Union Transportation Trail

The Union Transportation Trail is a 9-mile (14 km) rail trail situated in western Monmouth County, New Jersey. It extends from Hornerstown, New Jersey, to the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. The trail occupies the former roadbed of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pemberton & Hightstown line, which was originally chartered by the Union Transportation Company (UTC) in 1864. The railroad connected local dairies and farms with larger railroads at rail junctions in Pemberton and Hightstown, New Jersey. Traffic gradually dried up, and the line was abandoned by UTC in segments, starting in 1950 with the construction of the New Jersey Turnpike. The line was completely abandoned by 1984. The roadbed was later acquired by Jersey Central Power & Light and was subsequently leased for trail use in 1998 by the Monmouth County Park system. The Union Transportation Trail-named after the UTC-first opened in September 2010 with the gravel-surfaced 2.2-mile (3.5 km) section between Millstream Road and Jonathan Holmes Road. A 2.0-mile (3.2 km) extension to the trail was completed in 2011, with the 3.0-mile (4.8 km) section between County Route 526 and Herbert Road/Sharon Station Road being added in February 2015. Construction on the segment between County Route 526 and Davis Station Road, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, commenced in 2015 and was completed in September 2016.