Burlington VT area gravel ride recommendation

[DavidMtl]

I'll be staying in the Burlington VT area at the end of this week. I would like to do a 30 to 50 km gravel ride (can be mixed: paved and gravel).

Any recommendation?

Thanks!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . The causeway trail is great along the waterfront and across the lake toward South Hero. There's a bike ferry midway across but I'm not sure if it's open this late in the year. Also not the length you want but definitely a nice casual ride followed by recovery eat/drink at any of multiple places right along the lakefront.

https://www.trailfinder.info/trails/...and-line-trail

BBD

[benb]

The bike ferry has been closed for months now. That is still a good ride, we had a thread about it recently.

There used to be really nice gravel on Grand Isle but a lot of it was paved in the last 7-8 years.

You are probably going to have to get a decent distance from Burlington before you find much. I have rode around there a lot and other than the causeway and the stuff on the islands I hadn't found much.

It really depends on how far you want to go. If you start in downtown Burlington the path to the causeway to the end of the causeway is a pretty decent distance IIRC.

[sasquatch16v]

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/206331320

This is a loop I did a few time when I was visiting in July. Probably about 50% gravel, nothing too chunky or insane. Can be easily adjusted to cut out a few little detours if needed.

[benb]

Wow I need to do that loop. I've done like half of it but there's like this giant hole in areas I've rode and your loop nails it.

A lot of this is that traditionally when I was actually up there a lot and had a lot of time to ride it was when I was still riding a road bike with 23c tires so I wasn't looking for the same thing.

From 2013-2016 or so I did have a gravel bike when I was up there but over time we've managed to go up there less and less and I'm more and more likely to have family commitments that make it hard to go explore.

[DavidMtl]

Thanks a lot, I will do this ride for sure!!!!

Originally Posted by sasquatch16v

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/206331320

This is a loop I did a few time when I was visiting in July. Probably about 50% gravel, nothing too chunky or insane. Can be easily adjusted to cut out a few little detours if needed.

[DavidMtl]

Thanks, I will gor on the Causeway for sure. I may be tempted to bring my roller skis as well to ride on it.

Originally Posted by BumbleBeeDave

. . . The causeway trail is great along the waterfront and across the lake toward South Hero. There's a bike ferry midway across but I'm not sure if it's open this late in the year. Also not the length you want but definitely a nice casual ride followed by recovery eat/drink at any of multiple places right along the lakefront.

https://www.trailfinder.info/trails/...and-line-trail

BBD

[morrisericd]

Happy to chat about gravel riding around Burlington off line or PM.

If you like a little bit of everything: This is from my house, but you can start in Hinesburg easily. Swing by Foam or Frost afterwards...

https://www.strava.com/routes/3128319837550422460

This one is also from my house, but you can start at Palmer's Sugarhouse just as easily. I do it this way when the wind is from the North. Do it the other way if there isn't much wind, or it's from the South. The part that goes through Palmer's trails is pretty sweet and relatively unknown. Same for the Philo part. When you get to the paved part of Philo, go up to the top for some killer views.

https://www.strava.com/routes/3288651428845570206

I'm partial to rollers for gravel as opposed to straight up and down, but some like the ups. For more ups, check out some of the heat maps coming out of Richmond. Look for Dugway Road - that's probably my favorite gravel road in the area. Can connect that with Mayo, etc.

This is Ted King's now defunct Rooted Ride. It's a big one, but has a lot of the roads listed above.

https://www.strava.com/routes/3288652734247787170

Enjoy!

[sasquatch16v]

Originally Posted by DavidMtl

Thanks a lot, I will do this ride for sure!!!!

I think someone else mentioned it, but the island line trail (I think its called), is a pretty cool ride. Bike path that starts in South burlington and rides along the lake to literally the middle of the lake. Mostly flat, but lovely... and did I mention that it goes literally to the middle of the lake lol

[bmeryman]

Happy to be another source for recommendations in the area. Here's a fun ride that I like doing from my house in Hinesburg that goes back and forth over a ridge: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46488633

That loop up through Colchester is a lot of fun; I used to ride that pretty regularly when I lived in Winooski.

[DavidMtl]

A big thanks to all of you for the suggestions.

I went to Vermont last friday.

The main purpose was to buy a used Seven Redsky in Colchester. I't so nice to ride.

For the bike rides, I first went on the causeway. It was really windy so I did not do too long on it. Perhaps, it was really nice with all those mountains around and the mix of dark clouds and sun. The light was wonderfull. Also the feeling off being alone in the middle of the lake is really nice.

Later in the day I ended up doing only the upper loop of this ride since I was short of time. It was really nice. I was on the last descent when I was it by a light hail storm. Since I felt safe it was a lot of fun.

https://www.strava.com/routes/3288652734247787170

I keep those other suggestions for the next time I go in Vermont.

Thanks again!!!!!