Sunny rail trail that rolls through farmland and fields in Monmouth County.
16.7 or 18.3 miles (or less) total round trip. Crushed stone surface with a few loose slippy areas. Mostly sunny; if it’s windy you’ll feel it near open fields. Multi-use: hikers, bikers, horses.
- Shorter: Simply turn back sooner. It’s 12.6 miles total from Sharon Station Rd to Jonathon Homes Rd.; noted below.
- Nearby: Clayton Park; Perrineville Lake Park; Mercer County Park.
- Nearby: Prospertown Lake Kayak.
Biking Info:
Our two cents:
We’ve biked this both north-to-south (this hike guide) and south-to-north and don’t feel one is better than the other. Least favorite part: not quite mid-way the trail has minor rolling hills and looser gravel where it briefly runs near a road.
For hiking we recommend starting at the southern end, going 2 to 3 miles then turn around. This is the nicest and most scenic portion when on foot. Use Millstream Rd parking info and reverse the directions below.
A few bikers seem to ride this racing fast and pass with little or no warning; noting this as we don’t generally encounter that on rail trails.
Parking:
There are three parking areas. The northern lot is at Sharon Station Rd and the southern lot is at Millstream Rd. Another is at Jonathon Holmes Rd two miles before the Millstream Rd lot and is noted on our Interactive Map.
N40.20609° W74.53660° [Sharon Station Rd]
70 Herbert Road Upper Freehold, NJ 08514. Herbert Road intersects with Station Road. This address is the best for GPS purposes but is a bit past the intersection. Large dirt/gravel lot with a fence. This guide starts from this lot.
N40.09565° W74.52134° [Millstream Rd]
8 Millstream Road Upper Freehold, NJ 08514. Large dirt/gravel lot.
Restrooms:
Portable toilet should be in each of the parking lots (as of 9/2021) – that’s three in under 20 miles!
Trail Maps/Books:
The park site has maps and there may be a map brochure in the trail kiosk at the lots. Follow along on a smartphone with our Union Transportation Trail Interactive Map. Appears in Rail-Trails New Jersey & New York.
Food:
Just around the corner from the Millstream Rd. lot is a farm veggie stand, G&M Farm Market. Screamin Hill Brewery is about a 10 min drive from any parking lot.
There is a farm fresh eggs-n-more self-pay stand literally ON the trail that you can swing by afterwards (unless you’d like to carefully tote a dozen eggs in your bike bag…) It’s towards the southern end at the intersection with Arneytown-Hornerstown Rd.
Related: NJ Bike Trails overview page.
The Details:
0.0 – With your back to the parking lot, turn RIGHT to begin. [The trail continues to the left and dead-ends at Old York Road. Including that section adds 1.7 miles round trip.]
There are a few bridges along the way in order to cross small streams. Sometimes there is a little lip at the edge to hop up.
Scenery varies from fields and farms to tree-lined trail.
Fun Facts: This was once the route of the Pemberton & Hightstown Railroad that was created to connect area dairy farms to larger railroads and ran from 1868 to the 1950s. Passenger service stopped in 1931 and freight in 1977 at which point JCP&L acquired it to use for a power line. Converting it to a trail began in 2010 and was completed in 2017.
The northern section has a more utilitarian/industrial feel in areas. These are active farms so it’s possible that tractors or other farm vehicles may cross the trail.
2.0 – Head through a tunnel to cross under I95.
There are multiple street crossings but most had little traffic (at least not early morning on a weekend).
3.3 – The trail turns to the RIGHT, leaving the actual route of the rail way, and heads towards Sharon Station Road. There are a few rolling hills and possible pockets of deep loose gravel in this area.
The trail turns LEFT and parallels the road for a bit, dipping down then right back up where it crosses a driveway.
Follow it as it veers to the LEFT again before crossing Davis Station Road.
6.3 – Pass Jonathon Homes Rd. parking lot on the left. Trail kiosk, picnic table, portable toilet.
// Shorter, 12.6 miles roundtrip – turn around here. //
7.2 – The trail curves around to cross Forked River Road. This might have fast moving traffic but there is a button to trigger a crossing light.
7.6 – Pass small a self-pay farm stand with a refrigerator that may have fresh eggs. It even takes Venmo!
We briefly thought about it just for the novelty – how often can you buy eggs ON a trail? – but our practical side won out and we stopped after our ride.
8.3 – Cross Millstream Road and into the parking area. There’s a trail kiosk, portable toilet, and a shady picnic table just asking you to take a break. Turn around and retrace the route when ready.
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Biked 9/5/21. South to north to end; 18.3 miles total.
Biked 5/23/21. North to south.