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Print Friendly MapClosure Notice: The Bancroft Pedestrian Bridge over Brandywine Creek in Alapocas Run State Park is closed indefinitely due to flood damage that occurred in September 2021. Please check the trail manager website for more information.
The Northern Delaware Greenway Trail is historically significant as the oldest and longest off-road trail in Delaware. Currently spanning 10.4 miles, the trail was also the impetus for the creation of the Delaware Greenways organization in the 1990s. Designated as a National Recreation Trail, the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail links many of Wilmington’s parks and greenways.
Though the mile markers along the trail start from its eastern end in Fox Point State Park, these first 2.7 miles of trail are currently separated from the rest of the path by I-495. A future 9-mile trail connection from Claymont to Fox Point State Park will eventually connect these two segments, but for now trail users will have to make a separate trip to Fox Point if they want to enjoy the picturesque views of the Delaware River that stretch of trail offers.
Begin your journey on the 7.7-mile portion of the trail at its eastern terminus in Bellevue State Park. As the trail goes through the park’s eastern end, it passes the Cauffiel House and Estate, a Colonial Revival–style home built in the early 1900s. (The trail technically ends at I-495, but the section past the trail sign along Cauffiel Parkway is an overgrown wooded area, so it’s recommended for hikers and bikers only.) The park offers amenities for numerous other outdoor activities, including fishing, horseback riding, picnicking, and tennis.
Continuing west, you’ll travel through Rockwood Park, home to an 1850s mansion built in the Rural Gothic Revival style and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From the west side of the park, you’ll travel north along Rockwood Road, which becomes Talley Road, and then head west paralleling the residential Weldin Ridge Road.
A particularly scenic, wooded stretch comes next. It runs through Alapocas Run State Park, where visitors can check out the Blue Ball Barn. The converted dairy barn is now home to the Delaware Folk Art Collection, which features works from more than 50 local artists. You can also view historical mills across Brandywine Creek with accompanying historical displays along the trail. Hiking trails provide additional opportunities to explore the wooded park on foot. The state park offers rock climbing as well, though a permit and advance reservations are required.
Much of the trail is filled with rolling curves and short drops, so leave the inline skates at home, and instead enjoy a nice stroll or a fun bike ride with family and friends. (If you do the trail in the reverse direction, note that a very steep uphill section runs from Brandywine Creek to the northeast through Alapocas Run State Park, so plan accordingly.) As the trail heads south from the state park, the segment adjacent to Park Drive, built on a former rail corridor, offers a more level grade.
At its western end, the trail connects with the Brandywine Creek Path at North Market Street and is only 1 mile northeast of the Wilmington Riverwalk, offering more access to residential communities, schools, businesses, parks, and cultural sites.
Like many urban trails, the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail is well used by commuters during the workweek. The trail is also part of the larger East Coast Greenway, a growing network of multiuse trails connecting 15 states and 450 cities and towns on a 3,000-mile route between Maine and Florida.
Parking for the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail can be found at the state parks along its route: Brandywine Park in downtown Wilmington, Alapocas Run State Park in northern Wilmington, and Bellevue State Park in eastern Wilmington (near Bellefonte). At Bellevue State Park, the park’s main parking lot is 0.6 mile south of the park entrance on Carr Road and access to the trail is at the northern end of the parking lot. Additional parking can be found at Rockwood Park (4671 Washington St), Brandywine Park (parking lot located under I-95 along N. Park Drive), Fox Point State Park on Lighthouse Rd, and Alapocas Run State Park by the Blue Ball Barn (1914 W. Park Dr).
Please note that there is a state park vehicle entrance fee.
This is absolutely one of the nicest urban trail systems I’ve ever seen. The diversity is outstanding as you traverse from park to park. Rolling hills, thick canopies, sheer rock walls, frisbee golf, babbling brooks, historic buildings, on and on. Great for running, hiking, and biking. It is my opinion that if you don’t give this five stars you just don’t like the outdoors.
Started at Blue Ball Barn and rode to Brandywine Creek, its the steepest paved trail I have ever been on with wicked swichbacks and places you had to get off thb bike going downhill. Very thick woods and quiet for an urban area. If I did that section again it would be without bikes.
Good teaching grounds for kids, pavilion, restrooms, geocaching, playground.Not for distance riders, unless you want to bike in a circle over and over and over ... Not challenging. A couple hills. Disconnected from other trailheads.
This trail was better than some of the reviews I have read! I am so glad we decided on this trail today! My daughter and I absolutely loved it! We rode our bikes, and others along the path were jogging or walking! A lot to see and read so it’s also educational! I highly recommend this trail for all!
This is one of my favorite trails so far here in Delaware. I appreciated being able to go pretty continuously without stopping at a light except for one. The signage was a bit confusing as there were multiple locations with trail intersections that were not the Greenway Trail. Also, there is a 2.5 mile marker at Ge intersection with the Cauffield House but the bike Raül ends abruptly. Whether this is due to trail erosion or unclear signage, I was frustrated that there are apparently 2 miles of trail that does not exist. For that reason I am marking g down to a 4, otherwise the varied landscape and hills intermixed with flat areas and thick trees was fantastic.
I've never walked this end to end but have walked the various sections many times over. My favorites are Alapocas and Rockwood. Great scenery along the way. Can't wait til the expansion to New Castle opens!
I thought this was a pretty nice trail. The only problem is it not posted too well and I got off track more than once but I was able to backtrack and get back on the trail. It goes through some very scenic woodlands which makes you feel like you went back in time. Very well maintained.
Lots of hills and beautiful landscape. Would highly recommend!
The trail information was kind of confusing for us. It took us a little bit to find the trail. We would suggest parking by the zoo and you can follow the green signs on the right to the trail.
There were very challenging hills and this will take you a few hours to do on a mountain bike. I would suggest having clip on pedals for your bike. We road our mountain bikes but a road bike is another option.
We are advanced riders and we thought this was very challenging! 7.5/10
I decided to test this trail out recently during the month of November. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and you have plenty of opportunities to stop and check out some points of interest such as the Blue Ball Barn, the Carriage House, Rockwood Museum, and other attractions at Alapocas and Bellevue. You could really make an entire day trip out of this whole experience.
I parked at the parking lot for the Brandywine Zoo. If you are facing the zoo, the trail begins to the left of it along the tree line.
The trail was decently marked with signage.
However, I'm from southern Delaware. Everything is FLAT down this way so I am not conditioned for biking hills. If you are used to riding on flat terrain like me, be advised, this trail is FULL of hills. I had to hop off my bike and walk up many of them. It was extremely challenging for me at times. All in all; however, it was an excellent workout.
I highly recommend this trail, but please be aware that it's no walk in the park!
The trail fun from Clayton to Wilmington and is very hilly. The Wilmington section had several high grade hill. If you are interested in a serious workout this trail will get the job done. The trail head in Bellevue park requires park admission from 5/1-11/30
really nice, has some hills. nice scenery
Hiked the open parts of the NDG today. I was under the impression that it began at Fox Point State Park (FPSP), but that portion is not open yet. So we began on Governor Printz Blvd. and hiked through to the Brandywine Park. The trail is very nice. It is wide and fairly busy. It has many markers, but the distance is calculated as if one began at FPSP. I believe the hike I did was about 8.5 miles. I saw some great features of New Castle County that I didn't know about. From the rock climbing, Bancroft Mill to the Brandywine Park, it was great. Thank you Delaware and Delaware Greenways!
P.S. The Alapocas Run State Park portion of the trail is said to be closing from mid-August to September, but it was open today the 08.22.15
today 4/29/15 I did the Delaware Greenway Trail. I will start with I am not a big fan of Greenways but i live in the Wilmington area so I needed to do this trail. You can park in Bellevue Park for free. The signage is OK but not great. It is mostly paved and just a little hilly so you will need to use a little gearing. I gave it only two stars as I never give out one star and have only gave out five stars once. This is a family friendly trail so if you live in the Wilmington area you need to put this on your bucket list.
Vehicle parking is clearly marked (and in all but one area at Bellevue, completely free,) and trail access is very easy to find. The trail is mapped, and the "main" path is marked at each intersection with blue arrows painted onto the path, indicating which is the correct way in order to turn to stay on the trail.
Starting from the south, I found that the old quarry at Bancroft Mills has excellent views, rock climbing, picnic areas, and lots of wide open spaces, while still offering plenty of shade. There is an absolutely brutal hill right next to the Brandywine River, which is a must-go to test your hill climbing endurance.
At the peak of this massive hill, I connected to the Nemours stretch of trail, which is serene and densely wooded. The streams are picturesque, and it somehow felt like a completely different (though very pleasant) trail.
Emerging from the woods into the open grassy plains was a sudden change in scenery, though not altogether unwelcome. The terrain flattened out as I headed towards the restored Blue Ball Barn (a sort of community center). The trail took me past a golf course, an excellently furnished playground, bathroom facilities (not port-a-potties, but genuine facilities, with full plumbing and bike rack parking and drink fountains, which I made use of). The trail continued along the edge of the golf course, through some woods, offering great fun as I zipped through the corners at speed.
The trail took me along the entrance to a development, then along a newly constructed separated and protected lane, straight down. I passed by Rockwood Manor, and began a strenuous hill climb along some rather dense forest. The noise of I-95 did ruin the scenery a bit, but overall I really enjoyed this stretch. The last bit, through Bellevue, was quite nice (it has bathrooms, bike parking, and quite a few trails inside its walls).
Overall, there are tons of community tie-ins and branch-offs in every direction make this a very popular trail with lots of community access, the hills allow it to be challenging (but, on a properly geared bike, not insurmountable. Hand brakes are a MUST!) Lots to see and do along the trail, too. The entirety of the trail has excellent scenery, and it is a must-see and a must-ride. Bring water bottles and food.
Needed improvement: the section that passes through the DuPont Hospital's wooded grounds; it is unpaved (gravel) and hilly, a very unhappy surprise, as this is not announced until you are very suddenly completely off of the pavement for a couple miles. While making a roundabout trip through Alapocas Woods is not a hazard, there is no signage on how to pick the trail back up via the neighborhood unless you are familiar with the area or have access to maps.
Concerns: There are a few bumps between the pavement and bridges at a few points that I hope get addressed at some point, especially along the stretch near the golf course and along a branch near a retirement home.
Idea for improvement: If they turned the old Kentmere Railway Branch into a rail-to-trail, they could extend the trail by a long way, plug it into 52's connection to 141, and add a considerable amount of access to the trail's Southern terminus.
I've lived in Delaware for seven years, and still marvel at the state's commitment to open space. Exhibit A: the Northern Delaware Greenway. This mostly off-road, mostly paved trail goes for miles in suburban Wilmington and into the city itself, connecting several very scenic state, county, and city parks along the way. I often ride part of the trail to work, and arrived energized by the chance to spend time outdoors before hitting my desk. The trail is heavily wooded and hilly in several sections. They've had a difficult time keeping it clear this summer with a number of heavy storms, but most of the time, it is maintained well. I especially like the section along the edge of Rock Manor golf course. They recently opened another section that connects it to Brandywine Creek Park right downtown (though that section is unpaved with several steep short hills). The Greenway is one of the reasons I enjoy living here.
Trail is great for the family towards the east and pretty hilly down past 202. Bellevue State Park to Rockwood Museum Section: Great trail for the family if you start at Bellevue SP ($6 out of state fee is well worth it.) I take my 10 & 6 year old here all the time. You can ride the trails at Bellevue for a while and there's a nice big oval the kids like. Last time out we decided to cross over March Rd and follow the trail west into the Bringhurst Woods Park and made it a few miles to Rockwood Museum Park. A few hills my 6 yr old had to walk his bike (no gears!!) but my 10 yr old was fine. Overall kids loved it they'll be bringing me back for sure. Note there were 3 road crossings we had to do, so extra care must be used. Apacolas State Park: I road the trail down in Apacolas State Park last year by myself and it gets hilly for a part timer like me, this section definitely not for family riding.
I did this trail the other day and it is a very nice but short trail. There a number of historical markers and this would be a great place to take a child and give them a history lesson. The trail runs between the Delaware river and I495. You have a view of Down town Philadelphia and the Commodore Berry Bridge to the north and the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the south. This is paved trail and is fairly flat. There are picnic tables, clean restrooms and shelters for a greet picnic. It is only about a half mile as the Crow fly,s to the Northern Delaware Trail but there is no way to cross I495 and it is not a great bike rout from the park to the N.D.G.W.
"This is a nice trail, about 4 miles long at this time. There is no trailhead at Fox Point State Park as I discovered after paying a $6 (out of state auto) parking fee. "
"Discovering that this was an asphalt trail, I drove about an hour intending to skate this trail on my inline skates. To my dismay I found it was unsuitable for skating. That is unless you are skilled enough to make the 90 degree turns at the bottoms of steep hills without hitting any trees at the high rate of speed you will find yourself traveling and if you can also find a way to keep from being thrown off your skates by all the debris on the path. In other words, it was way too dangerous to skate on this trail. So my quest continues for inline skating trails.
If anyone knows of any close to Dover, Delaware, feel free to shoot me an email."
"I commute to work on this trail from Bellevue State Park through Bringhurst Woods and into Rockwood Park. The trails are fabulous! They are paved, in woods, curvey, and hilly. I've also ridden from Bellevue State Park to try to get to Fox Point State Park, but there is no way to cross Rt 13 and I-495. I've also walked the trail at Fox Point State Park along the Delaware River. Again it is paved and nice (though the fact that Fox Point was some sort of Super Fund Site doesn't make it too appealing).
I haven't found a way to connect Rockwood Park to Brandywine Park. I would love to learn if it is connected, but as far as I know, they are not connected yet."
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