# Chatham Township/Borough, NJ rides??



## Becky (Jun 15, 2004)

Any suggestions for a road ride in the Chatham Township area? It looks like I will have to entertain myself while at the in-laws over the holidays. Hubby has suggested going out towards the Great Swamp...anyone have cue sheets for this area?

Thanks in advance!

Becky


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## Mad_Hun (Jul 3, 2007)

I live in Chatham and ride around the Great Swamp all the time. I think it's actually one of the nicest areas to ride in northern NJ.

You can do a search for my username (louissarok) on Motionbased's trail network (http://www.motionbased.com/) and check out some of my routes. Almost all of them involve an excursion into the swamp. I usually ride along Long Hill Rd and New Vernon Rd, which is the core of the swamp. If you're looking for some hillier rides, you can head north west out of the swamp along Glen Alpin Rd. to Jockey Hollow.

Have a good ride!


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## Becky (Jun 15, 2004)

Thanks for the routes! (By the way, that MotionBased website is very cool- thanks for sharing.)

Your routes seem to echo what I was thinking....Southern Boulevard, Green Village, and Long Hill/Mount Vernon. How is Fairmount Avenue for bikes, width-wise and traffic volume-wise? I'm not familiar with that road, though I can sort of picture where it runs into Southern.

I appreciate all of your help!

Becky


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## Bee-an-key (May 5, 2007)

Morris Area Freewheelers do some rides from the middle school and Convent Station. Bikeland is a nice road shop, ask for Oliver the owner, they do rides on the weekend, usually head into the swamp. High Gear bike shop in Stirling same thing, they tend to head into the hills out to Far Hills, Bernerdsville. Jockey Hollow offers some great climbing. Swamp is drag race flat in the valley but some good climbing and rollers depending how you get in and out.
Have fun.


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## Mad_Hun (Jul 3, 2007)

Becky said:


> Thanks for the routes! (By the way, that MotionBased website is very cool- thanks for sharing.)
> 
> Your routes seem to echo what I was thinking....Southern Boulevard, Green Village, and Long Hill/Mount Vernon. How is Fairmount Avenue for bikes, width-wise and traffic volume-wise? I'm not familiar with that road, though I can sort of picture where it runs into Southern.
> 
> ...


Fairmount Ave isn't bad. It's fairly wide and volume is reasonably low except for weekdays during the morning rush (7:30 - 9). Outside of those times, I don't hesitate to ride there. I have ridden it a few times during the morning, but the damn school buses back up traffic and then everyone gets anxious. Not fun to be on the bike then.


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## Climbing_Clyde (Jun 16, 2007)

For the life of me I will NEVER understand why so many cyclists ride through the great swamp. I commute through there every day, the road is lousy, there is NO shoulder, there are a ton of blind turns and it is flat. It is also heavily traveled by rush hour traffic. 
Add to this the current icy conditions and you have a recipe for disaster. 

There are a ton of nice roads in and around Chatham, personally I would avoid the swamp like a plague. Take Washington Valley road one way or the other. 
One way and you will wind up in Bedminster, gorgeous area, cycling heaven. 
The other way and you can do the loop around the Watchung reservation, another awesome area with some decent hills.


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## thegock (May 16, 2006)

*Sunday mornings*

We usually plummet in from the west (forget where sometimes Linsley sometimes Skyline)after about an hour or two :7: :14: of riding and there are few cars around. Just bikepacks on the not so good road. But it is a good, straight stretch (2-3 miles?) to ride into the T intersection at the general store on a fast paceline. Get to race other groups sometimes, too. Also the Estonian service there belongs on another forum on this site. See some other wild life as well...


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## Mad_Hun (Jul 3, 2007)

Climbing_Clyde said:


> For the life of me I will NEVER understand why so many cyclists ride through the great swamp. I commute through there every day, the road is lousy, there is NO shoulder, there are a ton of blind turns and it is flat. It is also heavily traveled by rush hour traffic.
> Add to this the current icy conditions and you have a recipe for disaster.
> 
> There are a ton of nice roads in and around Chatham, personally I would avoid the swamp like a plague. Take Washington Valley road one way or the other.
> ...


I've never ridden Washington Valley, but checking on the map, it doesn't look particularly close to Chatham.

Also, I'd say the Watchung reservation loop is much less pleasant than the swamp. The roads along Skytop Drive are littered with potholes and rough pavement, and cars along Glenside will often blast by you at 50+. Outside of rush hour, drivers in the swamp seem much more mindful of cyclists.

I guess to each his own, but having ridden in both areas, I find the swamp much more pleasant.


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## jmoryl (Sep 5, 2004)

Check out www.njbikemap.com , particularly the Chatham, Bernardsville, Mendham and Gladstone sections. The yellow highlighted roads are the best and it gets hillier as you go west of the swamp. 

Yes, the road through the center of the swam (Long Hill from about Pleasantville to White Bridge) can be a drag, but it is only a couple miles surrounded by a lot other roads with great cycling (for NJ). With some fresh pavement even Long Hill would be ok...


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Nice to see other people from Chatham riding. 

I ride through the great swamp, but I find the roads over near Loantaka and Morristown are much better and a lot less trafficked by cars.

I love the swamp because it really is a drag race and it provides a nice easy break or a way to catch some time depending on my mood and route.


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