Touring - Impact of Lake Champlain Flooding on Champlain Bikeways Route

Does anyome know how the current Lake Champlain flooding has affected the Lake Champlain Bikeways route that circles the lake? We had been planning to ride the 330 mile loop (and some surrounding routes) in late July this year. We are interested in road/trail conditions and impact to camp grounds and lodging near the lake, ferries and bridges. Should we selelct a different place for our trip this year and maybe do Champlain another (dryer) year? Any first hand knowledge is appreciated!

Here is our planned route: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/27629204

Thanks!

Its a mess here! The state parks in Vermont along the lake may not open until July. Right now many of the ferries can't run because the lake is too high. The causeway to the Champlain Island from Colchester/Milton has been closed at times due to high water. But they have managed to get it open, if only a single lane. From what I hear, the NY side is really bad, especially around Rouses Point and down along the lake in Port Henry, Minerva area. Mud slides and roads washed out.

However, since you aren't going until the end of July, I would guess that most roads will be fixed by then. The state campgrounds should be open, but who knows. They must be a mess with drift wood and debris washing over them. Flood stage is 100ft, we hit 103, went down to 102.3, but we've had rain this week and the lake is going back up and is at 102.8 this morning. I've heard that it will take 20 days to drop the lake 1 ft, provided no/little rain in that period. So around 60 days to just get the lake down to flood stage or just below. Most roads aren't flooded at flood stage (100ft), just many homes along the shore.

Given your route, I don't see any issues with roads come late July, but I would have backup plans in placeif you were going to camp in state parks.

This is a video of a local (Burlington)landmark along the Burlington Bikepath. We've stopped here many times to get ice cream and other treats in the summer . It gives a sense of the flooding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=228k9R_n3xg

Also, the Burlington Marathon on Memorial Day weekend uses the bikepath, but they have had to reroute it off the bikepath due to water and debris.

http://www.necn.com/05/18/11/Flood-damage-forces-changes-to-Vermont-C/landing_newengland.html?blockID=525135&feedID=4206

This was on the NY side, luckily no one hurt. The road has been fixed and the women who was in the stuck SUV was the first to drive across the repaired road!

http://www.cbs6albany.com/sections/article/gallery/?pic=1&id=1284697&db=wrgb

Great information! Thanks guys. I hope you get some relief soon. We have had about 3 days of sun and 87 days of rain over the past three months here in Pittsburgh, and still more rain in the forecast this weekend. We have been sending all of our rain down the Ohio River to the Mississippi so really noone is happy about this mess...

Yikes, it looks pretty bad. This thread is timely because my wife and I had planned a similar trip for the second week of June. I guess we have to come up with Plan B.

Yikes, it looks pretty bad. This thread is timely because my wife and I had planned a similar trip for the second week of June. I guess we have to come up with Plan B.

You could still ride that route, there are always other roads a little further from the lake. The big issue will be camping, if that was you intention. Don't want to scare you away. Besides, things are really greening up with all the rain :-) The Rouse Point bridge is still open in the north and I know that the temporary ferry at the bridge construction site of the former Crown Point Bridge is running, as is the Grand Isle ferry.

rogerstg - You are welcome to use any part of our route we posted on mapmyride above. Our route follows all mapped bike routes but stays on the Vermont side for the southern portion to avoid the busier roads in NY state. You can download the route to most GPS devices to make things easy to follow. If you just use paper maps you will have to catch about two hundred turns from road to road to stay on the Bikeways trails all the way around.

I think we will wait until some time in June to decide if we are going to ride Champlain this year or seek an alternative...

I am hoping the waters receed quickly for all of those unfortunate folks affected by this...

that area is really a pretty one to bike in, hope things get sorted out as I would like to return there this summer with my wife. Did a bit last summer with friends and kids.

rogerstg - You are welcome to use any part of our route

Thanks. Plan B may be to spend more time around Montreal. Our plan is mostly to camp. Maybe the flooding will just add to the adventure.

roger-just to mention that around the Richelieu River area, south of Montreal, they had a fair amount of flooding recently also, so do check up how camping is affected around that area. You would think that by July it will be cleaned up, but do keep it in mind for your planning. As I dont know anyone living in the flood areas, I didnt really keep track of the specific communities flooded but in the news here it was shown to be rather significant (the army came in to help).
cheers

I can highly recommend the trail north of Montreal, petit Train du Nord. Rode it with my daughter a few years back and had a great time. Took a shuttle to the northern end and rode back toward Montreal. Great food along the way. Here's my trip report,

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=3746&v=2r

oh btw, just looked up info on Lake Champlain flooding and saw this photo report of the damage to the biking causeway (old rail line thing). More damage than I thought and who knows when the State will get around to fixing it, so definately needs to be kept track of before planning.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=BT&Date=20110517&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=517001&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod|mostpopphotos

Timely thread. I'm also planning to ride up thru Burlington and along the islands in mid-July. I've been planning to ride the old rail line (with its short ferry) up to the Alburg area (a B&B there), and then to continue through Rouses Point and along the Route Verte up to Montreal the next day. Is this gonna be do-able?

who knows Moose, I do hope they fix it as your route would be a very nice ride. We only went on the causeway from the south island along it to the "ferry" part (had lunch out there) but its quite pretty and neat going along it. Was quite surprised to see how high the water was up to the causeway bike path level, when we were there last summer the water was a good 3-4 feet lower it seemed than in the photos.

In any case, using the interwebz you will be able to keep track and/or find out who to call to see what progress is being made.

Here is the NOAA page to monitor lake level:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/html/lake.php

As far as the old rail line causeway to the islands, who knows. The weekend ferry service needs to put in docks each year and with the high water level, that could be delayed, which may cause them to cancel the bike ferry service. I'd check in with Localmotion,org, as your trip time gets closer. No one will have an answer at this time, since its still flooding and FEMA is here to acccess damage and determine if the state will get any money.

http://www.localmotion.org/

They have a picture of the causeway bike path that is just so amazing.

From Burlington, you could take the Burlington bike path into Colchester, then ride roads around Mallets Bay, and then on Rt7/2 (kind of busy, but a short stretch) to the RT2 causeway over to the islands. Again, not the rail trail, but it gets you to the islands. Or I could give you a shuttle over there if you need it.

Thx, VT_Speed_TR, I saw the localmotion pages and pix, where they say their ferry service may be postponed for the entire 2011 season. Thus, it doesn't look good at all for riding the railway causeway. I noticed the Ticonderoga ferry is also suspended (I'll be traveling north from Albany), but I suspect it will be back up and running by the time of my trip. If not, I can cross the lake at the temporary Crown Pt ferry based on your earlier post above.

I appreciate the shuttle offer. I may want to get back in touch with you later to determine the best/safest route from South Burlington (where my hotel will be) to the Rte 2 causeway.

Be happy to help, just send me a message. I can also point you to great places to eat and also a must see, small bike shop in Burlington - oldspokehome.com

Wow! It was not that long along, boat docks were left high and dry in the Great Lakes.

This is great information! Thanks for the advice and links. I am not optimistic for the causeway this season as that looks time consuming and expensive to fix and I suspect initial resources will go to home, businesse and road repair. Are most of the on-road parts of the route around the lake in rideable condition?

I cannot thank you all enough for the help.

You should have no issues with on road routes. I don't know of any road closures at this point and given that you won't be here for many weeks from now you'll have no issues with the Champlain route.

Thanks for the info.

I'm planning a short tour in this area in August. I'll be starting in Meredith NH and meeting people in Quechee 6 days later. Haven't decided on a route (or a bike) yet, but was definitely planning to include the Champlain Valley.

I have the ACA and Local Motion maps.

Any input would be appreciated.

VT Speed - How do you like that new Casseroll? How would it be in VT with a mid-sized load, say 30-40 lbs?

Jay

I haven't had a chance to ride the Casseroll with that size load. My normal full load for touring is 25 -30 lbs on a Surly LHT. The Surly is certainly a heavier and stiffer frame, and I'm not sure how well the Casseroll would handle something like 40 lbs. I anticipate using the Casseroll when my loads are under 20 lbs. I've read some post on MTBR.com/salsa about the Casseroll and heavier loads. But I'm not sure those were from experiences with the new Casseroll or the last version.

VtT_Speed_TR - Have you toured on your Fargo? I just finished building a 2011 Fargo for touring (got it in Fun Guy Green, not pearl white) but have not tried it with a load yet. Supposedly the new 2011 frames are slightly more of a MTB geometry, but I think I might have preferred the older geometry more. I am riding 50mm Schwalbe Big Apple tires now and I find them really comfy to ride on all of the crap we deal with here in Pittsburgh.

I've only done some overnights camping trips with less then 15 lbs in some rear panniers and a handlebar bag. I was out riding last night along some beat up dirt roads filled with big rocks and potholes. The Fargo just sails along, I love it. I'm planning a longer weekend trip this fall in northern Maine, camping and exploring the dirt backroads there. The Fargo should be perfect for that type of ride. I hope to use it next year on a week trip along the Great Divide route. I run the stock WTB Vulpine's, which roll very well and with all that volume really smooth out the road. And of course, Fun Guy Green is the only color a Fargo should be, its the fastest ;-)

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/VT_Bent_Rider/Fargo/IMG_0973.jpg

And the rain just keeps on coming. We just got hit by the weather system that hit the mid-west (Joplin, Mo, and others) yesterday. We had tornado watches and flash floods. We have baseball to goftball size hail, St. Johnsbury had 5 inches of rain and many roads are now closed in Washington country (around Montpelier). Most of that will flow to the Conn. River, but we had lots of rain on this side of the Green Mtns. and that will alll flow into Lake Champlain. The lake had dropped a little and was "down" to 102.33, but it looks like it will be rising again. The lake also saw 35 mph winds yesterday and waves up to 5 ft. May's record for rain is 7.1, and we are at 7.01 with more rain expected today and tomorrow. So it looks like we'll break the record for May, much like we did for April. I'm 15 miles from the lake, up at around 900 ft, and I walked my pasture and wood lot the other day and the ground was mushy and soft with water. Given those conditions that far from the lake, we'll see lots of water flowing directly and quickly into Lake Champlain everytime it rains. Man, I'm just sick of this :-(

yup, all the Richelieu river area folks will be truly disheartened as well, as more houses will be lost and damages increased.

as for the causeway, given that repairs and rebuilding are so much more tricky from a logistics pt of view, cant just drive trucks up to the damaged areas like a road, I too fear it will be down on the priority list of repairs....

as for the causeway, given that repairs and rebuilding are so much more tricky from a logistics pt of view, cant just drive trucks up to the damaged areas like a road, I too fear it will be down on the priority list of repairs....

Have to agree, with all the other damage in this state, and now more areas away from the lake being damaged, the causeway will not be high on the list. Unfortunately, I feel like if its not addressed and protected before winter, I fear that winter ice and storms will cause damages that place its future existence in peril.

This is a video of a local (Burlington)landmark along the Burlington Bikepath. We've stopped here many times to get ice cream and other treats in the summer . It gives a sense of the flooding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=228k9R_n3xg

Wow! I remember that place. We rode past it last year on the first day of AC's Cycle Vermont.

In a quick look at your route map, I spotted a problem. On your planned route between Vergennes and Middlebury, the bridge over Otter Creek hasn't existed for some time, but map publishers keep showing it, including my latest DeLorme atlas. I asked Vermont to remove it from their state highway map maybe four years ago when I made this discovery during a ride, and their maps are now correct and show the approach roads as secondary.

There is an easy alternative. If heading north from Middlebury, take Seymour St. and then left through the Pulp Mill covered bridge, which brings you to Horse Farm Rd. If you have no interest in Morgans, take an immediate left on Pulp Mill Bridge Rd., and right on 23. Alternately, bear right after the bridge and turn left on Hamilton road a half mile past the farm, then right on 23 in Weybridge Hill. No matter how you got there, bear right of the cemetery for Weybridge on Quaker Village Rd. Zig-zag by the dam in Weybridge and cross VT 17 with caution, as there is a poor sight line to the east, and continue straight for Vergennes. If riding clockwise, reverse this.

I've led tours in the region for over a quarter century, have a book published on it, and disagree with some of Champlain Bikeways road choices, particularly the dirt ones (and some of the paved alternates) - but then my tours are for club riders with mixed appetites for dirt.

It adds aome miles, but here is an alternate route that I prefer to 2/7 to connect Mallett Bay and the Islands. Much of the extra riding is on fun/pretty roads, and you turn onto 2 where it's downhill to the causeway.

8.9 X US 2 W / US 7 N bearing left
NOTE – Option to turn L on 2 W here if
bad weather – then L with 2 W in 3 miles
9.0 R US 2A E
9.7 L East Road at light – rolling hills
11.9 BL East Road where Farnsworth Road is S
15.4 L Hobbs Road
15.8 LT US 7 S at stop (NS)
16.7 S West Milton Road where US 7 S turns L
18.4 R Bear Trap Road across bridge – rolling hills
21.2 R US 2 W – downhill to pretty marshes

> From Burlington, you could take the Burlington bike path into Colchester, then ride roads around Mallets Bay, and then on Rt7/2 (kind of busy, but a short stretch) to the RT2 causeway over to the islands. From Burlington, you could take the Burlington bike path into Colchester, then ride roads around Mallets Bay, and then on Rt7/2 (kind of busy, but a short stretch) to the RT2 causeway over to the islands.

Its official, the lake is below flood stage, so that's the good news.

The bad is, its official that the bike ferry won't run this year :-(
http://www.wptz.com/news/28305534/detail.html

Also, there is now fund raising going on to fund the restoration of the causeway trail. Likely little money at the state or federal levels to rebuild it. It's a shame, it was a beautiful ride, like riding on water,

thanks for the update VT, tis a shame, as you say, its a pretty neat ride (I suspect even Jesus would have liked biking along it ;-)