Rail-Trails New Jersey & New York. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

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alt="image"/> Control your speed, especially near pedestrians, playgrounds, and heavily congested areas.

       Travel single file. Cyclists and pedestrians should ride or walk single file in congested areas or areas with reduced visibility.

       Cross carefully at intersections; always look both ways and yield to through traffic. Pedestrians have the right-of-way.

       Keep one ear open and volume low on portable listening devices to increase your awareness of your surroundings.

       Wear a helmet and other safety gear if you’re cycling or in-line skating.

       Consider visibility. Wear reflective clothing, use bicycle lights, or bring flashlights or helmet-mounted lights for tunnel passages or twilight excursions.

       Keep moving, and don’t block the trail. When taking a rest, turn off the trail to the right. Groups should avoid congregating on or blocking the trails. If you have an accident on the trail, move to the right as soon as possible.

       Bicyclists yield to all other trail users. Pedestrians yield to horses. If in doubt, yield to all other trail users.

       Check the trail’s pet policy. Dogs are permitted on most trails, but some trails through parks, wildlife refuges, or other sensitive areas may not allow pets; it’s best to check the trail website before your visit. If pets are permitted, keep your dog on a short leash and under your control at all times. Discard dog waste in a designated trash receptacle.

       Teach your children these trail essentials, and be especially diligent to keep them out of faster-moving trail traffic.

       Be prepared, especially on long-distance rural trails. Bring water, snacks, maps, a light source, matches, and other equipment you may need. Because some areas may not have good reception for mobile phones, know where you’re going, and tell someone else your plan.

      Key to Trail Use

      Learn More

      To learn about additional multiuse trails in your area or to plan a trip to an area beyond the scope of this book, visit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s trail-finder website TrailLink.com, a free resource with more than 34,000 miles of mapped rail-trails and multiuse trails nationwide.

      New Jersey

      A deer grazes on the ground cover beside the Saddle River County Park Bike Path.

      1 Atlantic County Bikeway

      County

      Atlantic

      Endpoints

      W. Jersey Ave. near E. Black Horse Pike (Egg Harbor Township) to Atlantic Ave. and 19th St. (Hamilton Township)

      Mileage

      7.6

      Type

      Rail-Trail

      Roughness Index

      1

      Surface

      Asphalt

      If you’re looking for a change of luck on your gambling getaway to Atlantic City, try visiting the 7.6-mile Atlantic County Bikeway. The paved trail runs straight and flat as it offers a relaxing escape from the crush of traffic around the beachfront gaming and resort town located about 10 miles away.

      The bikeway got its start as the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad, a 40-mile subsidiary of the West Jersey Railroad’s parent Pennsylvania Railroad. Completed in 1880, the tracks ran from Newfield to near Atlantic City. It later became known as the Newfield Branch of the West Jersey & Seashore Railroad, another subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and eventually became part of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. The railroad stopped using the western half of the line between Newfield and Mays Landing in 1958 and the remainder in 1966. A section between Shore Mall (now Harbor Square) and the Atlantic County Institute of Technology reopened as the bikeway in 2003.

      Trees buffer much of the trail, providing a peaceful respite from the surrounding Atlantic City area.

      The trail connects shopping and residential areas as it runs between the nexus of the heavily traveled Atlantic City Expressway and Garden State Parkway in the east through a dense forest to a government complex in the west. Numerous at-grade road intersections are well marked for pedestrians and motorists. Two-lane side roads parallel long sections.

      Start at the eastern trailhead across West Jersey Avenue from Harbor Square, where trees screen the trail from adjacent streets and residential subdivisions as it heads northwest beneath power lines. The trail occasionally curves around utility poles in its path.

      There are frequent benches for taking a breather, as well as informational signs about railroad history and the flora and fauna of the New Jersey Pinelands.

      After 4.7 miles, the trail enters undeveloped woodland for about 2 miles to the outskirts of Mays Landing, the county seat of Atlantic County. The path ends at a vocational school on 58 acres that serves high school students and adults in the county. Although the trail ends here, historic downtown Mays Landing is about 2 miles ahead on Atlantic Avenue. Mays

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