Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Middlesex, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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...
Tatamy Trail begins in West Easton and heads north to Tatamy Borough, primarily along a former railroad corridor. On its southern end, it meets the Palmer Township Recreation Trail, which connects the...
You’ve heard of the Steel Belt and the Sun Belt. The 6.7-mile Plainfield Township Recreation Trail passes through an area known as the Slate Belt. The quantity and quality of local slate made this...
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...
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...
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 West Essex Trail follows a short distance (just under 3 miles) of the former rail bed of the Caldwell Branch on the old Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. The trail runs between the EssexPassiac county...
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 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...
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...
The Pennypack Trail travels through wooded parks in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties along Pennypack Creek, which derives its name from a local American Indian term for a slow-moving creek....
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...
Saucon Rail Trail connects four communities: Hellertown, Lower Saucon Township, Upper Saucon Township, and Coopersburg. The trail has a slight 1% grade traveling from north to south and is easy for a...
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...
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...
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 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 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...
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...
Visitors to northwestern Philadelphia can acquaint themselves with the parks that surround Wissahickon Creek on a nearly 9-mile system of multiuse trails. In the north, the Wissahickon Trail (also...
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...
Tatamy Trail begins in West Easton and heads north to Tatamy Borough, primarily along a former railroad corridor. On its southern end, it meets the Palmer Township Recreation Trail, which connects the...
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 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....
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 Berkshire Valley Management Area Trail passes through hardwood forests and affords views of the valley below to the right. Equestrians must have a NJ Wildlife Permit, which is available from NJ...
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...
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...
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 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 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 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...
The Jack Harrington White Plains Greenway was recently renamed to honor a long-time member of the city's conservation board. The trail's corridor follows the former New York, Westchester & Boston...
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...
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,...
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 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...
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 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.”...
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 South Bethlehem Greenway is a linear park that follows a former Norfolk Southern rail line through the southern neighborhoods of Bethlehem. The paved pathway begins just north of Lehigh University...
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...
You’ve heard of the Steel Belt and the Sun Belt. The 6.7-mile Plainfield Township Recreation Trail passes through an area known as the Slate Belt. The quantity and quality of local slate made this...
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 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...
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 Jack Harrington White Plains Greenway was recently renamed to honor a long-time member of the city's conservation board. The trail's corridor follows the former New York, Westchester & Boston...
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 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 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 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...
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 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.”...
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...
In 2017 the borough of Northampton added a single mile of asphalt to the nearly 6-mile Nor-Bath Trail, effectively extending the use of the trail by more than 100 miles in eastern Pennsylvania by...
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...
A former right-of-way of the NY & NJ Railroad. Near historical Mount Ivy which was the center of a Quaker settlement in the 18th century. Hiking along railroad bed and wildlife observation 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 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...
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...
Even in the snow, this is a stunning gem of a walk.
Had a little trouble finding a good spot to park and the trailhead in the shopping center off 309 so we decided to start at Blue Heron park. Once we got there it was very obvious where to go. My 5 y/o and I road the meandering trail with little incline through housing developments but it was still nicely wooded and spotted with lovely little ponds. Overall, we felt the trails were well maintained for us. We liked riding over the bridge and on the boardwalk. You do have to cross a busy road at one point but I felt we were visible enough to safely cross. It took us about an hour, there and back. We both had a great time. Bonus, there is a great playground my son was able to play on afterwards. Highly recommend this fun little ride for anyone with kids.
I use a section of this trail when I travel to Lansdale by bike, it is a wonderful trail that offers a safe route away from cars for part of my ride. I am glad that Lansdale and Hatfield townships are working toward providing people with safe, protected trails for cycling, walking, running, and scooting. Please keep this up and bring more things like this to our Montgomery County communities!
Stretching nearly 7 miles from Bachman Street in Hellertown south through the picturesque Saucon Valley to East Station Ave. in Coopersburg, the Saucon Rail Trail could easily be considered the Jewel of Eastern PA when it comes to multi-use greenways.
The trail is built along the route of the former North Penn RR, which once hauled iron, steel and coal from the mines of Northeastern PA and mills of the Allentown-Bethlehem metropolitan area south to Philadelphia. The line also doubled as a SEPTA commuter line until abandonment in 1984. The RR itself may be long gone, but numerous vestiges, including old telegraph poles and signal towers, one of which has been refurbished, rock cuts and several bridges that have since been repurposed for trail use, attest to the line's original purpose. The fact that the crushed stone trail is wide enough to easily accommodate two or more cyclists or hikers passing each other simultaneously is made possible by the fact that the line was double tracked for most of its length.
Other highlights along the trail include historical stone buildings and homes that are visible along the northern segment of the trail in Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, palatial mansions of more recent vintage in Upper Saucon Township, quaint barns north of Coopersburg and the Hellertown wetlands.
The trail also passes several parks on its route, including Water Street and Grist Mill parks in Hellertown, Upper Saucon Township Community Park, located just west of the campus of DeSales University and South Lehigh Living Memorial Park in Coopersburg. In addition to providing opportunities for the kids to play or families to eat picnic lunches, these parks also provide convenient points to access the trail and feature their own, internal trail networks.
In addition to being a great, stand alone trail, the Saucon Rail Trail is also envisioned to become a vital link in an intercity greenway that will eventually connect the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton-Phillipsburg conurbation with the Philly metropolitan area. The Upper Bucks Rail Trail now extends from the southern terminus in Coopersburg south to Veterans Park outside Quakertown, and there are also plans to extend the trail north to Saucon Park in Bethlehem, where it will link to the South Bethlehem Greenway.
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!!!
Difficult to access. Water prevented completion. Much of the trail was flooded.
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!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!