Delaware may be mountainless and the nation's second smallest state, but there are a surprising array of mountain bike trails to explore.
Mountain biking Delaware is all about "connections". Since 1990, the Delaware Greenway and Trails Program has worked to encourage and establish a web of recreational trail corridors that link state parks, wildlife areas, cultural sites and historical sites.
Mountain biking has long been a popular activity in New Castle County, which includes Wilmington and Newark, DE. The terrain is generally rolling, and most of the best places to mountain bike in Northern Delaware are located here.
Southern Delaware by bicycle is a cycling adventure for history and nature lovers this spring. Pedal along quiet, lightly travelled backroads, bicycle paths, multi-use recreational trail systems and long distance bike routes that wind through the historic towns, past pristine nature preserves and ocean beaches of Sussex County, DE.
White
Clay Creek State Park, the largest state park in the trail system with over 35 miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking and other outdoor activities is a popular Northern Delaware destination. You can bicycle from the Judge Morris Estate Area of the park, through county-owned Middle
Run Valley Natural Area
to connect to the Possum Hill area of the park.
The 14 mile long Chesapeake and Delaware (C & D) Canal stretches across the top of
the Delmarva peninsula and connects the Chesapeake Bay and the Port of Baltimore to the Delaware River. Scenic wetlands and the surrounding natural areas line both sides of the canal and provide important wildlife habitat and opportunities for a myriad of recreational activities including mountain biking and cycling on under-used roadways and paths. The Chesapeake & Delaware
Canal Wildlife Area contains a large network of unmarked trails along the C&D
Canal and also connects Delaware City with Lums
Pond State Park where you can find 10 miles of nice easy riding on multi-use trails that circumnavigate the largest freshwater Pond in the state.
In Central Delaware, Kent County, located at the northern end of the Eastern Shore, includes Delaware’s
capital city of Dover. At the green, in the center of Dover, colonial delegates
were the first to ratify the United States Constitution, making Delaware “The
First State" in the union. The topography of the area is generally flat farmland dotted with small Amish settlements, and historic villages. Quiet, back country roads bekon the mountain biker and cyclist to explore quiet back country lanes and dirt roads through Kent County's Amish farm country. Get a taste of Amish heritage and stop to sample home-made ice cream, fudge, hand-made crafts and folk art.
Bike routes wind throughout Sussex County in Southern Delaware, a region noted for quiet backroads, sand, surf, beach resort towns, natural areas,
and historic fishing and shipbuilding communities. For mountain biking at the
beach, the relatively new Junction and Breakwater Trail at Cape
Henlopen State Park located
on the Delaware Bay, provides easy scenic riding with outstanding views of the
coastal wetlands.
The Southern Delaware Heritage Trail, Delaware's only recognized heritage cycling trail, covers more than 130 miles of flatland bicycling in a big loop around Sussex County. There are numerous points of interest along the way for the road cyclist.
You know the expression "Good things come in small packages?" That describes mountain biking in Delaware. If you want to expand your horizons, just across the state line in Maryland, some excellent mountain biking trails can be found at Fair Hill NRMA.
