Hitting the Trails: Exploring With Delaware XC
5/18/2020
NEWARK, Delaware. – Over the past few months, many of us have been confined to our homes for much of the day. Throughout our current situation, many hiking and jogging trails have remained open to allow outside activity and exercise as long as you maintain a safe six-foot distance when you see others on the trails. Delaware State Parks are currently requiring having a facial covering available if trails are too crowded.
Head Coach Ryan Waite and the Blue Hen cross country team know all about getting outside around the Newark area and have supplied several options for those looking for some fresh-air exercise.
As always, remember to check the Delaware State Parks and Recreation website for the availability and details for each park.
White Clay Creek State Park (Newark, Del.)
This is our main course and it has a ton of great options for a variety of forms of exercise, running or just simple to get outside.
There are plenty of trail options available:
- The XC Course (5k, 6k or 8k options)
- Pomeroy Trail (4.1 miles)
- Lenape Trail (2.4 miles)
- Tri-State Marker (You can be in three-states at once! - 3.1 miles)
- Tri-Valley Trail (4.5 miles)
- Whitley Farms Loop (3.3 miles)
- PennDel (2.8 miles)
There's several different entry points to the park, so just check the park map before heading over to see where the best place to enter would be depending on the course you want to use.
Lums Pond (Bear, Del.)
This is a hidden gem with lots of activity around Lums pond. Plenty of spaces to escape with family or get the kids outside, or just seeking some quiet for yourself.
There are several trail options available, we've primarily used two options:
- Little Jersey Trail (8.8 miles)
- Swamp Forest Trail (6.9 miles)
Bellevue State Park (Wilmington, Del.)
We use this sporadically when we're looking to mix up some works, but is a great option for those who live closer to the Wilmington area.
There are a few trails that take you through wooded areas, but this is the place that has the moved paved walkways and running paths. We primarily use the running loop track, which is a hard packed dirt surface, and is 1.1 miles in length.
