Delaware River Scenic Byway from Trenton

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Trenton

   Trenton does not show up on many dream lists, but the start of a river ride does not have to be pretty, and this one has more history than most. New Jersey's capital sits on the Delaware at the head of navigation, the place where the river stops being tidal and starts being a proper river, and where the falls once stopped boats from going farther. That made it a mill town, and the bridge carries a famous sign in big white letters: Trenton Makes, The World Takes. It is the old industrial pride of a city that once made pottery, wire rope and steel.

   Read the complete Trenton write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Trenton is where the day begins. Next is Lambertville.

2. 2. Lambertville

   Two towns share the Delaware at Lambertville, and they have been admiring each other across the water for generations. On the New Jersey bank stands Lambertville, all brick Victorian rows climbing the slope from the river; on the Pennsylvania side lies New Hope, linked by an old bridge you can walk or ride across in a minute. Either could be the stop on its own. Together, they make the best place on the Delaware River Scenic Byway for a long, unhurried lunch.

   Read the complete Lambertville write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lambertville comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Frenchtown.

3. 3. Frenchtown

   Frenchtown has the good luck to be small, handsome, and on a river that has not been spoiled. It sits on the New Jersey bank of the Delaware, in Hunterdon County, with a main street of well-kept brick buildings, a handful of cafes and galleries, and a bridge across the water to Pennsylvania. The name comes from a Swiss-French settler who bought the land in the late eighteenth century and set up a ferry, and the town grew around that crossing.

   Read the complete Frenchtown write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Frenchtown. Next is Milford New Jersey.

4. 4. Milford New Jersey

   Milford is a river town so small you could miss it if you blinked, and I mean that as a compliment. A few streets of brick and clapboard houses sit on a bend of the Delaware, with a bridge across to Pennsylvania and the wooded bluffs of the Musconetcong valley behind. The population is barely over a thousand, and Frenchtown is a few kilometres downstream, with its own bridge and a slightly more polished main street. After a day of riding along the river from Trenton, this is a fitting place to stop: quiet, a little old-fashioned, and honest about what it is.

   Read the complete Milford New Jersey write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Milford New Jersey closes the day.