Calm paddling in a long, narrow canal along a towpath.
The “main” canal of the Delaware and Raritan (D&R) Canal State Park follows along a towpath from New Brunswick, N.J to Trenton. (The “feeder” portion then continues on to Frenchtown, next to the Delaware River).
Average depth: 10’. Miles available: 7.2 roundtrip.
| Miles: up to 7.2 | Detailed instructions, photos, and video follow below. |
| Park info | Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park and D&R Canal site |
| Nearby kayak | Carnegie Lake Kayak; Farrington Lake Kayak. |
| Nearby hikes | Six Mile Run; Delaware Canal Towpath; Griggstown Grassland; Negri-Nepote Grassland; Butler Road Natural Area. |
Our two cents:
Very easy paddling with nearly no current makes this good for beginners or a relaxing paddle. Tons of turtles and usually a Great Blue Heron or two.
Bridges and locks limit the length of sections along the entire D&R Canal, though if the water is low, you can portage around or limbo under bridges.
Paddling south towards Griggstown offers the longer of the two directions from this launch, but either is a nice paddle. We haven’t felt the need to extend in either direction, so we have not tried to shimmy under any of the bridges or bothered trying to portage around.
There is a rental place at the other end in Griggstown (doesn’t open until 10am though) so there will be more boats on the water on this section.
Some road noise in sections where the road runs nearby.
Updated: 7/2024 – Re-kayaked a portion, minor edits. 8/2023 – Added a photo of the dock with updated launch info; re-kayaked a portion. Older change log at page bottom.
Parking: N40.47525° W74.57275°
Blackwells Mills Park Parking Lot. 3 Blackwells Mills Rd, Somerset, NJ 08873.
This is a decent-sized lot but it is popular and may fill up. It has a lot of turn-around, however, as many people come for short walks along the canal towpath. There is another small lot a little further down Blackwells Mills Road or use the Six Mile Run lot nearby on Canal Road.
This is just one of several launch points along the length of the canal, plus you can choose to go in either direction. There is a dirt launch at the other end at Griggstown Causeway across from the rental place. Use a two-car shuttle to go further without having to out-and-back it.
Restrooms:
Portable toilet may be in the parking lot (there, 7/2024) or in the nearby Six Mile Run lot (there, 7/2024).
At the Griggstown end there may be a portable toilet across Griggstown Causeway Road (there, 7/2024). Land on the right side, just before the bridge where there is little bit of a dirt before a steep grassy section up, watching the rocks just under the water.
Kayak Rentals:
Available at Griggstown Canoe and Kayak Rental. This is nearby on Canal Road at Griggstown Causeway at the other end of this route; not at this parking area on the Blackwells Mills end.
Great for beginners or kids, calm paddling, easy to get into the canal – highly recommend. We rented here many times before buying our own kayaks. Can get pretty busy.
Book:
Appears in Quiet Water New Jersey (2010).
Note: Our go-to kayaking book is Quiet Water New Jersey (2010), available as an e-book or a used printed book.
The newer version is “Quiet Water Mid-Atlantic (2018)”. This contains 13 of the 52 locations in the New Jersey-only book and is available both in printed and online formats.
Related: Kayaking NJ overview page.
Launch:
Launch from the west side of the bridge, on the side with the parking lot, on either side of the Blackwells Mills Road. Right leads south to Griggstown Causeway, left leads north to Amwell Road.
Requires a short carry down a path from the lot to the canal, or briefly park on the side of the road and drop the kayak at the launch site.
To head right, towards Griggstown, launch from a small wooden dock. Before 2021 the launch was just a dirt spot to plop the kayak down into the canal.
The Route:
The canal is basically calm. There is actually a slight current but you won’t be fighting against it whether starting at Blackwells or Griggstown.
The following photos are from starting at Blackwells Mills and traveling south all the way to the Griggstown Bridge and back, about 7.2 miles, total round trip. Many kayakers will want to turn around sooner and not do the whole stretch.
If you’ve rented kayaks from Griggstown, you’ll be starting from the other end and working your way towards Blackwells Mills.
The towpath that runs along the canal is visible on the right (when heading south) and is well used by walkers, joggers, and bikers.
The D&R canal is often shady but where it’s is wider it can be sunny.
The canal seems sunnier to us now. A dredging project closed the canal for some time, and possibly some overhanging branches had fallen or been removed since we were here last.
Approaching the bridge at Griggstown Causeway. The rental place is on the left, near the stack of boats.
The bridge at the Griggstown Causeway. With lower water (and bending over) it might be possible to kayak under bridge but we’ve never bothered trying.
The grassy slope on the right is another possible kayak launch location to do this stretch in reverse. It isn’t a large area however, and at somewhat steep angle. Across the street there is sometimes a portable toilet and you can land here for that if needed!
Heading back after turning around at the Griggstown bridge.
After 10am you might be sharing the canal with kayak or canoe renters.
Back at the other end, the bridge at Blackwells Mills seen from the canal. On the right is an old bridgetender’s house.
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Kayaked 7/28/24 – 4.7 miles. To Griggstown; Canal Rd. launch.
Kayaked 8/6/23 – 4.7 miles. To Griggstown; Canal Rd. launch.
Kayaked 7/24/21 – 6.9 miles. Blackwell Mills to Griggstown; Canal Rd. launch.
Kayaked 7/17/16 – 7.2 miles. Blackwell Mills to Griggstown
Kayaked 8/10/14 – 7.0 miles. Blackwell Mills to Griggstown
Kayaked 7/5/14 – 4.3 miles. Blackwell Mills to Amwell Rd.
Updated: 8/2021 – Page refreshed, re-kayaked the Blackwells Mills to Griggstown section.