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

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Proposed rail trails

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  • 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.
  • Highlands Rail Trail - Passaic County Highlands Rail Trail is a proposed contiguous recreational trail that will provide a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly pathway through the adaptive reuse of the former New York & Greenwood Lake Railway right-of-way in the Highlands communities of northern Passaic County.
  • Rahway Valley Railroad main line. Union County residents have proposed a 7.3-mile pedestrian linear park along the main line of the abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad.[3][4] The rail trail would run eastbound from Overlook Medical Center on the edge of downtown Summit and head south along the old railbed through Springfield, over the Rahway River via an abandoned trestle, through Union, then Kenilworth and ending at the southwest edge of Roselle Park at the Cranford border. A northern portion of the 7.3 mile rail trail on the RVRR main line is already under construction as the Summit Park Line, with a footbridge over Morris Avenue installed in October 2022.[5][6] In parallel, advocates have been pushing for immediate development of the portion south of Route 22, running past the Galloping Hill Golf Course through Kenilworth and Roselle Park. The New Jersey Department of Transportion, which owns the railbed, has been working to clear it in anticipation of possible future trail use.[7][8][9][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Crossley Preserve". New Jersey Natural Lands Trust. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  2. ^ Rails to Trails, Fall 2006, Page 7.
  3. ^ "RVRR Main Line with landmarks in Union County". Google My Maps.
  4. ^ "Abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad -Proposed Rails to Trails Route "Flyover" 🚂🚶🏼‍♂️👩‍🦼🚴🏼‍♀️" – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ^ "The Summit Park Line: Latest News".
  6. ^ "Park Line Pedestrian Bridge Officially Installed In Summit". October 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "NJDOT Clearing Out Abandoned Railway Property in Roselle Park; Union County to Apply For a Grant to Convert it into a Trail Through Roselle Park and Kenilworth". TAPinto.
  8. ^ "Union County Connects – A County Connected by Trails". unioncountyconnects.org.
  9. ^ "Abandoned right-of-ways Union County". Google My Maps.
  10. ^ Barbara Rybolt (January 16, 2015). "Summit's own Highline would be 'crown jewel' in city's trail system". Independent Press.
  11. ^ <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1DBBlGLp93s1zuQRC_SVzk-8gR5g" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
  12. ^ http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/2465[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Essex-Hudson Greenway".