Updated: 12/06/2008
The Route:
A loop of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) starting from the north side, heading from Delaware City in the east to Chesapeake City in the west, then crossing over to the south side and heading east back to Delaware City. This route was approximately 50 miles from start to finish. The canal road that follows the canal is mostly hard packed gravel and was not a problem for the pure street Contiforce SM tires we both have on our bikes.
Note: There are many singletrack and ATV trails along the canal, BUT riding on these is strictly forbidden. Only ride on the gravel roads that parallel the canal.
View the complete route here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en...415b2c2a7&z=12
The Bikes:
2008 Husqvarna SM610 and 2005 KTM 625 SMC.
The Conditions:
It was overcast with no wind, but it sure was COLD! 28 degrees is what the thermometer in the truck said before we left!
And the ride begins...
Starting at the Valero gas station in Delaware City (red pin on map) we headed out of town on Clinton St and turned left onto the gravel access road for the C&D Canal road.
The entrance to the canal off of Clinton St. If you pass the school you've gone too far.
It is about a half mile ride from the canal entrance to the main canal road and the water. Once there we headed east for about a half mile, and parked the bikes for a couple pictures. Looking east you can see the RT 9 bridge.
In another picture you can see the Salem nuclear power plant in the distance. It looks closer than it is, since it is actually on the other side of the Delaware River, in Salem New Jersey!
Back on the bikes and headed west for a couple of miles we came across an old fishing pier that looked like a cool place to take some more pictures.
This view is from the fishing pier looking back at the bikes and the rock embankment that lines the length of the canal.
About a mile from the fishing pier are two bridges -- the RT 13 bridge in the foreground, and the new RT 1 bridge behind. There was no wind today, so the water was really calm. Good stuff!
Note: Under the RT 13 bridge is where you can get on the paved road and ride around the Summit Marina. (see map below)
The next few pictures show the canal road where it dead-ends at the inlet for the Summit Marina (see red marker on map below).
The red marker on the map below points to a locked gate that restricts access to Summit Pointe Circle, and a shortcut around the marina and back to the canal road. There were not any signs that said we couldn't go around, but the gate is locked. For what it is worth, there is enough room to scoot a small bike around the gate if you dared, otherwise you have to backtrack to the RT 13 bridge and take Kirkwood St Georges Rd to RT 71.
Turning around and looking east you can see a cool railroad bridge that we had just ridden under. The path that leads up to the locked gate is to the left of the Husky.
Putting my glove liners and gloves on -- always a pain after every time I stop to take pictures.
Back on the canal road, we are now on the other side of the marina. There was a really cool set of switchbacks that lead us down the canal bank that got us here. They had raised shoulders, which made nice berms for our traction limited street tires!
About a mile west from here you go under the RT 896 bridge (Summit Bridge), and then it is 4-5 more miles on the canal road till you get to Chesapeake City.
Here is where the canal road dead-ends in Chesapeake City. The RT 213 bridge is in the background, as is the remains of the now closed Shaffer’s Canal House. We got on the pavement here at Lock St and crossed the bridge to the other side of the canal.
Here we are on the south side of the canal, directly across from where we were in the previous picture. You can see Shaffer’s in the distance.
As we were riding through town we saw a sign outside the Chesapeake Inn that said "Indoor deck open!" Sounded like a good place to rest & warm up so we parked the bikes and checked it out. As advertised, their indoor deck was open, it was warm inside, and the food and beer was good!
After leaving the Chesapeake Inn we rode about a half mile to the basin at the Army Corps of Engineers.
The basin is where we had planed to get back on the canal road and head east, but unfortunately the gate was locked (red marker on the left of the map below) and there was no way around. I ASSumed that this gate would be open all the time, but obviously it wasn't and we had to find a way around.
Leaving the basin, we took 286/Bethel Rd and then turned left on Bethel Cemetery Rd which took us back to the canal.
There were concrete barricades at the end of Bethel Cemetery Rd (see red marker on the right of the map below), but there was plenty of room for us to go around. This would NOT have been possible in a car/truck. As before at the marina gate, we so no signs of any kinda saying that we could not be there.
Once back on the canal road, we headed east for 10-12 miles till we hit our next obstacle (red marker on map below). We were hoping that we could get to that point, then loop around to the south west near the creek and jump on the road there. Wrong! We came across a gate and lots of No Trespassing signs, so we promptly turned around and found another route.
Our detour had us backtrack about a mile to RT 13. From there we went south about a mile and we turned left on Port Penn Rd, then left on Dutch Neck Rd. Although very straight, they were fun with all the bumps on them. No problem for the suspension travel our bikes have.
Dutch Neck Rd dumps you onto RT9, and from there we went north, crossing the RT 9 bridge and the C&D canal and dumping us into Delaware City, right where we started our little adventure.
End of story. Hope you enjoyed it!
-Banning.
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