If you live in NY City or Philadelphia and want to ride on the D&R towpath, you can easily reach it whether you have a car or not.
Reaching the Towpath by Car
From northern NJ, New York, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Long Island, take the NJ Turnpike or the Highway 440 to I-287. Take I-287 to Exit 10, Easton Avenue. This will bring you to the Davidson Avenue Entrance. The parking lot requires you to make a u-turn -- this is explained on the Davidson Avenue entrance page. There are hotels near this entrance -- see the Davidson Avenue entrance for information. If your goal is to ride the entire towpath, you'll want to start at Landing Lane. To reach Landing Lane, take the NJ Turnpike to Exit 9 (Highway 18), go north on Highway 18 through New Brunswick to River Road. Take River Road (west) to Landing Lane, turn left, and make the first right into Johnson Park, park in Grove 5. See the Landing Lane entrance page for details. In the Fall, you should check the Rutgers University football schedule as on the day of home games, Johnson Park is not open for parking. You can use the DeMott Lane Footbridge entrance as an alternate entrance on those days.
From Philadelphia, make your way to Route 1 in New Jersey as it comes through Trenton and park at the Route 1 entrance. Use the google map on the Route 1 page to get directions.
Reaching the Towpath by NJ Transit
A total of 6 entrances are close to an NJ Transit station. Five of these are on the Northeast Corridor Line, one (Queens Bridge in South Bound Brook) is on the Raritan Valley Line.
- Landing Lane (parking in Johnson Park, close to Rutgers University and UMDNJ, 1 mile from NJ Transit in New Brunswick) -- Northeast Corridor Line.
- Queens Bridge (1/2 mile from NJ Transit in Bound Brook) -- Raritan Valley Line.
- Alexander Road (parking, picnic area, 1/2 mile from NJ Transit in Princeton Junction) -- Northeast Corridor Line.
- Carnegie Road (parking), 3/4 mile from NJ Transit in Hamilton) -- Northeast Corridor Line.
- Whitehead Road (1/2 mile from NJ Transit in Hamilton) -- Northeast Corridor Line.
- Mulberry Road -- (1.8 mile from NJ Transit in Trenton) -- Northeast Corridor Line.
For a day trip from New York take the NJ Transit from Penn Station in NY to any of the 2 northern entrances listed above and ride to one of the 4 southern entrances or vice versa. To reach Bound Brook you'll need to transfer in Newark. NJ Transit allows bicycles at most times other than weekday rush hours. Bikes ride at no charge in the handicapped areas, but handicapped riders have priority. Click here for the exact NJ Transit rules for bicycles. Alternatively, you can take the PATH train to Newark and pick up your NJ Transit train there. PATH trains also allow bicycles -- click here for the exact PATH rules for bicycles.
For a day trip from Philadelphia, you'll need to take SEPTA to Trenton and then either ride to the Mulberry Road entrance or take NJ Transit to one of the stations on the Northeast Corridor (NOT the Queens Bridge entrance because Bound Brook is on the Raritan Valley Line).
For a weekend getaway, use the hotels near the Davidson Avenue Entrance (several in various price categories) or on Route 1 near the Bakers Basin Road Entrance (limited selection). To find them use the google maps on the respective pages. Note the Quality Inn near the Davidson Avenue entrance has a swimmable lap pool in its "health club".
