'All Aboard' New Jersey's rail trails

RELEASE: April 3, 2009 – Volume XLI, No. 14

Someone’s trash can always be another’s treasure. Take, as an example, the many abandoned railways crisscrossing this state we’re in. Many of these derelict rail lines are finding new life as trails, linear parks and other open and green spaces that benefit both the public and wildlife.

The rails-to-trails movement isn’t unique to New Jersey, of course. Throughout the country, years of consolidation in the rail industry led to the closing of many unprofitable lines. Eventually, even some main lines were shut down. Conservationists and forward-thinking governments recognized the potential of abandoned rail rights-of-way to link traditional parks and green spaces, and create linear trails.

In 1965, the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin became the first abandoned rail corridor in the United States converted into a trail. Today you can find “rail trails” in every part of the country, and in all shapes and sizes. More than 1,500 rail trails now total over 15,000 miles. The longest, at 225 miles, is the Katy Trail in Missouri; Nebraska’s 321-mile Cowboy Trail will beat that record when completed. An additional 9,500 miles are under way as part of 789 more projects!

As an environmental innovator in transit crossroads, New Jersey has its share of rail trails. According to data collected by the non-profit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, 47 trails or portions of trail in New Jersey currently use 233 miles of old railroad rights-of-way. Examples include the D&R Canal Trail along the Delaware River (the former Belvidere Delaware Railroad), Middlesex Greenway Trail (Lehigh Valley Railroad), Paulinskill Valley Trail (New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway) and the Sussex Branch Trail (Erie Lackawanna Railroad). Another 107 miles are under development in 12 separate projects.

This spring, for example, Ocean County will open another section of its Barnegat Branch Trail – a linear park that will ultimately stretch from Barnegat to Toms River along the rail bed of the old Central Railroad of New Jersey’s Barnegat branch line, which ran for almost a century starting in 1879. That’s 16 miles of trail for walkers, joggers and cyclists!

The first phase of the Barnegat Branch Trail was completed last year, running from Barnegat to Pancoast Road in Waretown (Ocean Township). Work on phase two, from Pancoast Road to Wells Mills Road in Waretown, is expected to be completed this spring. And the county recently received a grant from the N.J. Department of Transportation to finish the trail from Wells Mills Road to the Lacey Township border, as well as a 1.3 mile section in Berkeley.

And in northwestern New Jersey, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is helping to define and promote the Liberty-Water Gap Trail, an ambitious plan to create a continuous 100-mile corridor from Liberty State Park to the Delaware Water Gap. This new trail will connect completed rail trails such as the Paulinskill Valley and Sussex Valley Trails, and use other existing trails like Patriot's Path and the Lenape Trail.

Find a local rail trail through the Conservancy’s website, at www.railstotrails.org. New Jersey Conservation Foundation has a database of rail trails and potential railroad corridors for trails in its Garden State Greenways website at www.gardenstategreenways.org. Check this interactive mapping site to see if a rail trail or abandoned rail line is in your community!

Enjoy hiking or biking on a rail trail this spring, and I hope you will consult New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org, if you would like more information about conserving New Jersey’s precious land and natural resources.

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