PRINCETON NJ Announcement

Upcoming Trenton Walks!

Trenton Walks! this spring feature new explorations and walker favorites

The next nine Trenton Walks! will meander through a park and a marshland, around downtown Trenton and into some great neighborhoods this spring. The focus will vary from historic battles and the best of nature to the history of the D&R Canal and plans to reconfigure Route 29 in downtown Trenton from an expressway to an urban boulevard to enhance pedestrian and bicycle access to the Delaware River waterfront and redevelop surface parking lots into a new mix of land uses.

The next walk will take place on Thursday, April 24, with walkers enjoying a stroll on the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park

One of our early walks in 2024

Towpath and Greenway from the Battle Monument through downtown Trenton. That will be followed by the first Sunday afternoon walk for the program, on April 27. This walk will be hosted by Larry Paul, leader of the Trenton Green Team, the executive sponsor of Trenton Walks!

Longtime Chambersburg resident Jeffrey Laurenti will chat about the history of Chambersburg and Villa Park and the key roles this area has played in Trenton's history, on Saturday, May 3. He'll cover the evolution of this part of Trenton from the Italian quarter of the capital city to the home of many Latinos, one of the two largest ethnicities in the capital city.

Walkers will get a taste of Trenton's Mill Hill neighborhood when Jacque Howard, Trenton365 media guru, takes the lead on Wednesday, May 7, for a walk along the Assunpink Creek Greenway. Our first Friday afternoon walk will follow on May 16, with an ambling walk around historic Cadwalader Park, the 100+ acre park designed by the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. This walk will be led by Cadwalader Park Alliance leaders Becky Taylor, Randy Baum and Jordan Antebi.

On Thursday, May 22, two New Jersey Future leaders, Sabrina Rodriguez-Vicenty and Ben Dziobek, will lead walkers to the OTHER side of Route 29, enabling participants to stand next to the river and imagine what a new highway configuration might mean for those who want to bike, walk, fish, or recreate in some other way in a new park next to the Delaware River.

In a walk led by Tim Brill, Trenton Walks! co-chair, on Sunday, June 1, walkers will stand at the  same site as George Washington did during the Revolutionary War during the pivotal First and Second Battles of Trenton.  This special history tour highlights the many locations in the downtown area that played a critical role in the "Ten Crucial Days" that turned the tide in America's fight for independence, as our nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding next year.

This spring season's walks will end with another lunchtime walk in downtown Trenton in early June, a second June walk that focuses on the D&R Canal history and its current use as a water source for 1 milllion New Jersey residents, led by Stephanie Vannais, resource interpretive specialist with N.J. State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites, and a glorious celebration of nature at the Abbott Marshland, led by Kelly Rypkema of the Mercer County Park Commission.

"We encourage others who would like to co-lead walks with us to let us know of their interest, and we also seek ideas for new walking routes," said Brill, who can be reached at tim.brill@njconservation.org or 609-947-8530.

"But most of all, we invite everyone who enjoys being in and of the Trenton community to join us on any and all walks," said Corey Hannigan, lead for the Mercer County Action Team of the Circuit Coalition, which co-sponsors the walks program.

To learn more about the walks, including maps and the very latest updates, please visit the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association's "Trail Happenings" webpage: https://gmtma.org/trail-happenings/.

Walk details

Thursday, April 24, 12 p.m. Led by Tim Brill, N.J. Conservation Foundation Central Jersey project manager and Trenton Walks! leader. Leave from and return to the Battle of Trenton Monument at 348 North Warren Street (aka Five Points) via the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Towpath and Greenway.  About 2.0 miles. (TGT Walk #17)

Sunday, April 27, 3 p.m. Led by Larry Paul, chair of the Trenton Green Team, Becky Taylor, Trenton Walks! leader and former co-president of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, and Tim Brill, NJ Conservation Foundation Central Jersey Project Manager and Trenton Walks! leader. Leave from and return to 1399 Riverside Drive on Trenton's "Island" neighborhood and walk through beautiful Stacy Park along the Delaware River to the "Shakey Bridge" next to Trenton's Water Filtration Plant near Calhoun Street. About 2.2 miles. (TGT Walk #12)

Saturday, May 3, 9:30 a.m. This special walk through the Chambersburg and Villa Park neighborhoods will be led by Jeffrey Laurenti, who serves on the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation Board of Directors.  We will tour this fascinating part of Trenton, showcasing the neighborhoods' colorful past and vibrant future.  The walk starts and ends at Roebling Market (635 S. Clinton Avenue). Roughly 3.0 miles. (TGT Walk #14b)

Wednesday, May 7, 12 p.m. Led by Jacque Howard, media guru at Trenton365, and Tim Brill, N.J. Conservation Foundation Central Jersey Project Manager and Trenton Walks! leader. Leave from HUB 13 co-working space at 13 W. Front St., and stroll along the Assunpink Creek Greenway through Mill Hill Park to Trenton City Hall and back.  2.4 miles roundtrip. (TGT Walk #4b)

Friday, May 16, 4:30 p.m.  Led by Becky Taylor, Cadwalader Park Alliance co-chair, Trenton Walks! co-chair and former co-president of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, Randy Baum, CPA board treasurer ,and Jordan Antebi, CPA board secretary. Enjoy an intentional ramble through historic Cadwalader Park. Leave from the intersection of Cadwalader Drive and Gordon Avenue. Approximately 1.0 mile. (TGT Walk #2)

Thursday, May 22, 12 p.m. Led by New Jersey Future's Sabrina Rodriguez-Vicenty, manager of Advocacy and Government Affairs, and Ben Dziobek, community outreach specialist, and Tim Brill, N.J. Conservation Foundation Central Jersey Project Manager and Trenton Walks! co-chair, this special walk will describe plans to reconfigure N.J. Route 29 as an urban boulevard and redevelop the area to provide a new mix of land uses and enhance pedestrian and bicycle access to the Delaware River. Leave from and return to the New Jersey Future Office at 16 W. Lafayette Street. About 2.4 miles roundtrip. (TGT Walk #15)

Sunday, June 1, 3 p.m.  Led by Tim Brill, NJ Conservation Foundation Central Jersey Project Manager and Trenton Walks! co-chair, this special history tour through Downtown Trenton will describe the pivotal role the First and Second Battles of Trenton played in the Revolutionary War as we prepare to start the celebration of our nation's 250th anniversary next year. Leave from and return to the Trenton Battle Monument (348 N. Warren Street). Approximately 2.2 miles. (TGT Walk #16)

Wednesday, June 4, 12 p.m.  Leave from and return to the Battle of Trenton Monument (348 N. Warren Street) and enjoy an easy stroll along the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Towpath.  Learn about the history of the canal, the railroads and the highways in the Trenton area, as well as the current use of the canal as a water source for about one million N.J. residents.  Walk leaders include Stephanie Vannais, resource interpretive specialist with N.J. State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites, and Tim Brill, Central Jersey project manager with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and Trenton Walks! co-chair.  About 2.0 miles. (TGT Walk #19)

Saturday, June 14, 9:30 a.m.  This special nature walk around Spring Lake will feature a portion of the 3,000-acre Abbott Marshlands, home to an amazing variety of wildlife.  Led by Kelly Rypkema, director of Environmental Education for the Mercer County Park Commission, this walk will cover about 1.4 miles with lots of time for observation and interpretation. Leave from and return to the Tulpehaking Nature Center (157 Wescott Avenue in Hamilton Township). (TGT Walk #18)

####

For more information, please contact Becky Taylor at becky@btaylorpa.com or 609-240-6886 or Tim Brill at tim.brill@njconservation.org or 609-947-8530