Vermont's Northern region can best be described with superlatives. Lake Champlain with its wide fertile valleys surrounded
by striking mountain ranges, is the country's sixth largest lake. Rugged mountains
tower 1,000 feet higher than any other in the state. The northern border is a
busy trade route with Canada and the cultural influence of the Province of Quebec
seeps into the state. There are crystal clear lakes, abundant dairy farms, logging and backcountry roads in Northern Vermont to explore by mountain bike.
The Waterbury-Stowe Mountain Bike Tour and Montgomery
Covered Bridges bicycle routes offer spectacular mountain views and
travel through historic villages, covered bridges and the picturesque countryside
of northern Vermont. The Craftsbury Outdoor
Center is a popular outdoor destination and
offers a huge network of dirt roads, cross-country ski trails, logging roads and singletrack
trails. The Missisquoi Valley
Rail Trail, ideal for families and beginners,
offers easy riding through rural communities and farmland.
Vermont's Northeast
Kingdom has some of the best mountain biking trail networks in the northeast and miles upon miles of unpaved roads. While biking, you will often see as many cows, deer and moose as you will vehicles on these routes. The Back Roads
to Big Falls Tour winds over hills, past waterfalls, a popular swimming
hole, lakes, scenic green pastures and through an unusual historic covered bridge.
Groton
State Forest is the second largest protected area in the state and offers
rides to many interesting and unusual natural features. The Montpelier
to Wells Rail Trail has many historical points of interest and takes
you back in time to a bygone railroad era.
Central Vermont, in the heart of the Green Mountains and home to the State
Capital, offers
great back-country bicycling on a combination of paved and unpaved roads. The
Mad River Valley Tour travels past small farms, through covered bridges,
and over the picturesque rolling countryside of rural Central Vermont.
Killington,
Vermont's largest ski area, welcomes mountain bikers in the summer to it's 35
miles of singletrack trails and work roads. The Delaware & Hudson
Rail Trail travels through quintessential Vermont countryside and is an excellent
bike excursion for families and beginners.
With thousands of acres and hundreds of miles of trails within the
Green Mountain National Forest there are mountain biking opportunities
for everyone. Verdant mountain peaks, cold mountain streams, dense pine forests and lush green valleys await you. Mountain biking is permitted on
all National Forest service roads. There
are also several designated off-road mountain biking trails. Among these are
the Pine
Brook Trail, Leicester Hollow Trail, Minnie
Baker Trail and the Silver Lake Trail.
The town of Randolph is a nucleus for mountain biking. Surrounded
by 360 acres of Green Mountain National Forest, it has about 265 mapped miles of
logging roads and single track trails.
Much of Southern Vermont is heavily forested and though the hills are
often steep, the terrain varies in difficulty. Mountain bikers have a range of
choices from easy coasting to some serious mountain
climbing. Vermont is known as the "Places
in History Travel Region" due to it's colorful historical heritage and ties to the
American Revolution. This is evident in the area's battlefield sites, museums,
historic buildings and covered bridges. Speaking of history, the first chairlift
was invented in Vermont and Mount
Snow was the first ski resort to cater to mountain bikers.
They offer chairlift service, a bike school and 45 miles of mountain bike terrain
suitable for bikers of all levels.
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