There are many opportunities to bicycle around local beaches. But if you’re looking for a chance to settle in and log some miles without fear of dodging an SUV or sharing a lane with a bus, a few options stand out—many of them running along former railroad routes. Let’s go for a ride!
Georgetown-Lewes Trail
When it’s finished, this will be the longest bike trail in Delaware. With a target date of 2026, we’re still not there, so it’s really more of the Harbeson-Lewes trail at this point. But you can still log a continuous stretch of nearly 8 miles.
Starting in the east at the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, just a short hop from the Lewes Public Library, this paved trail takes you on what amounts to a garden tour, ornamented by well-tended backyard flower beds. In one trailside backyard, you’ll pass in front of the vacant gaze of an array of colorfully dressed mannequins and one Sasquatch.
Moving west, the landscape shifts to farm fields, occasionally with the attendant whiff of livestock and sometimes boasting a crop of new housing developments. Many homes along the route have small wooden bridges extending from the back gate of the property, crossing the swale to reach the path. Eventually, the trail peters out near Fisher Road, awaiting the final 6-mile leg of construction.
Similar to the feel of canoeing on local waterways, this route offers an intimate view of southern Delaware, with surprising nooks just off the beaten path that you won’t glimpse from Route 1.
Gordons Pond Trail
A favorite haunt of former President Joe Biden, this trail of finely crushed gravel runs a little over 3 miles—from Whiskey Beach at the south end of Cape Henlopen State Park to the bike loop in the north. It’s an excellent biking surface, running along the edge of Gordons Pond, with a nice view of marsh, open water, and occasional pockets of stubby pine trees. The trail is more winding than the Georgetown-Lewes Trail, with just a shade more elevation change. World War Il-era lookout towers, built to keep an eye out for German submarines, rise from the landscape at intervals.
You can merge seamlessly with other trails in Cape Henlopen, including the Park Loop, which covers another 3.3 miles, and the 2.5-mile Walking Dunes Trail.
Junction and Breakwater Trail
Behind a string of outlet stores, barely away from the traffic jams on Route 1, the 5.8-mile Junction and Breakwater Trail takes you into a different world and is perhaps the prettiest of the beach bike routes. The fine-gravel trail runs through marshy wetlands and crosses a creek off Munchy Branch Road, skirting a swatch of mature oak and pine trees and a surprisingly large farm.
Though the trail’s beauty lies in the middle, the residential areas on each end aren’t unpleasant—but the signs warning you to stay on the trail might make you feel like wandering off just to show them who’s boss.
The Big Loop
Thanks to connecting routes, you can maximize your miles by biking all three of the trails above in one shot. One way is to start at Whiskey Beach, head north on the Gordons Pond Trail, then follow the Park Loop west out of Cape Henlopen State Park. A connecting trail takes you past the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal, close to the spot where the Georgetown-Lewes and Junction and Breakwater trails meet. The catch is that unless you want to swim the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal while carrying a bike, you must take a quick detour on Savannah Road. From there, biking out as far toward Georgetown as possible will usually let you return with the prevailing west wind at your back.
Back at the canal, turn south and follow the Junction and Breakwater Trail to Rehoboth. You’ll come out near the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society Museum, where you can follow signs to Henlopen Avenue, a wide and very bikeable street that takes you back up to Ocean Drive, through North Shores, and back to your car—for about 30 miles of biking.
That final leg through Rehoboth will look short on the map. But if you’re a middle-aged writer—in somewhat less than top conditioning, with leg cramps and a sore posterior, pedaling into a blustery breeze—it will feel long.
Fresh Pond Trails
Farther south, the Fresh Pond Tract at Delaware Seashore State Park contains a pair of nice bike trails. One, the Prickly Pear Trail (with no prickly pears readily visible) makes a 3.4-mile loop from the parking area, winding through mostly thick pines and offering a striking view across the water of Indian River Bay’s Beach Cove. The surface is dirt for about half the trail, which in this part of the world means sand. But for the most part, it’s a well-maintained, firm surface. The other half is finely crushed gravel.
A nice side route here is the Fred Hudson Trail, which runs a little under a mile out to Fred Hudson Road. If you’re choosing between the two, pick this one. It’s prettier and has more variety, including wetlands and woods with more than just small pine trees. There’s also a bright yellow fire hydrant in the middle of the forest, offering a chance to stop and ponder the mysteries of life.
