Happy Summer Trails: Best Places To Hike Or Bike Around Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ — The trail beckons as Princeton area hikers, bikers, and walkers are ready to experience nature close-up again.

Here are a few of the best places to check out around Princeton, Mercer, and neighboring counties.

Lawrence Hopewell Trail is a 22-mile series of trails that serve local communities in Hopewell and Lawerence townships. The series of trails was planned to connect places and keep people healthy. Not only are the trail segments meant for recreation, they were planned for commuter use also! Start your hike at 197 Blackwell Road.

Watershed Institute does more than work to protect water. It conserves and restores habitats and offers recreation on its trails that pass through wetlands and meadows, over streams to the Wargo Pond. A portion of the trail connects to the Lawrence Hopewell Trail. The Watershed Institute trails begin at 31 Titus Mill Road. You can bring a picnic and a pet on a leash, but you must carry your waste out with you.

Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park is for people on foot as well as kayak and canoe! D & R Canal park has a self-guided trail system for hiking, biking, and even horseback riding. The park's webpage suggests two local shops where you can rent a bike. The D&R Canal park trails are extensive, so check out maps here and plan your day.

The Lenape Trail offers 36 miles of trail that cross 19 Essex County parks. Some sections of the trail are paved, others are unpaved and ready for hikers who want a greater challenge. Volunteers from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference help maintain the trail with help from Partners for Health Foundation in Essex County. The trail is named for the Lenape tribes of indigenous people who lived on the land that is now known as the Mid-Atlantic region.

Sourland Mountain Preserve offers a short and a longer trail with rocky areas and a little climbing. The trails go through forest with gentle slopes. Take the 5.7-mile trail or a shorter loop through the preserve. There are 4,000 acres here to enjoy, in Somerset County. Mountain bikes are allowed at the Preserve, as are horses.

D & R Canal State Park holds outdoors events like this one coming soon:

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