I think it should be noted...

that there are more than one Thompson Park in central NJ... there's one in Jamesburg that, from what I understand, has a decent little trail system toward the back of the park. I'm going there tomorrow to check it out, I'll report my findings... if nobody cares, by all means, delete this thread :p
 

PTB66

New Member
that there are more than one Thompson Park in central NJ... there's one in Jamesburg that, from what I understand, has a decent little trail system toward the back of the park. I'm going there tomorrow to check it out, I'll report my findings... if nobody cares, by all means, delete this thread :p

Pretty sure bikes are not allowed on the trails at the park in Jamesburg.
 
hmm... that's news to me. I've read about the trails being decent for biking... maybe there are some rule breakers out there ;)
 

giff06

Well-Known Member
I think they have cyclocross races at the Jamesburg Park in the fall also.
Ed and Pat Gifford
the Snot Rocket tandem
 
well, I went to the "other" thompson park and didn't see any "no bikers, biking or anything with round, rubber, inflatable apparatuses intended for perpetual motion" signs anywhere so I took a 30 minute spin through it after 2 hours of serious root ridin' down at mercer county park :rolleyes:. I didn't tag all of the trails but what I found looked promising for a quick spin and a nice endurance builder. It's a small park - about 5 miles of trails. It has a really fast descent to the left of the trail head and an outer loop that will gradually bring you back up to where you started (with enough upward motion to really get the pulse racing). I didn't ride the whole thing because I was a little worn from mercer and I only wanted to scratch the surface in order to keep me hungry to go back ;)

trail map:
http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/parksrecreation/Thompson ParkTrails.pdf
 
just a little update for this post... i've been riding this park for the last 2 years and i absolutely love it. it's not a destination if you're far away but if you want to kill a couple hours, get to the trail head behind the dog park, follow the red trail all the way around until it meets back up with yellow, make a right, follow that until you see the ladder bridge down the little walkway, cross over, turn right, follow that out to the field, go straight to the dirt path, make a left, go up the hill back to the beginning, take red to yellow, fly down the downhill portion, pedal back up yellow until it crosses with green, hang a left, ride along the hillside back to red, past where it meets with yellow, make a right on red, follow it to the left and back to the beginning... should kill some time and be a decent ride :D also there's a hidden trail (the white trail on the bottom of the map) that has little offshoots to an old dirt bike/atv course... that's a real fun blast around and even the white trail is a decent ride as long as you don't make the left and go over the ladder bridge... last time i was there, i had to hurtle over way too many fallen trees from the storm... it's best to stay right and go up the hill to the playing fields by the school ;)
 

SJMTBRick

Member
I live in Jamesburg but have only ridden here a couple of times, one time a Park Ranger was sitting in the lot. I asked before unloading if bikes are allowed and the answer was yes and was even told to enjoy my ride!!!
 

BubbleLover

Member
Thanks for posting this info about Thompson. My son recently walked there and asked if I'd ever rode there. He thought it was a good trail. I couldn't find anyone talking about it here so assumed no bikes allowed. Hopefully I'll be able to check it out soon, maybe even your Sunday afternoon ride, Thrill.

Thanks again.
 
i'm there almost every sunday with some friends. last week i went with a group of 6 people, yesterday just my buddy and i... it varies. they have been doing a lot of trail maintenance to the park lately and it's looking better and better by the minute. I've taken people there that have been to the other "name brand" parks and they say that for a small park, this is absolutely perfect. It's got a great mix of downhill and uphill (and a lot of times a climb is just after a downhill so you can gather speed), there are sections that have you going 2mph through roots and uphill and sections that have you doing 25-30mph down fire roads. The more I ride this park, the more I love it - and i've been doing it for the last 3 seasons! When I bring people out there, we do about an hour and a half and they are spent ;)

hope to see you there! we'll meet up at the bottom of "death hill" at 4:30pm :)
 

Dajerseyrat

Well-Known Member
Gonna try hitting it up today. Ilive 10 mins away and been there numerous times to watch the fireworks, never noticed a dog park or soccer fields.
 

Dajerseyrat

Well-Known Member
I rode there today for about 5 miles. Very confusing flow of the trail, perhaps due to all the leaves..You can get a decent enough workout there, I know 2 climbs kicked my ass!!! all in all an ok local park to get a workout, but not crazy about the trail layout and flow.
 

Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
You need a guide ;)
I ride there quite a bit now, well, I will again when my shoulder heals up fully.
There is definitely a "better" direction.
 

Dajerseyrat

Well-Known Member
You need a guide ;)
I ride there quite a bit now, well, I will again when my shoulder heals up fully.
There is definitely a "better" direction.

Cool. Looking forward, it seems like a decent local ride. BTW was that you I saw at 6 mile yesterday? I was a big dude on a white lefty cannondale near the beginning of the red trail. I dont know if that was you or not hiking.
 

Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
Cool. Looking forward, it seems like a decent local ride. BTW was that you I saw at 6 mile yesterday? I was a big dude on a white lefty cannondale near the beginning of the red trail. I dont know if that was you or not hiking.

Possibly.
 
once I finish up my winter projects and the weather gets a little warmer, we should all meet up there for a ride. I go there often and know the trail system like the back of my hand :D
 

Grampaaah

Member
Does anyone still ride here? I just started a job not to far away and am thinking about trying it out before or after work in the newt week or so
 

RobW

Well-Known Member
Does anyone still ride here? I just started a job not to far away and am thinking about trying it out before or after work in the newt week or so
If you do, please make a video of it... We would really enjoy it ;)
 
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