Take a pleasant out-of-town trip to Duke Farms located in Hillsborough, NJ. Enjoy the Duke family estate which was open to the public in 2012. Doris Duke inherited over 2,000 acres of farmland from her father, James Buchanan (JB) Duke, tobacco and electric power industrialist. Her interest in horticulture and wildlife underscored her passion for environmental stewardship.  The Duke Farm Foundation currently operates this land which includes manmade lakes, 12 miles of roads suitable for bikes, and country landscape. 

This will be a moderately paced (12 to 15 mph) out-and-back ride, approximately 30 miles round-trip. Cyclists will be responsible for arriving at the start point (New Brunswick Train Station). Take the 9:14am NJ transit train (NE corridor) out of New York Penn Station and arrive in New Brunswick at 10:11am. I will meet you at the Northbound side in front of the Dunkin Donuts. From there, we will ride a majority of our trip on a portion of the D&R (Delaware and Raritan) Canal Trail. Since the D&R Canal Trail is mostly gravel path, this ride would be most suitable for hybrid or mountain bikes. We'll spend an hour at the site to explore and have lunch.  Lunch will be on-site at the Farm-Barn Cafe. We will then return to the New Brunswick train station via the same route. The total trip time (not including train travel) is expected to be 3.5 to 4 hours. 

Rain at start time will cancel ride

Required: helmet; money for round trip ticket from/to New York Penn Station-New Brunswick, NJ (NE Corridor line)- $28; money for lunch; inner tube; air pump

https://dukefarms.org

https://www.njtransit.com

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31058523