Biking Hiking with Kids

I took the kids bike riding on another section of the Delaware & Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) towpath trail the other day. We started near Washington Crossing State Park on the PA side and headed south toward Yardley, PA.

The towpath on the PA side travels under many “Camel Back” auto bridges, but the foot travel only bridges over the canal are especially low, so make sure you keep your head down while passing under them. There are a few locks along the way and an old Tenders House.

We rested at Black Rock Road parking lot at 5.8 miles and headed back toward Washington Crossing State Park parking lot for a round trip of 11.6 miles, which was quite enough for my two sons.

Other than the section of trail with the bridges, the D&R Canal is a very kid friendly bike trail. There are no real dangerous spots on the trail for kids except where the locks are located and a fall over the edge can be deadly due to the increased height of the drop offs. But as with any young children they should be watched carefully.

There are no facilities at the parking lots or along the trail, except maybe a Porto-John near the old Tenders House.

From the map it appears that another 1 mile would have brought us to the Trenton Ave/Calhoun Street Bridge over the Delaware River to Trenton, NJ where we could have crossed to the New Jersey side and get on the Feeder Canal along the Delaware & Raritan Canal, and head north back to Washington Crossing State Park, cross the Washington Crossing Bridge and return to Washington Crossing parking lot, for a loop trail of about 16 miles. But it was not clear to me if the Trenton Ave/Calhoun Street Bridge was open to foot or bike traffic.

For more information about the Delaware and Raritan State Park visit their website: Delaware and Raritan State Park

Here is the link to the official Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park map in high resolution.

Check out the other parts of the D&R Canal towpath that I have been on so far:

D&R Canal towpath – Lambertville to Bulls Island Recreational Area

D&R Canal towpath – Washington Crossing State Park to New Hope loop.

Clink here to see more pictures of the D&R Canal Towpath bike ride.