Biking part of the Paulinskill Valley Trail in summer.
20 miles, total round trip from Warbasse Junction to Old Station Rd. The entire Paulinskill is 27 miles one-way, though each end might be a bit unkempt and unridable, reducing mileage.
For a detailed turn-by-turn biking guide visit our main “Paulinskill Valley Trail – Warbasse Junction to Cedar Road” page.
Updated: 4/2024 – Post refreshed. Biked in 2016.
Related: NJ Bike Trails overview page.
Starting from Warbasse, the first bit of the trail heads uphill slightly, has a little loose gravel, and frequent road crossings.
After that, it’s more level and there aren’t as many road crossings. The trail varies between wide gravel and narrow dirt:
Houses and farms (and maybe some cows!) are visible along the way:
A rail-trail is basically an old railroad that has been converted for recreational use. Signposts along the way would mark the miles. This post indicates “68 miles to Jersey City”.
There are several areas with tall rock faces, where the railroad was cut right through:
For this section, there are two bridges over road crossings that have been removed, so these require walking the bike down a short, steep, rough, rooted section, riding the road a bit to cross, and then rejoining the rail-trail.
Getting down to road level is doable but not the funnest thing in the world. The first one isn’t until 5.8 miles from Warbasse, so if you prefer a 10 or 11 mile round trip, this is a non-issue.
On the ride back we spotted a pair of oncoming horse riders in the distance so we pulled off to the side to wait for them to pass (hikers and bikers yield to horses).
While standing there, we noticed something odd playfully scampering along behind them. A mule?! a large awkward dog?! That made no sense.
As they got closer we realized it was a deer. We asked the riders how long had the deer been following them and they had no idea, “ohhhh so that’s why the horses kept turning to look behind themselves!”.
It was so cute watching this playful and curious deer that was so fascinated with the horses.
The horses passed and the deer stopped to contemplate us. We waited a moment. He just stood there staring. So we slowly started walking our bikes so as not freak him out, and he bounded off into the woods.
—
Biked 6/24/16. 20.2 miles. Wildlife spotted: a deer following a pair of horses.