At a little more than a mile, many of you have strolled, jogged, or ridden your bikes along this paved trail, which is laid over railroad tracks that was once the Camden & Burlington Railroad. But did you know that the Merchantville Mile is part of a much larger network of trails that, when complete, will encompass some 800 miles across
five counties in Pennsylvania and four in New Jersey? This regional, off-road trail network will provide Merchantville residents of all ages access to jobs, communities, parks, and other recreational opportunities in Camden and Burlington counties, as well as Philadelphia and beyond.
Merchantville’s piece of the action began in 2000, when the borough received a $118,000 grant from the NJ Transportation Trust Fund’s Local Aid Program for a bicycle path along the Chestnut Avenue railroad bed, which was completed in 2002. In 2013, the Merchantville Trail was included in an official Camden County Bicycling & Multi-Use Trails Master Plan, designating a 10-mile trail as the Burlington-Camden Trail within the Circuit Trails Network. As one of America’s largest trail networks, the Burlington-Camden Trail has been named a priority project by the Circuit Trails Coalition and Camden County.
In the fall of 2023, work was completed to extend the trail into Pennsauken, via the Merchantville-Pennsauken Multi-Use Trail Project. The trail begins at the eastern end of the Merchantville Bike Path at Cove Road and extends approximately a third of a mile into Pennsauken, terminating just before an existing abandoned railroad trestle bridge over the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line. Future plans have the trail continuing from this point into Maple Shade.
Next up, however, is to connect the western side of the trail to Camden, beginning at Euclid Ave in Pennsauken, crossing Route 130 over an existing train trestle, and continuing into Camden where it will connect to an already completed section that leads to the Delaware River. The design for this segment is currently being finalized by the City of Camden. An Open House was scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 30th to inform residents about the Burlington-Camden Trail, answer questions, and get feedback from the community. Groundbreaking is expected to begin in the latter part of this year.
Although one of the smallest segments of the Circuit, the Merchantville Mile is a well-loved and well-used route that will continue to serve the residents of Merchantville as well as ensure greater equity in trail access across the region. Visit https://circuittrails.org to learn more.