Bristol Stomp (Bristol PA to Trenton NJ historic walk and tour)

Guided history tour of Colonial Lower Bucks County

Start: Bristol Station

Finish: Trenton Transit Center

Distance: 4-18mi

Return: SEPTA train

Coordinator: Charles Updike

Transit: SEPTA to Bristol from Philly or NJTransit in Trenton

FreeWalkers Mini: 4 mile loop of Bristol

Optional endpoints: Morrisville: 15 miles (bus), Fairless Hills: 10 miles(bus), Levittown: 6 miles (bus,train), Bristol loop: 4 miles

18 mile walk from Bristol PA to Trenton, NJ

Join FreeWalkers along the East Coast Greenway in our Bristol Stomp, with an improved route visiting additional points of historic interest. This year's walk boasts a trip through Bristol on Historic Bristol Day.

This 18-mile walk through Trenton and Lower Bucks County along the Delaware Canal and East Coast Greenway will take you through Revolutionary battle locations in Trenton, past General Washington's headquarters in Morrisville, through the stagecoach village of Fallsington where William Penn established the first Quaker meeting in America in 1683, into the nation's largest single-developer town of Levittown that pioneered suburban planning, and all about post-industrial Bristol as it undergoes just its latest economic shift and rebirth. We will experience Historic Bristol Day and get to know Robert Morris, perhaps the most undersung of our founding fathers. We will also pass the local hop where the "kids in Bristol were sharp as a pistol," inspiring the 1960s song, The Bristol Stomp.

We will make an early lunchtime stop at the Bristol Amish Market with Pennsylvania Dutch food and all kinds of amazing goodies. Cheesesteaks, hoagies and fast food are available in Morrisville.

Starts at Bristol Station and ends at the Trenton Transit Center, with bus and rail service back to Bristol and Bucks County. Walkers coming from NJ and NY can transfer smoothly from NJTransit to SEPTA by simply crossing the platform to the waiting train in Trenton with about a 10 minute layover. Bristol Station marks the end of the Delaware Canal and is about a 10 minute SEPTA rail ride from Trenton, about 30 minutes from Center City, Philadelphia. Bus and train connection to both Trenton and Bristol are present along the route in Levittown and Morrisville.

FreeWalker Mini: Four mile loop includes tour of Bristol and visit to the Amish Market, and begins and ends at Bristol Station.

The event is FREE and open to everyone.

Highlights:- Mill Street- Bristol Wharf- Radcliffe Street- Bristol Amish Market- Delaware Canal- Falls Township Community Park- Levittown- Historic Fallsington- Summerseat- Morrisville levee / Trenton skyline- Old Barracks- NJ Capitol- Mill Hill Park

This walk is part of the 2026 celebration of the Delaware River Heritage Trail. Join us as we walk the trail on these dates:

May 2: Turnpike Gap Challenge, Bristol to Burlington

Aug 15: Delaware River Heritage Trail Loop Walk

(Philadelphia, Camden, Pennsauken, Palmyra, Tacony, Port Richmond)

Aug 29: Lower Bucks Loop Walk, Levittown to Bristol, Fairless Hills

Sep 5: Roebling Ramble, Roebling to Trenton

Sep 26: Burlington Heritage Trail Walk, Burlington to Palmyra

Oct 3: 17.76 mile Heritage Trail Freedom Walk, Philly and Camden

Oct 17: Bristol Stomp, Bristol to Trenton

Partners:

The Delaware River Heritage Trail is a scenic multi-use pathway loop highlighting the cultural and natural resources along the upper portion of the scenic Delaware River estuary, linking dozens of communities from Trenton and Morrisville to Philadephia and Camden, connecting active travellers to parks, canals, waterfront views, and colonial and industrial history.

The East Coast Greenway Alliance is a non-profit organization developing a public multi-use 3,000 mile trail from Canada to Key West through New Jersey and New York. Donations and memberships help make this dream trail a reality.

Circuit Trails is 800 miles of interconnected trails in Greater Philadelphia in the making, already one of America's largest trail networks. Once connected, the Circuit Trails will be one of the nation's premier urban trail networks and it will provide multiple benefits to neighborhoods, communities and the region as a whole.

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