List of rail trails in New Jersey

This list of rail trails in New Jersey lists former railroad right-of-ways in New Jersey that have been converted to trails for public use, as well as proposed rail trails.

Columbia Trail rail trail in Clinton Township

Established rail trails

Proposed rail trails
  • Camden County - The William Penn Foundation has granted $77,000 to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to study the development of rail trails on unused rail lines in and around the city of Camden and surrounding suburban areas. The study is a one-year project called the Camden Metro Region Trails Strategy.[2]
  • Former Central Railroad of NJ line from Lakehurst to Winslow Junction - Momentum is increasing for support of the proposed Wharton Rail-trail in southern Jersey. The line was a remnant of the Conrail bailout of 1976 and has been abandoned since that date. Since then, trees have grown up through the rails. Most bridges remain intact and the right-of-way and its access roads are being used by rogue ATVs, mountain bikers and hikers. The area eastward beyond the Batsto River is barren, uneventful, and impossible to ride. However, westward to County Route 536, there are several interesting trestles over tea-colored cedar water streams and hardwood groves amongst the solitude of pine trees. This latter route is mostly single track and double track in places west of U.S. Route 206 at Atsion. The New Jersey Department of Transportation will be studying the conversion of the line.
  • Union County Park Line rail trail - Two abandoned rails exist in the county. [3] The status of the abandoned railroad between Summit and Cranford is uncertain. The City of Summit and the Summit Park Line Foundation are working on turning the portion of the abandoned railroad from Morris Avenue to Briant Park in Summit into a rail trail that will be approximately one mile long. This rail trail, potentially called the Summit Park Line[4] would provide a greenway to connect several county parks, akin to a Summit High Line. It would create a path directly from Summit to the Arthur Kill in Linden, New Jersey by utilizing the Rahway Valley Railroad and the Staten Island Rapid Transit line. The Summit council applied for a $1 million grant toward the Park Line project in November 2016. [5] “If Summit is able to complete the project, it might help other parts of the greenway come through,” said Union County Public Relations Coordinator, Sebastian Delia.[6] The Rahway Valley Railroad runs from Summit to Roselle Park. Beginning in Hidden Valley Park, the railroad right-of-way continues by connecting Houdaille Quarry, Briant Park, Meisel Park, Rahway River Parkway, Galloping Hill Golf Course and Black Brook Park. The ending of the railway is on Westfield Avenue in Roselle Park. The Staten Island Rapid Transit runs from Cranford to Staten Island, although the project would only include the section that runs from Cranford to Linden.[7] The possible beginning in Cranford would be a lot adjacent to the railroad right-of-way on South Avenue East. The lot is currently owned by Lehigh Acquisition. The ending of this trail would be in Linden along another empty lot. A boardwalk could be placed over the existing tracks due to the possibility of the line being reactivated. The impact of the controversial planned Pilgrim Pipeline, which would use this particular abandoned rail line to pipe crude oil, kerosene, and diesel fuel through Cranford, New Jersey and Roselle, New Jersey, is not known.[8]
  • Essex-Hudson Greenway, from Montclair to Jersey City, running along a track bypassed by the Montclair Connection[9]

References
  1. "Crossley Preserve". New Jersey Natural Lands Trust. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  2. Rails to Trails, Fall 2006, Page 7.
  3. <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1DBBlGLp93s1zuQRC_SVzk-8gR5g" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
  4. http://www.summitparkline.org/#intro
  5. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/summit/articles/summit-council-applies-for-1-million-grant-towar
  6. http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/2465%5B%5D
  7. http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/2465%5B%5D
  8. Detailed map of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline route https://arcg.is/0iaOHr
  9. New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition. "Essex-Hudson Greenway".
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