Beaches to Farms: A Winery Experience Bike Tour
Sandy Hook • Henry Hudson Trail • Cream Ridge Winery • Delaware and Raritan Canal Path • Duke Farms
Beaches to Farms: A Winery Experience Bike Tour
2-day tour packages start at $1,375 for up to 4 riders. Additional riders are $275.
As featured in Adventure Cycling’s “Bike Overnights”
This is a tour for people who love wine and beautiful bike rides that go through varying landscapes.
This tour starts at the ocean and takes you inland on the Henry Hudson rail trail where the landscape changes before your eyes. Soon you’ll be in the agricultural heartland of New Jersey en route to Cream Ridge Winery. The owners are bicycle adventurers themselves, and so they have offered us an opportunity to camp in their vineyard after you enjoy food and wine, and whatever activities might be going on at the winery that day. If you don’t want to camp, you can also choose to stay indoors at the nearby Hampton Inn, Robbinsville (extra cost).
The next day we ride north through scenic western Monmouth County to Princeton, where the Delaware and Raritan Canal bike path awaits. This takes us to Duke Farms, a large nature preserve on an old estate filled with bike paths for you to explore.
All of your bags and equipment are carried in our support vehicle while you ride. This includes any wine you buy at Cream Ridge Winery
This tour offers flexible mileage options since you can start the tour from different starting points.Riders coming from NYC on transit have the most options since they can use the SeaStreak Ferry to Sandy Hook and begin the ride on the beach. A shorter option begins the ride in Aberdeen, NJ at the train station which drivers can also access by parking in Secaucus and using the train. Depending on how far you want to ride on the second day, the tour ends in either Princeton or Somerville, both of which provide train access back to NYC or the parking lot in Secaucus.
This tour involves camping at a working winery. You will have access to flush toilets at all times but there will be an improvised outdoor shower for you to use. (Rent any gear you need, or go “glamping”)
This tour includes dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Sunday and snacks. One bottle of wine also included.
Option to stay in nearby hotel for an extra fee
Rental bikes available for an extra fee
This tour can be set up for any 2-day period for private groups, starting at $1,375. Base price includes up to 4 riders with the camping tour itinerary described below. The tour can be customized to your specifications for an additional fee. $500 non-refundable deposit required to book a tour date for up to 4 riders. An additional $100 non-refundable deposit is required for each additional rider.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Beach to Winery
Choice of mileage: 56, 48 or 36. Flat rail-trail, flat to rolling terrain elsewhere
This tour offers multiple starting points for varying amounts of mileage. Those looking to do a longer ride can take the 8:00 a.m. SeaStreak ferry from either East 35th Street or Pier 11 in Manhattan. This ferry offers two choices where you can begin your bike ride: Sandy Hook Beach or Highlands.
If you choose Sandy Hook beach, you basically ride 7 miles down the beach to Highlands where the other start point is. From there, everyone gets on the Henry Hudson Rail Trail and rides south to Freehold.
For those looking to ride 36 miles (or for those who need to drive to the tour) take the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line train to Aberdeen-Matawan where you can pick up the Henry Hudson Rail Trail and ride south to Freehold. This train departs from both Manhattan and Secaucus Junction. Those looking to drive should park in a pay parking lot next to the Secaucus Junction train station.
After arriving in Freehold, the ride turns west as we ride through the agricultural countryside of Monmouth County. We will also pass historic sites, such as Monmouth Battlefield State Park along the way. We will arrive at Cream Ridge Winery in time for a tasting and dinner.
After you do the tasting, pick your favorite wine and you will receive your own bottle with a personalized label with both your name and the number of miles you rode that day printed on it. Enjoy your wine with dinner, or save it and bring it home. Before dinner we will set up camp in the vineyard.
Day 2: Winery to Duke Farms
45 miles. Flat to rolling terrain, then flat bike path. 25 mile option also available
The second day of our tour begins with breakfast as we break down our tents. Then we are off riding through the fields and farms of western Monmouth County until we reach Princeton and the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail that runs along the Millstone River.
This trail (which is paved with stone dust, not asphalt) provides us with a beautiful ride that ends at Duke Farms, a former estate that has been transformed into a huge nature preserve with many bike paths inside. You can spend as much time as you like exploring this beautiful spot before riding the remaining two miles to Somerville, where you can take the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line back to Secaucus or Manhattan.
If you want a shorter ride, you can end Day 2 at Princeton Junction where you can take the NJ Transit Northeast Corridor Line back. This option would not allow you to do the Delaware and Raritan Canal Path or Duke Farms.
Thank you sincerely for all your thoughtfulness and attention to detail and hard work on behalf of all of us. The trip could not have been more thoughtfully planned, and we had a really great time
