Introduction
New Jersey has significant bicycle infrastructure elements of many different types, however they are not easily referenced, nor are they cataloged in one central location. This wiki attempts to remedy that. Below are numerous known cycle routes within the state, at various levels of jurisdiction and history (for example, railtrails, today abandoned railways, have a particular history and legal status). Note that OpenCycleMap (OCM, the "Cycle Map" layer) renders route shields only with a maximum of three alphanumeric characters in the ref=* (reference) tag of the route=bicycle relation. The shields and route lines are color-coded by network=*: red=national, purple=state/regional and dark blue=local. Note that mountain bike trails (orange), for example, in the Wharton State Forest, have their own set of route=mtb tagging conventions, different from route=bicycle relations. Please also see United_States/Bicycle_Networks for a more national perspective.
Quasi-national Bicycle Routes
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
East Coast Greenway Multi-use Trail (part of a quasi-national bicycle route) |
1774795 1774795 The super-relation containing relations of states and DC that make up the route; "drill down" to the New Jersey state relation, 1778315 1778315, which happens to be combined with Pennsylvania and New York's ECG segments |
ECG |
Professionally updated in OSM in 2016, continuing ongoing review |
ECG traverses 15 states and DC over several thousand miles/kilometers. Hence, this quasi-private bicycle route (neither government-sanctioned nor approved by AASHTO, but public data) is determined to be so "national in scope" that OSM's US national cycleway network includes it as a named (not numbered) route, tagged network=ncn, making it one of two national-level routes in New Jersey, displaying as red in OCM.
|
September 11th National Memorial Trail (part of a quasi-national bicycle route) |
13527538 13527538 The super-relation containing relations of the states and DC that make up the route; "drill down" to the New Jersey relations 13594177 13594177 (the "New Jersey thru route") and 13631687 13631687 (the "Newark spur"). |
9-11 |
Completed in 2022 |
9-11 traverses seven states and DC over thousands of miles/kilometers. Hence, this quasi-private bicycle route is determined to be so "national in scope" that OSM's US national cycleway network includes it as a named (not numbered) route, tagged network=ncn, making it one of two national-level routes in New Jersey, displaying as red in OCM.
|
State Bicycle Tours
The NJ Department of Transportation publishes several guides for bike tours throughout the state. These routes are sometimes grade-separated, but often run along rural roadways with either dedicated lanes for bicycles (cycleway=lane) or wide shoulders signed or otherwise legal/specified for bicycles (cycleway=shoulder).
Each of these should be added to OSM using a cycle route relation. Relations should use the network=rcn tag when they are state-level designated. If the route has been added by NJDOT, please provide a link to this table of relations. Don't forget to tag cycle_network=US:NJ on the relation of state-designated routes.
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Allamuchy Allegory Ride - Warren and Sussex Counties |
|
might be AAR or AWS |
Not entered yet into OSM |
|
Battle of Monmouth Ride - Monmouth County |
|
might be BMR or BMM (if spans more than Monmouth county and another initial is needed for the acronym) |
Not entered yet into OSM |
Another possibility is that Monmouth creates its own sub-network within the cycle_network=US:NJ namespace, e.g. cycle_network=US:NJ:MO or cycle_network=US:NJ:Monmouth.
|
Burlington County Bikeways - Burlington County |
17064247 17064247 |
might be BCB, though might also become BC1, BC2, etc, as bikeways "become plural" |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Cape May Shoreline Ride |
175442 175442 |
CMS |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Columbia Trail |
6663385 6663385 |
CT |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Cumberland Salem Revolution |
172728 172728 |
CSR |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Delaware & Raritan Canal Towpath |
196611 196611 |
DRC |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
Partly in Mercer County, both shares and diverges from ECG along much of its alignment: watch signs carefully! |
|
Double Trouble |
17154545 17154545 |
DT |
Appears completed, please double check |
|
Great Swamp Ride - Morris and Somerset Counties |
|
might be GSR |
Not entered yet into OSM |
Perhaps this should be split into two adjacent relations, such as GSM and GSS, similar to the Shore Tour and other precedents? |
|
High Point to Cape May Bike Route |
1794360 1794360 |
HPCM |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Last Covered Bridge Ride - Mercer and Hunterdon Counties |
|
might be LCB |
Not entered yet into OSM |
|
Old Mine Road Ride - Warren and Sussex Counties |
|
might be OMR |
Not entered yet into OSM |
|
Pine Barrens River Ramble - Burlington and Atlantic Counties |
17066806 17066806 |
PBRR |
Appears completed; please "double-check review" |
|
Round Valley Roundabout - Hunterdon County |
|
might be RVR |
Not entered yet into OSM |
|
Shore Tour |
|
STN STC STM STS
|
Completed |
|
Three Easy Scenic Rides - Somerset and Burlington Counties |
|
LRV CRR BBR
|
Completed |
|
Remember to verify that your work is correct by using the Relation Analyzer.
Local Rides
Tagged network=lcn (for "local cycleway network"). Don't forget to tag cycle_network=US:NJ:XY(:Z) on the relation of these usually county- or perhaps city-level designated routes, where XY is either the name of the county or a two-letter standardized abbreviation for it and Z is the name of the borough, city, town, township or village. If the jurisdiction is county-only and there is no city sponsorship, simply leave Z empty.
Atlantic County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Atlantic County Bikeway |
175313 175313 |
ACB |
Completed |
Rail to trail path.
|
Cardiff |
8829942 8829942 |
Cardiff |
Completed |
|
Pleasantville-Somers Point Bikeway |
175312 175312 |
PSP |
Completed |
Rail to trail path.
|
Burlington County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Batsto to Bass River |
175373 175373 |
BBR |
Completed |
|
Cape May County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Boardwalk |
6433590 6433590 |
Bwk |
Completed |
|
Middle Township Bike Path |
8785846 8785846 |
MTB |
Completed |
|
Essex County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
West Essex Trail |
3728766 3728766 |
WET |
Completed |
|
Gloucester County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Glassboro to Williamstown Bikeway |
173971 173971 |
GWB |
Completed |
Rail to trail path.
|
Hudson County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Hudson River Waterfront Walkway |
3007093 3007093 |
HRW |
Completed |
Bikeway that rides along the Hudson River.
|
Mercer County
Monmouth County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Edgar Felix Bikeway |
8776353 8776353 |
EFB |
Completed |
Bikeway that connects Allaire State Park to Manasquan.
|
Route 18 Bikeway |
8776368 8776368 |
18B |
Completed |
Connects with Edgar Felix Bikeway, then connects to a park in Wall, NJ.
|
Morris County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Traction Line Recreation Trail |
7375635 7375635 |
TLT |
Completed |
|
West Morris Greenway / Patriot's Path |
8829941 8829941 |
WMG |
Completed |
|
Ocean County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Island Beach State Park |
8780418 8780418 |
IBSP |
Completed |
Bikeway that rides the length of Island Beach State Park, NJ.
|
Somerset County
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Lamington River Valley Route |
175385 175385 |
LRV |
Completed |
Pottersville to Raritan Valley Community College.
|
Not tagged in a relation
For road bikes:
- Mill Pond Trails W of Port Republic
- Tabor Road / Route 53 in Morris County. A note tag says "Wide shoulder makes it bicycle suitable. Sidewalk in front of office buildings."
For mountain bikes:
- N of Batsto in the Wharton State Forest - these have been grouped into discrete MTB relations (Penn, Oak Hill, Teaberry, etc.)
- Trails in Galloway Township, W of Oceanville
- NW of Stone Mountain, Burlington County
- Allair State Park. These may need to be better tagged as mountain bike trails rather than highway=footway bicycle=yes.
- West Milford, E of Greenwood Lake Airport. These may need to be better tagged as mountain bike trails rather than highway=path bicycle=designated.
- E of Erskine Lakes. These may need to be better tagged as mountain bike trails rather than highway=path bicycle=designated.
- W of Sugar Loaf mountain, Saint Mary's Monastery (Morris County). These may need to be better tagged as mountain bike trails rather than highway=path bicycle=designated.
Rails-to-Trails
There are several abandoned railroads that have been converted to some combination of either cycling or hiking paths (or both, or sometimes including equestrians). These are called "railtrails" or "rails-to-trails," abandoned railroads legally "railbanked" so they may be used again for rail in the future if demand warrants it. These are all tagged network=lcn. Those that have sealed surfaces and/or cycling facilities should be added to the map using cycle route relations. Rails-to-Trails cycleways should be added here when discovered and when added to OSM. Again, for unpaved/unsealed/dirt/gravel bike trails, see the route=mtb wiki and please tag according to those slightly different tagging conventions.
Name |
Relation |
Reference |
Status |
Description
|
Atlantic County Bikeway |
175313 175313 |
ACB |
Completed |
Former rail line from Mays Landing to Atlantic City.
|
Barnegat Branch Trail
|
9759608 9759608
|
BBT
|
Appears completed; please check
|
Former rail line from Barnegat Twp to Berkeley Twp. The adjacent Beachwood bike path will probably be incorporated into the BBT when the intervening BBT extension (Segle Ave at the current trailhead to Berkeley Avenue & Railroad Avenue) is completed (2024-5).
|
Delaware & Raritan Canal Towpath |
196611 196611 |
DRC |
New Brunswick to Princeton |
Towpath for the former D&R Canal.
|
Glassboro to Williamstown Bikeway |
173971 173971 |
GWB |
Completed |
Former rail spur from Glassboro to Williamstown.
|
Henry Hudson Bike Trail |
175463 175463 |
HHB |
Northern section complete |
Northern section was a former rail line running along the Monmouth County bayshore.
|
Pleasantville to Somers Point Bikeway |
175312 175312 |
PSP |
Completed |
Former interurban line from Atlantic City to Somers Point.
|