Where I Run (Delaware River)

I wanted to do 10 miles over the weekend. My regular route was closed for construction so I decided to head up to the Delaware River.

Below are some short videos of where I run when I head up to the Delaware. The first video is in the town of Stockton, New Jersey. But Joe, you might ask, why do you go to New Jersey when you live in Pennsylvania? Stockton is about a half hour from my house and a good place to start the run. Parking is easy and you can either go north or south on the Delaware & Raritan Canal Trail. The trail is around 30 miles long running parallel to the Delaware River.

What you see in the first video is a 360 degree view of where I start my 7 mile loop. I run from Stockton south for about 3+ miles to the town of Lambertville, NJ, then across the bridge over to New Hope, PA, up and short hill and pick up the canal path on the Pennsylvania side and head north for another 3+ miles to Center Bridge, PA. The second video will show you the bridge that I cross to finish up the 7 miles.

If I need to add any additional mileage, I will head north on the towpath (just for a change of scenary). There is a good run from Stockton north to Bull Island but you can't cross into Pennsylvania and run on the towpath coming back. A few years ago, there were a series of floods that washed out the towpaths on that side of the river. They rebuilt it once for a hefty sum of money only to have it flooded again washing out parts of the path up and down the Delaware. They have talked about rebuilding once again but, with these tough economic times, not sure when they will happen. Luckily, the Pennsylvania side is not totally closed but you have to know where they are open or you'll be in for a big surprise.

As a frame of reference, Stockton is about 10 mile north of where Washington crossed the Delaware on December 25, 1776.

The towpath is a mixture of sand and gravel. After Saturday's heavy rain, the run on Sunday felt a little like running on the beach. Believe me, I had some dead legs at the end of the run.

Anyway, I hope you get a sense of one of the places where I train. It's a beautiful area and I enjoy going up there on an early weekend morning.

(above: beginning of the Stockton loop)

(above: at the end of the 7 mile loop)