Lawrenceville School Section Of Lawrence Hopewell Trail Reopens

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — The Lawrence Hopewell Trail (LHT) and The Lawrenceville School have reopened the section of the trail that runs through the school’s campus. A new sign was posted on the route.

The trail will continue to use a long-standing crossing on Lewisville Road at one end of the new 1.2-mile segment, but will now use Clark Gate along Main Street/U.S. 206 at the other end, opposite Titus Avenue. Previously the trail intersected Main Street near Gordon Avenue.

The Lawrence Hopewell Trail is one of New Jersey’s premier trails for walking, bicycling and running. It runs through Lawrence and Hopewell Townships on a mix of paved and crushed stone surfaces, going through woods, fields, parks and neighborhoods.

The Lawrenceville School closed its portion of the LHT during the COVID-19 pandemic as a health measure, and subsequent construction required the trail remain closed as a matter of safety.

“The Lawrenceville School is delighted to welcome walkers, runners, and cyclists back to campus through the Lawrence Hopewell Trail,” Lawrenceville’s Head of School Steve Murray said in a statement. “The LHT is a vital community resource, and the continued expansion of the trail helps connect many beautiful spaces and historic landmarks throughout Lawrenceville. We are fortunate to have this resource available as a way to augment existing campus initiatives around sustainability, community service, and wellbeing.”

The new route through The Lawrenceville School’s campus uses a mix of paved and gravel surfaces. From the south side of the campus, the segment begins as the trail crosses Lewisville Road and follows a gravel road along the perimeter of Woods Field, as it previously did. Merging onto a paved road, the LHT turns north (right) as it heads toward the center of The Lawrenceville School. In a change, the trail now turns west (left) and passes by Keuffel Stadium as it follows the perimeter road to exit the campus.

“We are very happy to once again feature The Lawrenceville School segment as a vital link in our trail loop,” said David Sandahl, chair of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail Corporation. “We deeply appreciate the warm welcome from The Lawrenceville School leadership and look forward to a strong and rewarding partnership.”

The re-opening of The Lawrenceville School segment is one part of the changes coming to the southern section of the 20-mile trail. Later this spring, an elevated boardwalk stretching nearly half a mile will open in Maidenhead Meadows that will eliminate the need for walkers, runners and bicyclists to use Princeton Pike.

That will be followed later in the year by a rerouted section of the trail from the historic Brealey House, built more than 250 years ago, through the new Pike Town neighborhood to the Lenox Drive Office Park.

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