Delaware Canal Award Promotes Path As Weekend Recreation Destination

YARDLEY, PA —The towpath was a popular place on a sunny Saturday in mid-September.

Joggers ran along the trail as people worked and children played in the backyards of many borough homes that line the towpath, a stretch that runs from Easton to Bristol.

There's another reason why the towpath is so popular —it was recognized this past month as Pennsylvania’s 2022 Trail of the Year.

The 58.9-mile Delaware Canal State Park Towpath passes through 18 municipalities in Bucks and Northampton counties.

The towpath, where the mules once trod pulling canal boats along the Delaware Canal, provides a level trail for walking, jogging, biking, and horseback riding.

On this mid-September day in Yardley, not too far away from the towpath, Michael Ginder had set up a Friends of the Delaware Canal booth with handouts about the path and a banner touting the Trail of the Year award during the borough's Harvest Day festival.

"We are extremely honored to receive recognition," the Friends' executive director told Patch. "It's a great honor to be the trail of the year."

Ginder was helping to promote the towpath as a weekend destination, handing out brochures and buttons

The Friends of the Delaware Canal, the award recipient, works in partnership with Delaware Canal State Park, which manages the canal and towpath. The Friends group assists with the development and maintenance along the towpath, as well as helping to raise funds and awareness for the canal and towpath.

The friends' group uses the Canal Tenders volunteer program to watch over and care for sections of the towpath, and they also initiated a Canal Action Team to work on larger maintenance projects along the trail. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Friends of the Delaware Canal.

September was Pennsylvania Trails Month and DCNR encourages residents to get outside and spend time on a trail to help improve health and wellness. ExplorePaTrails offers details on more than 650 trails covering more than 12,000 miles in Pennsylvania.

The towpath is part of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, which is 165 miles long and traverses five counties in eastern Pennsylvania. The towpath is also in the Lehigh Valley Greenways and Schuylkill Highlands Conservation Landscape.