Find Your Connection–New Jersey
The 9/11 National Memorial Trail route through New Jersey is comprised of two routes that cross the state: an east-west route, for those traveling from the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania and a southwest-northeast route, for those traveling from the Pentagon Memorial.
Both routes will take you past smaller 9/11 memorials and traverse beautiful greenway corridors and interesting topography. The trails stop just across the Hudson River from New York City at Liberty State Park where visitors can visit the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Trail users can choose to visit the September 11 National Memorial & Museum by water taxi across the Hudson River, or continuing north to use the George Washington Bridge and access northern Manhattan.
The east-west route crosses the Delaware River and enters New Jersey just south of the Delaware Watergap National Recreation Area. It then follows the meandering Liberty Watergap Trail, an overlay of many scenic NJ State Park rail trails, and both forested and urban/suburban footpaths through Warren, Sussex, Morris, Essex and Hudson Counties before arriving at Liberty State Park.
The southwest-northeast route enters New Jersey by crossing the Delaware River entering downtown Trenton via the Lower Trenton Bridge. It then continues as an overlay of the East Coast Greenway. The East Coast Greenway and the 9/11 Trail will take a user along scenic and historic canal towpaths and urban/suburban footpaths through Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex Union, Essex, and Hudson Counties, before it too arrives at Liberty State Park. These trails include the following:
Both routes will take you past smaller 9/11 memorials and traverse beautiful greenway corridors and interesting topography. The trails stop just across the Hudson River from New York City at Liberty State Park where visitors can visit the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Trail users can choose to visit the September 11 National Memorial & Museum by water taxi across the Hudson River, or continuing north to use the George Washington Bridge and access northern Manhattan.
The east-west route crosses the Delaware River and enters New Jersey just south of the Delaware Watergap National Recreation Area. It then follows the meandering Liberty Watergap Trail, an overlay of many scenic NJ State Park rail trails, and both forested and urban/suburban footpaths through Warren, Sussex, Morris, Essex and Hudson Counties before arriving at Liberty State Park.
- Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a National Park with bike and hiking amenities and more information can be found here
- Liberty-Water Gap Trail is a connection that has an earthen surface and is best suited for a wide tire bike
- Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail and Sussex Branch Trail are earthen shared use trails that can get muddy in spots and best for off road bikes
- The rest of the route is local and state roads that might have a small shoulder or sidewalks that could be used. Caution is recommended in these areas.
The southwest-northeast route enters New Jersey by crossing the Delaware River entering downtown Trenton via the Lower Trenton Bridge. It then continues as an overlay of the East Coast Greenway. The East Coast Greenway and the 9/11 Trail will take a user along scenic and historic canal towpaths and urban/suburban footpaths through Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex Union, Essex, and Hudson Counties, before it too arrives at Liberty State Park. These trails include the following:
- Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Canal and Towpath from Trenton to New Brunswick. The main canal has a natural limestone surface which will work well for all bikes
- Morris Canal Greenway which has a mixture of paved paths and on road city routes
- The rest of the route is on low volume, well-paved roads through smaller towns such as Winfield Township, Cranford, Rahway, Iselin, and Edison Township