Whenever mountain biking make sure that you are properly equipped including a helmet, water, extra tubes and repair kit, bike tools, etc. Also be aware of other people using the trail–hikers, folks on horesback, etc. By treating the land and others properly, we can all enjoy the trails.

New Jersey

• ETS in Princeton – 13 minutes from campus, trails on property
• D&R Canal – long flat dirt trail extends north from Princeton. Can also be ridden along Delaware River near Scudder’s Falls and north (flat gravel)
• Mercer County Park – has a range of trails of different degrees of difficulty
• Washington Crossing State Park – good for getting started.

Pennsylvania

• Top of Camelback Mountain – good old roads. Must take topo maps. Easy but cannot be done in one day. Park in the overflow parking area for the ski area.
• Snow Hill – old roads, very old roads. Must use topo maps. Most of the area is state forest.
• Lehigh Gorge State Park from White Haven, to Jim Thorpe, PA – The old railroad grade runs along the river for about 30 miles. Mostly flat gravel.
• Tobyhanna – record good. Public hunting lands. Old logging roads, single trackcross-country ski trails. Nothing marked. One twin cable stream crossing. Topo maps a must. Easy to get lost. Not super hard. Not too hilly.

Sources

• The Mountain Biker’s Guide to Central Appalachia by Joe Surkiewicz, Menasha Ridge Press, ISBN: 1-56044-198-4. Covers New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and West Virginia.