Duke Farms

Duke Farms is a privately owned nature preserve that has 12 miles of roads for cycling spread across 1000 acres. Several additional miles of roads are for walking only. The property has 9 man made lakes some including waterfalls. They host educational programs and research. The car free, beautifully landscaped roads make for some of the most pleasant cycling I have experienced.

The property is open for visits Tuesday to Saturday from 8:30 to 6:00. Visiting is free but Saturdays requires a timed ticket. The property includes a farm to table café and a bike share program. There is a parking lot near the main building at 1112 Dukes Parkway West, Hillsborough, NJ. The preserve is across the road. There is a traffic light and crossing guard to enhance safety. Paper maps are available or you can download their app.

I visited Duke Farms in August of 2021.

For more information visit dukefarms.org You can also find Duke Farms on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram.

For a video of my bike ride visit my YouTube channel Mark's Bike Tock

Henry Hudson

 I rode a short portion of the Henry Hudson Trail in August of 2021. The section is the southern most portion from Big Brook Park to Freehold, NJ. There is a gap in the trail above Big Brook. This section of trail is paved and mostly smooth. There are a few sections where roots create some bumps but if you pay attention, these are not a serious issue.

I rode midafternoon and didn’t see much wildlife. I did see two deer, and both seemed accustomed to people. They let me get very close before running off. The southern part of the ride nearest Freehold was nicely shaded. The portion closer to Big Brook Park was open and sunny.

I parked on the Freehold end but had a bit of trouble finding parking. I had used navigation to get to the trailhead but that took me to the end of the trail. This was just a road intersection without any parking. I eventually found a spot about ¼ mile up the trail at 40.27096,-74.25926. This was the parking lot of a Monmouth County police training facility. I did not see any amenities at this end of the trail. Big Brook Park on the other hand had plenty of parking, a porta potty, a map/bulletin board and a bike repair stand.

Along the trail there were several road crossings but only one was a major road. There was an incident as I was crossing that road. See 24:30 on the video below. There were a couple of spurs on the trail that were not signed. I had to open maps, bike layer on my phone to distinguish between the main trail and the spur to navigate. The segment was only 5.5 miles but that was all I had time for on this trip anyway. It was an enjoyable hour of riding. I hope to get a chance to ride more of this planned 24 mile trail in the future. Most of it is done now but two gaps remain. The northern end is near Sandy Hook, another nice ride.

For more information visit the Monmouth County Parks website.

For a video of my ride watch it on Mark's Bike Tock YouTube channel.