The Delaware and Raritan Canal

Photo by Ulrike Johnson

Through much of Mercer County, the Delaware and Raritan Canal forms the border between West Windsor and Princeton townships. The canal's former towpaths are popular with walkers, runners, and bicyclists during much of the year.

by Jeff Johnson Jr.

The Delaware and Raritan Canal's lifespan as a functioning part of the U.S. industrial infrastructure was relatively short.

Much like Betamax videocassettes and eight-track tapes, the canal enjoyed some limited early success, but was quickly replaced by something more efficient and practical, if not necessarily better: The railroad.

Though it may have been surpassed as a mode of transport for goods and people, the canal's success as a recreation spot remains.

The canal was transformed into a state park in 1974. Today the former towpaths, where horses and mules once served as the engines that pulled cargo and passengers along the waterway, have found renewed use as bike and foot paths. The canal is still used for boating—but by recreational canoes, not by cargo barges.

Except for a small segment of the original canal in the city of Trenton, most of the original waterway remains intact. This includes the former main canal, which runs through the heart of the Garden State from Trenton to New Brunswick, as well as the former feeder canal, which parallels the Delaware River from near Milford, N.J., south to Trenton.

More information is available from the D&R Canal Commission.