Jim Thorpe – an odd name for a town – was established in 1818 as Mauch Chunk, which means “Mountain of the Sleeping Bear,” the name the Lenni Lenape Indians gave to the nearby mountain. The first night is spent amid the mountains in the Inn of Jim Thorpe, circa 1849. The trail, part of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (), is so historically significant that it is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate.ĭay 1 – 36 miles: The adventure starts in the wilderness of the Lehigh Gorge State Park, riding past waterfalls and spotting wildlife (deer!), taking advantage of the newly connected D&L Rail Trail into the award-winning town of Jim Thorpe. Along the way, we see the geography, the resources, and the technological innovations that made this possible, and how they affected the society, the culture, and the economy of the fledgling nation. Essentially, we follow the route of Anthracite Coal, from mine to market, which thrust America into the Industrial Revolution. The trip, biking through 57,600 acres (90 miles) of state park, is designed so you get to enjoy three of Pennsylvania’s award-winning quaint small towns of Jim Thorpe, Bethlehem and New Hope. The RTC trip also was operated by Pocono Biking, a powerhouse outdoors-adventure company in the area well known for its rafting adventures on the Lehigh River in the Lehigh Valley. I did this ride, anchored by the charming town of Jim Thorpe and the famous historic landmark at Washington Crossing, on the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Sojourn, though with camping instead of inn-to-inn accommodations along this scenic and history-rich trail (). Pocono Biking has space on departures this season on a supported four-day bike tour that takes you on 142 miles of the Delaware & Lehigh rail trail, also known as D&L Trail. There is still time this season to take advantage of guided, self-guided and private bike tours from companies including Pocono Biking, Wilderness Voyageurs and Discovery Bicycle Tours. Travel Features Syndicate, īike tours offer one of the best vacation alternatives in these times when people want to be outdoors in open spaces and enjoy marvelous scenes, discover heritage and history and have that opportunity for shared serendipitous experiences that travel uniquely provides.

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