Schenectady Wintersports Club

Suggested Bike Routes and Trails

By Bill Kornrumpf

The Clubhouse is all cleaned up and there are times available for you to come up and enjoy all that the North country of Vermont has to offer.  I happen to like bike riding on some of the back roads and the occasional challenge of a big hill like Smugglers Notch.  Vermont is also well known for mountain biking on all kinds of trails that are smooth, well-groomed, kind hilly, and challenging single track.  

The local paper, the Stowe Reporter, has a section devoted to articles about the riding in the Stowe area.  You can find it at https://www.vtcng.com/special_publications/ride/ .  I just finished reading a supplement to their 6/29 issue that contained a list and description of trails available in the area.  The “ride” website has a listing of prior articles and a map of trail locations to help you plan a riding-oriented stay at the Clubhouse.

If you are more interested in rail trails, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is now completed and offers 93 miles of well surfaced, almost flat riding across northern Vermont. Just to the East of Morrisville, the trail goes through one of the few remaining covered railroad bridges in Vermont.  There are rest areas along the trail and good parking in Morrisville (9 miles north of Stowe on Rt 100). There is a bike shuttle bus if you want to just peddle out and get a ride back to your car in Morrisville in the afternoon. https://www.lamoillevalleybiketours.com/lamoillevalleyrailtrailbikeshuttle is the shuttle website.

Other scenic rail trails are the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail and the Island Line Rail Trail both in the Burlington area.  The Island Line trail features a bike ferry crossing to South Hero Island and the Champlain Islands Bikeways. All the rail trails are suitable for narrow tire or fatter tire bikes and have parking lots close by.