New Jersey trails · Paulinskill Valley Trail

Paulinskill Valley Trail

A 26.5-mile network in New Jersey, with 190 ft of climbing. Reaches Paulina Lake and other lake destinations. Managed by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

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Length

26.5 mi

Elevation gain

190 ft

Difficulty

Moderate

Max grade

11%

Steepest mile

+76 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

0.1 mi

Shape

network

Bikes

yes

Horses

yes

Managed by

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Elevation profile

The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 394 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Paulina Lake (lake)
Bales Mill Pond (lake)
Thomas Rich Lake (lake)

Getting there

Paulinskill Valley Trail junction. About 41 min drive (24 mi) from Dover. 41.07526, -74.78438 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:41 a.m., the sun rises at 7:09 a.m. and sets at 6:20 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:48 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 11 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 26.5-mile route takes roughly 9 h 55 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 5:04 p.m. — 1 h 16 min before sunset.