# Moved to Hunterdon County and looking for route recommendations



## J9L (Sep 19, 2012)

Hey everyone,

I recently moved to the High Bridge/Lebanon area and am looking for some routes people can recommend. I went out for my first ride today and wow the hills are sick around here. I was used to biking in Far Hills and am a pretty strong climber but wow the whole ride was uphill haha! I usually average 15mph and prefer a ride with a mix of rolling hills and a few steep challenges....maybe 20-25 miles in length. Any ideas??? Thanks in advance!


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Welcome to Hunterdon. The cycling here is great. I live near Perryville. Been here for about 15 years. Previously lived near Liberty Corner and I would say that the cycling here is much better. Nicer roads, less traffic, and as challenging as you want it to be - or you can do mostly flat/rolling terrain. It's hard to recommend any specific route since there are so many nice roads to choose from. If your ride length is truly limited to less than 25 miles, you can pretty much go out in any direction and not be disappointed. If you can stretch it out further, here are some good destinations:
- 
- the towns along the Delaware River are popular cycling destinations, from Lambertville to Stockton to Frenchtown to Milford.
- for a mostly flat ride, head to the area between Flemington & Frenchtown, generally referred to as the Hunterdon Plateau. Sergeantsville is a popular coffee stop for cyclists.
- head south up and past Round valley to the Sourlands
- cross over to Pa and explore the northeast part of Bucks County
- combine Califon - Mountainville - Pottersville - Oldwick, or even head back to the Far Hills area.
- head up to Woodglen and continue north to Mountain Lake. Probably my favorite area to ride. Warren County in general is great - but lots of big hills.

If you have a specific destination you want to ride to, let me know and I'd be happy to map out a route for you.

Enjoy.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

To see what roads riders use the most, I check out Strava Global Heatmap. The dark red roads are the most ridden, blue somewhat less. As you zoom in, more roads are colored in.
Here's your NJ area. As you zoom and pan, the URL changes, so you can bookmark the view. 


To find routes, I like to browse ridewithgps.com's Find section. But not every route posted is a great ride, some are better planned than others...

Like this:
Look in: *everyone's rides*
Starts within: *10 *miles
of (*your town*)
Length: drag the sliders...*25 to 50* miles


For instance, this ride.


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

Ditto on what the others have already mentioned - great area, great riding. If you haven't yet, go for a ride around Round Valley - good intro to the area (bypass Stanton Mountain Rd - has the worst road surface of any road in the area)

I use RWGPS to create routes & explore. You can see the distance & slope of hills before you head out. 

I also recommend Strava - for record keeping, discovering places & the social aspect. Some uses:
- Strava personal heatmap - similar to the global heatmap mentioned above but just for your rides - allows you to see where you've been & where you haven't
- Strava clubs - connect with other local riders - some examples:
----- Hunterdon Warren counties NJ - https://www.strava.com/clubs/hunterdonwarren
----- North Hunterdon Cyclesport (High Bridge, NJ): https://www.strava.com/clubs/NorthHunterdon-Cyclesport

- Local Clubs - while none are centered around your location - there are several that have rides in the area
----- Western Jersey Wheelmen - smallest one - centered around the Flatteau & Flemington
----- Morris Area Free Wheelers (MAFW) - one of the largest - has rides to the south & east of you
----- Central Jersey Biking Club (CJBC) - large club east of you
----- Central Bucks Biking Club (CBBC) - eastern PA & crosses into NJ
----- Princeton Free Wheelers - to your south
----- Bedminster Flyers

There are also several shops that have rides that cross the area.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

J9L said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I recently moved to the High Bridge/Lebanon area and am looking for some routes people can recommend. I went out for my first ride today and wow the hills are sick around here. I was used to biking in Far Hills and am a pretty strong climber but wow the whole ride was uphill haha! I usually average 15mph and prefer a ride with a mix of rolling hills and a few steep challenges....maybe 20-25 miles in length. Any ideas??? Thanks in advance!


Hunterdon County is a great area to ride. I wish I lived closer. Here is a resource that may help you find suitable roads

njbikemap.com


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Welcome to the county. I am in Lebanon as well. But since you mention High Bridge in the same line, I am thinking you are in Lebanon Township not the borough. 
I find myself riding a lot in the section of roads to the west of Rt31 and to the South of Rt78. For me this is one of the most scenic areas and the roads are in decent shape with good shoulders. The hills are not crazy but they are still challenging. 
For you, you can loop around Spruce Run and over Rt78 and you are there. Maybe come back over through Round Valley (I always prefer loops and not out and back rides). But save some energy for the RV hills. They can suck what remaining strength you have out pretty quick.


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## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

I grew up in Kingwood Township which is all rural farmland. It's great for cycling.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

One of my favorite roads in Lebanon Twsp. is Rocky Run. I rode down it today and shot this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2veGqVLor0&feature=youtu.be


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## J9L (Sep 19, 2012)

Wow thank you guys so much! I'm so excited to get out and explore this weekend! I actually live in High Bridge but sometimes people are more familiar with Lebanon so I mentioned that too haha. I went out towards the Voorhees state Park and 513 last weekend and looped around some side roads near Lake Solitude which was a really tough ride because of a lot of constant steep hills. It was beautiful and a great workout though! I'm definitely going to check out the area from spruce run to round Valley and try Rocky run...thanks robnj! I am kind of lazy in the sense that I hate having to drive places to bike and I like to just hop on and go from home so I'll probably start by going west of rt 31. Thanks for the video AlanE that just makes me want to ditch work today and go biking instead! What a gorgeous ride with the array of fall colors. I'm also going to check out the maps and strava others have mentioned so I can get an idea of the roads that are more popular for biking. Nothing worse than going out on a route for the first time to find out it turns into like offroading or its just super busy/unsafe roads you know?


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

J9L said:


> I went out towards the Voorhees state Park and 513 last weekend and looped around some side roads near Lake Solitude which was a really tough ride because of a lot of constant steep hills.


Yes - most of the ways out of High Bridge involve seriously steep hills - RWGPS is your friend. I know I prefer hitting steep hills after I have warmed up 5-10 miles. You can escape via Arch, Jericho, Grayrock & Hamden to the south, ride around the Perryville area (Hogback, Lansdown, etc) & return via Van Syckles, Cregar & West Main (if you stay on Cregar after crossing 513, be very careful, it's super steep w/ fresh chipseal). You'll hit traffic in Clinton but not for long. 

Rt 31 probably has the highest traffic in our area. I came down Rocky Run a week or two ago, needed to make a left on Rt 31 to connect w/ Cregar - waited forever to get across the road in both directions - yikes!

Lots of great places to explore & enjoy.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Here are a couple more nice roads in J9L's vicinity that I rode today:

Hickory Run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_J3bB15Tw

Guinea Hollow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4KrGajMJFs


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

AlanE said:


> Here are a couple more nice roads in J9L's vicinity that I rode today:
> 
> Hickory Run
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k_J3bB15Tw
> ...


Guinea hollow is fun except for when wet or encountering an oncomming car in the tight corners. I guess similar to most roads, but for some reason i get this more on this road.


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## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

it's probably because there are no road markings which effectively represents the bounds of subjectivity by which the oncoming drivers judge how to take a turn.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

The road surface on Guinea Hollow isn't the best, which sometimes necessitates riding on the left side of the road.

Perhaps you would like this road better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZKjvB0nEFA

But not so much this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLk_0SJUeVg


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## RL7836 (Jun 17, 2014)

AlanE said:


> The road surface on Guinea Hollow isn't the best, which sometimes necessitates riding on the left side of the road.


While I like the road, I'm currently not much of a fan due to the surface. Riding up, I noticed that some of those holes are quite deep - yikes!



AlanE said:


> Perhaps you would like this road better:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZKjvB0nEFA


 This does look sweet!



AlanE said:


> But not so much this one:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLk_0SJUeVg


At least Cold Springs Rd mostly has an acceptable road surface unlike it's neighbor - Hollow Brook Rd.

Alan - how many miles are you logging annually?


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Since I've been on a video kick lately, I decided to ignore your advice, i.e. "bypass Stanton Mountain Rd - has the worst road surface of any road in the area". I ride up it occasionally, but tend to avoid the descent. It's pretty rough, and all the fallen leaves obscuring the road didn't help. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RACuvywi1d8&feature=youtu.be

As for whether it's the worst road in the area, my vote goes to Nassau St. in High Bridge.

I also rode the Capoolong Trail. A little bit rough for a road bike, but doable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGt3U8yi_c0


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## robnj (Sep 26, 2013)

Stanton Mountain is an "uphill only" for me. Laced with too many potholes to make going downhill practical. 

Never tried that trail, may have to explore when I get the winter bike out. 

Tomorrow AM will be a slippery one with the leaves fallen and light rain. Watch those curves!


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