Find the top rated walking trails in Madison, 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.
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...
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 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...
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 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...
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 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...
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 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,...
The Karamac Trail is a short walking trail that starts under the Interstate 80 bridge on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. The trail follows an old railroad right-of-way; there is a railroad...
Since it opened as a railroad spur in the 1800s, this pretty trail has always been about connections. In 1834 the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad launched the spur to carry goods from Bristol,...
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 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...
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 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 Ramsey Bike Path is a recreational path built on the former Paterson to Suffern trolley line right-of-way. The path extends along a north-south route from one end of Ramsey to the other....
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The Palmer Township Recreation Trail (a.k.a. the Towpath Bike Trail) is a terrific community asset for Palmer and Bethlehem township residents and a great destination for visitors as well. Three modes...
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...
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...
When Jones Beach State Park opened on Long Island’s South Shore in the late 1920s, a series of scenic parkways was built on infill dredged from nearby towns to connect New Yorkers to the new public...
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 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 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...
The Doylestown Bike and Hike Trails system provides a convenient car-free network of paved pathways to get around this eastern Pennsylvania community, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. With more...
When Jones Beach State Park opened on Long Island’s South Shore in the late 1920s, a series of scenic parkways was built on infill dredged from nearby towns to connect New Yorkers to the new public...
In the early 1830s the Morris Canal opened across northern New Jersey, from Phillipsburg on the Delaware River to Newark, and later to Jersey City on the Hudson River. It provided a thoroughfare for...
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 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...
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 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...
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 Paulinskill Valley Trail follows a creek by the same name through a section of rural New Jersey with a strong German influence. In fact, the word kill is Dutch for “riverbed or stream channel.”...
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...
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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...
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...
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 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,...
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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...
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 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....
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...
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 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 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...
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,...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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 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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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...
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 Union Transportation Trail follows the path of the former Pemberton & Hightstown Railroad, which began operating in 1868. The original purpose of the railroad was to allow local farms and dairies...
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...
In the mid 1800s Chester, New Jersey, was the home of the iron ore industry; railroads shipped the ore all over the county. With the end of the industry, however, the rail lines were abandoned, turned...
The Forks Township Recreation Trail follows the an old right-of-way of the former Lehigh & New England Railroad. Starting at the trail's midpoint behind the Riverview Country Club in Easton, you'll...
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 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 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...
My wife and I have been riding the North County Trailway off and on for about 10 years now. Always enjoyable; passes through several small towns but often through unpopulated areas. Trail continues to the south (South County Trailway) and to the north (Putnam County Trailway), so it's possible to start at the NYC border and bike for 40+ miles on well maintained trails.
My friend and I rode round-trip from White Haven to the abandoned railroad tunnel near Great Onoko, 44 miles. It was virtually uninterrupted. The surface is crushed gravel and easy to ride for the most part. For several miles before the tunnel, there are patches of loose gravel so be careful in this section. This part of the trail follows the Lehigh River for most of the way. You can hear the screams of the rafters riding the whitewater. There are many small waterfalls along the way. The abandoned tunnel is worth a walk-through. If you start at the southern trailhead in White Haven, be prepared to start with a lot of people, as this is the location where the bike train and shuttle buses drop off one-way riders. There is a strip mall located at the trailhead if you need snacks or drinks for your ride.
Recently rode this trail with a hybrid bike. The trail surface for most of its length is rough and laced with potholes. What makes it worse is that the shaded trail makes it difficult to see the potholes and other imperfections in time to steer around or slow down. There is a short stretch of smoother pavement at about the one mile mark.
This trail has great potential as it is very scenic and follows a creek for most of its length. A wayside with picnic tables and port-a-potty midway was welcome.
Slight upgrade most of the way out made for a quick return if you can avoid trail problems.
Great biking path for those who want moderate exercise and to enjoy nature. There are no Traffic lights or cars to navigate around so it’s great for families with kids. The path is well maintained and wide enough in most spots to easily navigate around walkers. You may have to slow down to pass people so if you are a cyclist looking for a more intense workout or speed you may want to stick to the off hours like early morning or late during the week
First time riding this trail over Memorial Day weekend. Almost entirely shaded with some nice scenery to enjoy along the way. The trail is mainly compact gravel and should be OK for just about all type bikes tires. As you leave High Bridge, you're on a noticeable incline that levels off after about 3 1/2 miles. Both Califon (at abut the 5 mile mark) and Long Valley (about the 11 mile mark) offer a place to take a break, grab a drink or snack or use a restroom (port-a-potty). I did not stray off the trail in either town, but I'm sure there are places to sit down and grab a bite to eat or drink. The trail ends at Bartley Rd. with very limited parking and no comfort facilities.
Use caution when crossing roads. You can also connect to the Gilette Trail which would also take you to the Patriot's Path, but I did not explore it.
This trail is one big downhill ride from 27th street parking lot to Riverview Park. We decided not to go back around the loop to 27th street but took a shortcut back on roads. Constant incline. We prefer occassional up and down hills, not one big 5 mile hilll.
Also signage is horrible. We liked the D&L trail from Riverview into Eason much better.
All is the reviews below are pretty much on point but I must add that there are no usable bathrooms. There’s a porta potty or two at the High Bridge trailhead that are horribly vile. Just be prepared to find a bush if you need to go.
Canal trails are some of the best riding. They are long with few interruptions and non-stop water views. My friend and I rode the segment from Morrisville to New Hope. We parked in the parking lot for the Morrisville Little League on North Delmorr Avenue. The trail is at the end of Hillside Avenue, which is right across the street from the parking lot. It was really easy access. This segment passes several locks and the town of Yardley. There's a part of the trail that has the canal on the left and the Delaware River on the right. There are ducks, geese, herons, and turtles along the way. At New Hope, the trail goes onto the road for a small segment, which is where we stopped. If you continue past this point, the trail shortly comes to an end at the river. The surface is crushed stone for the most part and easily ridable with any kind of tire. This distance for this segment is 30 miles roundtrip.
I’ve run hundreds of miles here year around training for marathons. It’s perfect for that—lightly rolling terrain for the most part with a steep 8% grade hill for good measure. Note with a new nice and wide extension the trail now goes all the way around the lake and is about a 6-mile loop. Most of the old trail was recently repaved as well.
I tried this trail for the first time the other day and was walking my dog when all of a sudden a professional cyclist (all dressed up for a race) went flying by, going at a n extremely high speed, almost hitting my dog and not an excuse me sorry nothing. Just kept charging forward. Someone needs to get security on these trails. Other than that a pleasant experience.
We did the upper trail - from its start across from Oakshades Park (has about 30 parking spaces) in Aberdeen through to its end in Atlantic Highlands. We then continued through Atlantic Highlands a few miles over the bridge and onto Sandy Hook bike trail, which was also fantastic. The Henry Hudson Trail is very nicely paved and has bridges over some areas that a few years ago were flooded out. It goes through towns/backyards, marshes, sea grass (saw an egret!) and along the water below beautiful homes. Highly recommend this trail!
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