, hilly, loud because of the proximity of the Blue Route.
Finding the Newcastle “end point” to the trail was tricky. Once I found it, the scenery was beautiful at times, but also filled with highway imagery. Two trees had also fallen down from a previous storm, so that was difficult to maneuver under. Once I came into the marsh area, there was a nice view of Delaware marsh land that I had only previously seen at a distance from the I-95 on ramp. Overall, I enjoyed it.
With more gaps being closed every year, the 40-year goal of constructing a continuous, multi-use trail that will run the length of the Schuylkill River from the coal country of the Poconos southeast to the marshes of South Philly is close to being a reality.
As of mid-2019, over 71 miles of trail have been built, enough to classify the system as the unified Schuylkill River Trail, as opposed to a series of stand-alone greenways regarded as separate projects.
Rather than rehash the description above, I'll just note that, like other long-distance greenways, the Schuylkill River Trail has a lot to offer for hikers, cyclists, parents pushing young kids in strollers and roller and inline skating on the paved sections. Most of the trail follows old rail corridors or canal towpaths, ensuring a level trip with few slopes, as well as numerous reminders of the river's history as a major transportation route, a roll that can still be seen today by its close proximity to major highways like Routes 61, 422 and I-76 and active rail lines that freight trains often rumble along. Although most of the mills and other factories that used the coal and lumber shipped down the river for raw materials and sent finished product to the port of Philadelphia are now gone, their legacy also lives on whether as ruined hulks, historical markers or as repurposed apartment houses or office buildings. Some of the many historical sites on or near the trail include the vintage car museum and Yuengling brewery in Pottsville, an old canal tunnel turned rock cut south of Landingville, the railroad museum in Hamburg, Daniel Boone's birthplace near Douglassville, Morlatton Village, a Swedish village that was one of the firstthe Phoenix Iron Works museum in the old foundry in Phoenixville, a restored segment of canal in Mont Clare, Valley Forge National Historical Park, an old movie studio just east of Valley Forge, the Philadelphia Art Museum and Bartram's Garden, the oldest botanical gardens in the US, along with many others.
As one would also expect, the trail passes through a wide array of landscapes on its route. From the lush, remote forests of Schuylkill County, to the rural farmlands of Berks County, to the more suburban Montgomery and Chester counties and finally heavily urban Philadelphia, as well as smaller cities Reading and Pottstown and numerous towns along the route, the trail offers users a microcosm of Pennsylvania.
The trail is paved with crushed stone on most of its rural and remote segments from its northwest terminus outside Pottsville to the eastern end of a restored canal near Oaks, and asphalt in Reading, Pottstown and on most of the stretch from Oaks to its current southeast end at Bartram's Garden in South Philly. No review of the trail would be complete without mentioning the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk segment, which extends over the river itself in Center City Philadelphia.
Although most of its surface is smooth and user-friendly, some of the shorter segments, including the one that parallels Route 61 just south of Pottsville and a little-used one near Felix Dam Park in the north Reading suburbs, are in need of improvement. The westernmost segment of the Thun segment of the trail from Route 183 to Reading Community College, although paved with asphalt, also needs repaired and better overall maintenance. The subpar status of these sections of trail. along with vandalism in parts of Reading and the fact that some of the remaining gaps in the trail are not easily detoured, prevents me from giving the trail a 4 or 5 star rating.
Fortunately, efforts continue to close these gaps and it looks like the trail may be completed in the next decade or so. Plans are currently under way to complete the long-stalled restoration of an old RR trestle south of Auburn in the next year or two, a pedestrian bridge over a steep gap over Route 724 east of Monocacy is currently in the planning stage, a trail bridge spanning the Schuylkill River next to the new Route 422 bridge east of Pottsville has been completed in anticipation of constructing the "missing link" between Pottstown and Parker Ford in 2020 and work is currently under way on the repurposing of an old RR swinging bridge over the river in South Philadelphia, which will connect the Greys Ferry Crescent and Bartram's Mile sections to one another.
In addition to bringing the Schuylkill River's status as a transportation corridor into the 21st century by connecting numerous towns and cities, the trail has also helped revitalize the economy of a region that was hard hit by the decline of steel, coal mining and other heavy industries in the last few decades. With connections to the East Coast Greenway and future Schuylkill-Susquehanna Passage and 9/11 trails, it has the potential to be an eastern PA counterpart to the Great Allegheny Passage.
Pros: Lots of shade to make a 90-degree day feel cooler. Clear road signs to stop for oncoming traffic. Nice urban-like scenery, there are some cool houses you pass by, and you also get to ride over one bridge and under another!
Cons: There were a lot of broken branches and even a fallen tree. Not sure how safe this bike trail is at night, but there were some empty patrol cars that were spotted near the bike route that alleviated some anxiety.
Overall experience: Great! This is my 2nd bike trail that I rode since getting my first road bike. It has a lot of potential. It looks like it is still under construction, so if the bike trail became even more extended, was tided up, and also had a bit more supervision, I think it would be an excellent first bike run experience!
I'm basing my rating on comparison to other trails I've ridden. Some sections of CVRT are quite lovely; passing by parks and wooded areas.
Otherwise, the proximity to 202 and the numerous road crossings makes the trail feel choppy and you never really feel disconnected from suburbia. There are two intersections in particular that I found quite dangerous.
First, in Exton, the crossing at Rt. 100 is chaotic! You need to cross roads three times to reach the other side of 100. On top of that, truck traffic is extremely heavy and frequently blocks the intersection.
The other dangerous intersection is at Foundry Way in Malvern. Incoming traffic has the right of way and does not stop. The intersection is large, so by the time you're in the middle of it, traffic is inbound and they barely slow down! Be careful here.
Overall, I think CVRT is more a commuter trail than recreational trail.
My wife and I rode our tandem from Biddle Point westward to Chesapeake City, where the paved trail connects with local streets. The Michael Castle Trail changes name to the Ben Cardin Trail when you cross into Maryland. There are a couple of hairpin turns, so be aware. The marina are at the inlet near Lums Pond SP is a little tricky to navigate the first time through, but the traffic is low (we rode on a weekday afternoon).
There isn't any shade where the trail runs adjacent to the canal (except where bridges cast shadows), but the few areas where it shifts away from the canal do have tree cover. Bring plenty of water if it's a hot day. We didn't see any place to get water along the trail. We passed 2 other trailheads and they did have restrooms, but they are the waterless type.
Terrain is flat except where the trail moves away from the canal - it becomes slightly hilly.
Overall, it is a great ride.
Best maintained trail I ever rode on. Great places to eat as the trail passes through towns every few miles. Many of the old railroad stations have been turned into eateries. Almost completely flat from end to end. Just a slight grade that’s hardly noticeable. New Jersey does a great job with this trail.
We were hesitant to ride this trail given some of the negative comments, but I have to say they were all wrong! We rode today from New Castle to Wilmington waterfront and back again and it couldn’t have been more fun. Trail head was easy to fine, tunnels weren’t too dark, we barely saw the landfill, the industrial section was minimal — and the marshes and canopies of greenery, the bridges were just spectacular. We usually ride the canal, but this trail may just be our new fave. Next time we start in Wilmington and end the ride with a beer and lunch on the waterfront ¿¿
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