Best Motorcycle Rides Near New Jersey (and Their Hidden Risks)
New Jersey rides better than its reputation. Get off the Turnpike and the Parkway and the state opens into ridge roads in the northwest highlands, quiet mountain loops in the center, and sandy pine-country lanes down south. The same roads that make Jersey a rider's state also carry real hazards, and New Jersey law adds a twist most riders never think about until they are already hurt.
The Delaware Water Gap and Old Mine Road
Point the bike toward the northwest corner of the state and you reach one of the great rides in the region, right where New Jersey meets the Delaware River. Old Mine Road runs along the river through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, one of the oldest roads in the country, tracing forested ridgeline with the water below and the Pennsylvania hills across the way. In fall the maples and oaks light up and the whole corridor turns to color. The catch is that this is a narrow, patchy, sometimes gravel-strewn old road with tight blind curves, no shoulder to speak of, and stretches where the pavement has heaved and cracked. Wet leaves collect in the shaded turns, deer step out of the treeline without warning, and sightseers brake hard for the view. Ride it smooth and patient, because the road gives you no room to fix a mistake.
High Point and Skyline Drive
For a full day in the highlands, climb to High Point State Park at the far northwest tip of the state, where the monument marks the highest ground in New Jersey and the ridge roads roll out in every direction. Pair it with Skyline Drive over the Ramapo Mountains near Ringwood and Wanaque and you get a day of forest sweepers, reservoir views, and long ridgeline runs that do not feel like New Jersey at all. The mountains demand respect. Elevation brings sudden weather and early cold in the fall, the roads twist through tight sections with gravel and rockfall, and Skyline in particular is narrow, popular, and busy with cyclists and drivers who take it fast. Deer and bear are common up here at dawn and dusk. Plan the ride, not just the destination, and watch the treeline in the low light.
The Sourland Mountains Loop
Down in the center of the state, the Sourland Mountains give you a quieter, closer ride between Hunterdon, Somerset, and Mercer counties. Loop the back roads around Hopewell, Ringoes, and the Sourland ridge and you trade the highlands drama for rolling two-lane roads through woods and farm country, some of the gentlest riding in central Jersey. The hazards here are quiet ones. These are working farm and back roads with tractors and equipment pulling out, gravel and mud tracked onto the pavement, frost-heaved surfaces, and drivers touring the countryside who are distracted and never looking for a motorcycle. Fall brings farm-stand and leaf-peeping traffic that makes it busier than it looks. Ride it like a car could pull out of any driveway, because one often does.
Round Valley and the Hunterdon Back Roads
Just off Route 22 and I-78, the roads around Round Valley Reservoir make for a beautiful shorter ride, with the blue water set down in the hills and a web of Hunterdon County back roads winding out from it. It is easy to reach and easy to string into a longer afternoon through Clinton and the surrounding farm country. The danger is exactly what makes it convenient. These roads feed off busy Route 22 and I-78 corridors where traffic moves fast and drivers merge onto quiet lanes without slowing down. The pavement varies from smooth to badly potholed, blind driveways and farm entrances feed onto the road, and weekend recreation traffic clogs the reservoir approaches. Relaxed is not the same as safe out here.
The Pine Barrens Run to Batsto and the Coast
For a completely different kind of day, drop south into the Pine Barrens and run the long straight sand-country roads down through Batsto Village and out toward the coastal back roads. This is flat, piney, wide-open riding with historic Batsto as a natural stop and the shore roads waiting at the end, a slower and stranger landscape than anything up north. The hazards are their own kind. These roads run dead straight for miles, which lulls riders into speed, then throw sudden sand or gravel across the pavement where sandy shoulders wash onto the road. Deer are everywhere in the pines, cell service and gas get thin, and the coastal roads at the end fill with turning beach traffic, driveways, and drivers watching for the shore instead of the road. Respect the emptiness, because help is a long way off out here.
The Hidden Risks Every Jersey Ride Shares
No matter which route you pick, riding in New Jersey comes with a few constants worth planning around. Ride like the road is not looking out for you, because it is not.
- ✓ Potholes and broken pavement. New Jersey winters chew up the roads, and a pothole or frost heave a car never feels can put a bike down, especially on the older highland and back-country roads.
- ✓ Wet leaves and cold snaps. Fall drops a slick layer of leaves onto shaded curves, and the season's first cold snaps leave morning frost on bridges and in low spots exactly where you least want to lose traction.
- ✓ Deer. Highlands, Sourland, and Pine Barrens roads are thick with deer, especially at dawn and dusk in the fall rut, and a strike on a bike is a serious crash.
- ✓ The left-turn driver and the jughandle. The most common motorcycle crash is a car turning left across a rider's path, and New Jersey's jughandles and constant merging give distracted drivers endless chances to do it.
- ✓ Dense traffic and rushed drivers. The Parkway, the Turnpike, I-78, I-80, I-287, and Route 22 stay packed with hurried, distracted drivers who never see a bike in the next lane.
Why a New Jersey Crash Hits Riders Differently
Here is the part most riders never see coming until it is too late. New Jersey runs a no-fault PIP system for cars, but motorcycles are excluded, so you get no PIP on the bike to cover your own medical bills after a wreck. The flip side is a genuine advantage. Because riders sit outside the no-fault system, you are not bound by the limitation-on-lawsuit threshold that restricts car drivers, so you keep full tort rights to sue for pain and suffering. That missing PIP still makes solid health coverage and strong uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage a Jersey rider's real backstop, especially since many New Jersey drivers carry bare-minimum or Basic Policy coverage. On top of that, New Jersey follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar: your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault, you recover nothing, which is exactly why adjusters work so hard to blame the rider. Every rider and passenger in the state must also wear a DOT helmet, no exceptions. It is worth checking your policy and your gear before your next ride, not after a crash. And if you do go down, New Jersey generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file an injury claim.
Lawrence LeBrocq and the motorcycle accident lawyers in New Jersey (New Brunswick) at Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq represent riders hurt by negligent drivers. If you have questions after a crash, their team is here to help.