Further Afield: Our Favorite Distant Routes
Ebike Routes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York State
These self-guided bike routes — through pine barrens, hemlock ravines, mountains and marshes — require a little more driving to get to. But they’re undeniably worth the trip. Here are our favorite electric bike rides, further afield.
Further Afield: Franklin Parker Preserve
Old cranberry bogs, twisted pitch pine forests and remarkable wetlands teeming with animal life and rare plants are the enchanting backdrop for this electric bike ride through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
Further Afield: Stokes State Forest and Tillman Ravine
The off-season is the perfect time for this electric bike adventure in Stokes State Forest. In winter, the gated roads are off-limits to cars, but not to your electric bike. This is when the sense of isolation is deepest, and the hillsides, thick with hemlocks, provide a welcome contrast to the blahs of winter.
Further Afield: Brendan T. Byrne State Forest
Late winter is the perfect season for this pine barrens adventure in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. Unlike other pinelands routes, this one is mostly paved, but the roads through the forest and along the wetlands are remote and isolated.
More e-bike routes you might like:
The Vernooy Kill: A Southern Catskills Ride
A rushing stream with intermittent waterfalls follows the early part of this loop ride in Kerhonkson, in the Southern Catskills. Then the woods give way to farmland and grazing cattle.
The Perkins Memorial
Perkins Memorial Drive leads to the tower atop Bear Mountain, but the real pleasure is having this road to yourself when it's closed to cars. Take your electric bike effortlessly to the top, then swing back downhill and into the Bear Mountain Inn.
An Empire State Trail Loop Ride: The Maybrook Trailway Past Whaley Lake
Ride the newly-opened Maybrook Trailway segment of the Empire State Trail; then, return via peaceful rural backroads, creating the perfect 17-mile loop for your electric bike.
The Sherman
From Sherman, Connecticut, cross into New York State and ride "The Oblong", a slice of historic disputed territory now given to forest and farm.