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NJShoreRun's Favorite Running Routes at The Shore
1. Ventnor/Atlantic City Boardwalk Run- Approximately 5 miles of boardwalk (10 miles round trip), can be shortened as desired. Start on Ventnor Boardwalk at Martindale Ave. For those that have not come here before, if you arrive early enough, you can park directly on Martindale Ave. You can also park on one of the nearby streets on or off Atlantic Avenue. Once you park your car, proceed up the Martindale ramp to the boardwalk. Run North toward Atlantic City and turn around as desired. Additionally can run to Gardner’s Basin for longer runs (12 miles round trip). Excellent views of the ocean, piers, casinos, or if you run on a less crowded weeknight you can catch a glimpse of the light show projected onto Boardwalk Hall year-round. Bathrooms and some water fountains along the boardwalk, casinos are another option for bathrooms. Coming Soon- Repairs to the north end of the AC boardwalk past the Revel will add an additional mile of boardwalk to Gardner's Basin! Hopefully completed in 2017.
2. Ocean City Boardwalk- 2.45 mile long boardwalk with distance markers every 1/4 mile and designated runner/bike lanes. Beautiful ocean views! Heavy pedestrian use on Summer evenings in the amusement area and biking limited to 5am-12pm in the Summer. The Ocean City Music Pier bathrooms are open year round, and a few others open only during Summer months as well as water fountains.
3. Ocean City 9th Street Bridge Causeway Walkway- In 2013 the new 9th street causeway pedestrian/bike path opened. A 2.2 mile length walkway from Ocean City to Somers Point across the two 9th Street bridge spans, separated from vehicle traffic. Beautiful views of the bay and marshes! The New Ocean City visitor center open during the day has bathrooms and water fountains. Additional portable toilets can be found on either end of the fishing piers adjacent to the walkway. At night the spans are lit underneath by multicolored LED lighting- spectacular!
4. Ocean City/Somers Point/Longport Bridges Run- Loop of approximately 10 miles including part of OC Boardwalk (or 8-9 miles without the boardwalk), 4 bridges around the ocean and back bays of Ocean City, Somers Point, and Longport. One start location is at the base of Ocean City Garden's Bridge Fishing Pier- Longport side (you can start from many other locations around the loop). This is the bridge going into the North end of Ocean City. The basic bridge loop is 10 miles including part of the OC Boardwalk, but the course can be modified to do less (about 8-9miles) if the boardwalk is skipped and you run along Bay Ave in Ocean City instead. From the OC Boardwalk or Bay Ave, you run to the new 9th street bridge turning West toward Somers Point. Once across the 2 span causeway, then head North on Bay Ave in Somers Point to the Longport Causeway where you turn East toward Longport. Finally, complete your loop turning South toward Ocean City to the start location at the fishing pier. See map below of this scenic and challenging course, which includes the start location of the fishing pier. There are two portable bathrooms at the fishing pier start location plus you can stop the Ocean Music Pier, which is exactly 3 miles into the run. The OC 9th street causeway has a visitor's center with bathrooms or portable toilets down by the fishing piers.
Map:
5. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Galloway- The hard packed, dirt road loop out into the bay/marsh area is 8 miles, there is a parking lot and bathrooms. Beautiful run on the back bays of Absecon with great views of Atlantic City and Brigantine. Frequented by bird watchers, many species nest there.
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
800 Great Creek Road
Galloway, New Jersey 08205
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin_b_forsythe/
Directions From US Route 9-
The refuge entrance is at the intersection of Great Creek Road and US Route 9.
If you are traveling on US Route 30 (White Horse Pike) or US Route 40 (Black Horse Pike), turn left onto US Route 9 northbound. Follow US Route 9 to the traffic light at Great Creek Road. Turn right onto Great Creek Road and follow it to the refuge entrance.
6. Batsto State Park Run- trail run, various loop options outlined below, parking at Batsto State Park Visitor Center, nice heated bathrooms at the start for this trail run. For those of you that haven’t run here before, the main trail, known as the Batona Trail, traverses through a beautiful section of the Pine Barrens. The trails are marked in colors (white, blue, & pink), which are spray-painted on the trees at key points. For the not so serious runners, they have a 2 mile loop (white) and a 4 mile loop (blue). For the more serious runner, we have the ole "Out & Back" option on the winding main trail (pink). What we have done in the past is run "out" for about 45 minutes to an hour, turn around and head "back". But you can turn around at any point to get your proper distance. The trails are well marked.
Additional information on the Batona Trail can be found at the following link:
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/batona14web.pdf
7. Five different Cape May runs- outlined by our friends at Cape Island Runners:
http://capeislandrunners.com/top-5-cape-may-runs/
8. Somers Point/Linwood/Northfield/Pleasantville Bike Path- 6.5 mile paved bike path from Somers Point to Pleasantvile. On the south end in Somers Point, you can easily connect to new Ocean City 9th street bridge for an additional 2 miles on the walking path.
http://www.traillink.com/trail/pleasantville-to-somers-point-bike-path.aspx
9. Atlantic County Bikeway (EHT/Mays Landing)- 7.5 mile paved bike path from Shore Mall to the Atlantic County Institute of Technology (Vo Tech).
The address of Shore Mall (now called Harbor Square) is 6725 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234.
The address of ACIT is 5080 Atlantic Ave, Mays Landing 08330 and there is plenty of parking.
There is a super Wawa on Route 40 near ACIT for bathrooms.
10. EHT Nature Reserve- About 4-6 miles of single track, forest and gravel pit trails. Parking lot. Now a portable toilet in the parking lot!
http://www.ehtnaturereserve.org
map:
11. Estell Manor Park- A paved 2.2 mile road loop, a 1.5 mile trail loop with exercise stations, 1.8 mile Swamp Trail Boardwalk, and about 7 miles of mountain bike trails. The visitor center has parking and bathrooms.
12. Birch Grove Park- A 1.5 mile dirt road loop and a few shorter rough, single track trails through the middle of the loop. Bathrooms and parking at the visitor's center.
13. Wells Mills County Park- Some nice trail running in the Forked River Mountains (just small hills really)! Multiple loops of single track and double track trails- White trail 8.5mile loop, green/yellow trail 3.5 mile loop, and a few shorter loops. The nature center is heated and has bathrooms and a water fountain, also a bathroom in the parking lot in Summer. Expect well marked and good single track and some double track trails similar to the mountain bike trails in the back of Estell Manor Park, except there are some gentle hills, a few thin boardwalk crossings, and maybe a tiny bit of mud if any rain in the previous days. The terrain is not technical (road shoes are fine)- just twisty trail, mild hill fun (Laurel Hill and Penns Hill top out at 130', so no more than our local bridges).
Wells Mills is an easy drive up the Garden State Parkway to exit 69 and then just 2.5miles West (left) to the park. The following is a link to the park, directions, and it's trail system:
http://www.oceancountyparks.org/ContentPage.aspx?ID=41fee2db-374d-49a2-a7ae-f17b5acc6c92
Wells Mills County Park
905 Wells Mills Road (Route 532)
Waretown, NJ 08758
609-971-3085
14. North Wildwood Seawall, Wildwood Boardwalk, Wildwood Crest Bike Path- The North Wildwood Seawall is 1.3 miles from Anglesea Ave to 2nd/JFK Ave with beautiful views of Hereford Inlet. From there you can head directly to the Famous 2 Mile Wildwood Boardwalk. At the end of the boards is the Wildwood Crest bike path. The entire length from Seawall to the end of the bike path is 4.75 miles. The boardwalk provides some bathrooms and water fountains during the tourist season.
Wildwood Seawall to Crest Bikepath - http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=580739
(Photo- A. Johnson)
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