Sussex Branch Trail

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Looking for a nice bike path that is well kept, easy to ride, and surrounded by pretty scenery? Look no further than the Sussex Branch Trail in Sussex County, New Jersey. This trail which follows the former Sussex Branch line of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad leads you 20 miles through Byram Township up to Lafayette Township. The scenery can change as you go, passing through forested landscape, swampy areas, a nice big lake and even some small communities. You can even grab a bite at the Andover Diner which can be seen from the trail! With just a 1 1/2mile gap through the township of Newton you can cruise along the railroad trail which was once used to transport high-grade iron ore from mines in Andover to the Morris Canal in Morris County. When iron was no longer the IT thing the train began transporting everything from farm products to passengers, it even became the hopping way to get to the popular Cranberry Lake resort area that were coming in from the eastern cities. However the railroad started to be fazed out in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The State eventually acquired it and it is now a multi purpose trail for hikers and bikers as well as horse back riders.

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