professorbob

I saw on Ride With GPS that it appears that there is a new section open on the Lamoille Valley rail trail. It shows that it now heads west from St. Johnsbury, VT to Hardwick. Can anyone confirm this?

indyfabz

I was speaking with an employee at Stillwater State Park above Groton last month when I pulled in to camp for the night during a bike tour. He mentioned that new section. Said it was about to open. I rode about 1.5 miles east from Joe’s Pond Trailhead by Hastings Store towards Danville that day. Good surface. I think the plan is for it to eventually cross and/or intersect with the Missisquoi Trail near Sheldon. I saw the crossing riding the Miss from Richford to St. Albans, but it looked unimproved.

indyfabz

Check this out:

208 Bridge St - Google Maps

It's the Lamoille Valley Trail south of the intersection with the Missisquoi Trail. Pan around. Based on this image, it appears that development ends at Bridge St. But if you look at Satellite View you can see the continuation of the right-of-way, and it appears to be more developed. But when you follow it south until you come to the next road crossing you see this on Street View (again, pan around):

801 Chester A Arthur Rd - Google Maps


Clearly not developed at the time the image was captured, but that looks to be 10 years ago. I traced the right-of-way much further and it looks even more wild. Guess I need to look for an official trail website. But as a railroad guy, I find it interesting to look back at see that things were like before trail development.

Hah! This map shows the open section up north stopping at Bridge St.:

TRAIL MAPS (lvrt.org)

professorbob

VAST claims (or did claim) that the trail will be completed by this fall. However, I don’t hear many reports on its progress. I’m 63 years old now and I’m hoping to ride it from end to end while I’m still able.

indyfabz

This still shows fall of 2022:

https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot...2022.03.24.pdf

professorbob

This is good information-thank you!

BH

balto charlie

This is good info thanks.

I wanted to ride across New Hampshire last year but did not get the chance. Looking at the Lamoille Valley Trail and the Cross New Hampshire trail one could have a nice long adventure. One should be able to hook them together. One must deal with I-93, I-91 and crossing the Connecticut River (I think) . I need to look into this more.

Cross New Hampshire Trail
https://www.xnhat.org/maps.html

Pratt

The western end of the XNHAT is in Woodsville, NH, which is right across the Connecticut River from Wells River, VT which is the Eastern terminus of the Cross Vermont Trail. The practically meet there. From Woodsville up to the beginning of the Lamoille trail might be Route 5, in Vermont, or route 10 in NH, I'd have to look at a map.

balto charlie

I just started mapping things and didn't realize that Vermont has 2 'cross' Vermont trail. That is really cool. Thanks

Pratt

As soon as I heard of the second trail, I started wondering if one could make a loop out of them.

balto charlie

That's what I am playing with now.
Looks like the eastern end is doable, the western side might be an issue. I am also looking into going from Bethel ME. to Montreal using XNH and XVerm trails.

Pratt

I've ridden from Burlington to Montreal. The Burlington Bikeway (with ferry, check schedules) goes to Grand Isle and there is nice pavement with light traffic up to the crossing in Alburg (Noyan 0n the Canadian side). Then it is flat to Montreal. A little complicated getting into the city across the bridges, but nice bike way through a park.
Should be doable.

Peruvian

LVRT goes all the way through now. Should be great for next summer.

balto charlie

Hey Vermonters, how did the Lamoille Valley Trailand Cross Vermont Trail fare in the recent floods. I am sure they both took major hits.

balto charlie

I just found this info fo rthe cross Vermont trail:
https://www.crossvermont.org/about_u..._newscroll.htm

professorbob

Also, what about the Island Line trail (and bike ferry) and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail? I'm scheduled to do a week long tour of Northern Vermont and Southern Quebec next week starting in Burlington.

balto charlie

I just saw this posted on their website:

Trails Status: LVRT CLOSED, all others OPEN

I think my route is out for this year. I am searching for another option
For more infor:
https://railtrails.vermont.gov/trail-updates/

indyfabz

The latter was a bit of a mess when I did it last year in June. Rode the entire length from north to south. Needed a serious mow in a lot of places. And the surface is not a nice, flat surface. It was like riding single track. The major exception is where it passes through some population center. Forget the name of the town. You will also notice many of the elevation changes. One of the most annoying things. however, are the many, many highway crossings. And it's a state highway with a good amount of traffic, so you need to stop and make sure the coast is clear. With all that is going on, budget a lot of extra time.

I've done the Island Line Trail from Burlington to the missing bridge. Great ride.

balto charlie

Cross Vermont Trail has some sections closed. This link has some pictures of the damged trail.
https://www.crossvermont.org/about_u..._2023storm.htm

indyfabz

I did a portion from Plainfield through Groton State Forest last year on the way to Stillwater Stste Psrk. The area around Bemis Farm Rd. already had some flood damage that forced me to walk in place, but nothing as bad as pictured. You could tell that section is prone to flooding, and since it’s wooded, it doesn’t dry quickly.

balto charlie

I think it is going to take some time for healing the scars.