Touring - Route suggestion for Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine

I'm trying to get from Montreal QC to Portland ME, and then back to Montreal via a different route as quickly as possible, so the fewer the hills the better.

Montreal to Portland (http://g.co/maps/wbwaw)
Portland to Montreal (http://g.co/maps/uxqhr)

Any suggestions/recommendations?

It's been a while since I pedaled New England, but the Kangamangus highway in NH, and Rt 5 in VT comes to mind.
Very pretty place to tour.

Check out suggestions by plotting routes on www.ridewithgps.com (http://www.ridewithgps.com) for elevation profiles. Stick with US highways to avoid grades >6% most of the time.

i live in the NEK of VT, the route to montgomery is fine. Rt 58 out of montgomery soon becomes a dirt road and it is quite hilly. where rt58 crosses rt 100 is the base of Lowell mtn - it is a three mile climb to the top - then a really mean down hill - 100 kph on a bike. barton hill road is mostly not paved & hilly as well -- suggest in irasburg staying on rt 58 (left, then a steep hill) to lake region road, turn rt on to lake region rd, about 4 km mostly down hill to rt 5, then another right on to rt 5 into barton. barton , south a long crystal lake is nice- then heading toward burke is hilly. i haven't ridden on rt 114 much beyond burke or east of there - cannot comment on the road, however it is a hilly area. hard to transverse this area and not have some hills.

+1 on Kangamagus Highway in NH. Pretty ride.

Your route to Portland goes near Lake Carmi State Park. Nice place if you need a place to camp.

113 is lousy for bikes. I have ridden part of it, not again.

Take 153 south out of Conway to Rte 25 (we always go through a pretty little town called Freedom NH).

I wouldn't ride 302 either.. there are a bunch of backroads you can take up to Norway. I've ridden them, Blackstrap to Babbige to Dutton Hill to N. Raymond

From Norway you can go W 116

Btw, I love the Kancamangus, but check the elevation gain, it's mountainy, not hilly.

Also check out the adventure cycling maps of the region. I used their maps when touring in the area and thought that the roads they picked out were, by and large, pretty reasonable. But local knowledge is always best. By the way, while my memories of the Kancamangus were that it was beautiful and not too bad, I thought the hills around Norway were actually pretty demanding!

Ham,
are you still there?

I rode on 113 out of Conway and it was a "never again" kind of road to me. It was a busy highway but had an ample shoulder, as I recall. Once I was past the outskirts of Conway, which go on a bit, the traffic died out. I followed 113/302 to Fryeburg, then 5 to 93 to 37 to 118 into Norway, where I are at a fabulous Vegan restaurant! You can read about that day's ride and see dozens of photos in my journal for that day (http://www.biketouringtips.com/showDailyEntryDetail.php?entryID=196). You can also see my tour tracks at trackmytour.com (http://trackmytour.com/wFZJX).

I found riding this part of Maine to be lots of short but steep rolling hills. It looked flat on google! I remember being very tired after this ride.

I am not a local and there are, indeed, lots of local roads that I didn't think about taking as I had no detailed map of the area. As I recall, some of the are dirt roads and I wanted to stay on pavement. For the most part, the roads I rode either had shoulders or were sparsely traveled. Regardless of what roads you ride, you'll likely be surrounded by forest all day.

I also rode the Kancamagus Hwy. It is climbing but through a beautiful National Park. I wouldn't ride through this area without doing it and I did it in the rain!

I rode on 113 out of Conway and it was a "never again" kind of road to me. It was a busy highway but had an ample shoulder, as I recall. Once I was past the outskirts of Conway, which go on a bit, the traffic died out. I followed 113/302 to Fryeburg, then 5 to 93 to 37 to 118 into Norway, where I are at a fabulous Vegan restaurant! You can read about that day's ride and see dozens of photos in my journal for that day (http://www.biketouringtips.com/showDailyEntryDetail.php?entryID=196). You can also see my tour tracks at trackmytour.com (http://trackmytour.com/wFZJX).

I found riding this part of Maine to be lots of short but steep rolling hills. It looked flat on google! I remember being very tired after this ride.

I am not a local and there are, indeed, lots of local roads that I didn't think about taking as I had no detailed map of the area. As I recall, some of the are dirt roads and I wanted to stay on pavement. For the most part, the roads I rode either had shoulders or were sparsely traveled. Regardless of what roads you ride, you'll likely be surrounded by forest all day.

I also rode the Kancamagus Hwy. It is climbing but through a beautiful National Park. I wouldn't ride through this area without doing it and I did it in the rain!



We did a tour up that way a few years ago, and I think we ate at the same place in Norway. Was it also a health food store?