09box

I am going to be in Amherst, Mass the second weekend of April for a couple days. Any rail trails or gravel riding in the area?

mr_bill

indyfabz

If you will have a car, you might want to consider the Green River Ride that's one route for D2R2:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/3171423?beta=false

You can skip the climb at mile 20.4 by simply continuing straight to the covered bridge and then heading back. Deerfield, MA is a short drive from Amherst. And the main street of the village itself is filled with historic houses (and my former high school.)
You will have to be self-sufficient as once you leave Greenfield there are no service, but it's a pretty route. What isn't paved is packed dirt. The covered bridge is neat.

autonomy

Sooo many good routes out there. For trails, you have Norwottuck connecting to Manhan going south or Northampton Trail going north. Further south, in Westfield, you have the Columbia Greenway RT.
My regular/favorite is to park in Umass' North Apartments lot and ride north on N Pleasant to 63 - or Pine-Leverett-Amherst-Montague Rd. (if you're super-ambitious, bear right from Montague Rd to Cave Hill - for a big hill and a REALLY COOL stop at the local Peace Pagoda) and basically to Montague and the Bookmill/Lady Killigrew for lunch. From there you could head to Millers Falls or Turners Falls... or loop south on Meadow Rd (best part of the route) or even across the river on River Rd.

The one I would stay away from in that area is 47 - lots of traffic and VERY windy last time I was on it.

Leverett has lots of scenic, unpaved roads.

Bigpond

Watching with interest.

autonomy

https://www.nohobikeclub.org/general...de-routes-etc/
Seven Hills Wheelmen

A couple good resources

NomarsGirl

I really want to take a ride out to the Montague bookmill next time I'm out that way. I remember that hill in Leverett going up to the Peace Pagoda. Don't think I could have ridden that when I was a college student. I'm sure I can't do it now.

autonomy

My wife was not a fan. But the downhill! And N. Leverett Rd. after that was really, really cool for some reason.

And, of course, the quietness of the Pagoda



(I'm not making it any better, am I?)

P.S. Yeah, the Bookmill is a great place to stop

indyfabz

Stopped here in Turners Falls during my St. Albans, VT to Philly tour:

2nd Street Baking Co. Inc. Home

Nice place.

NomarsGirl

I'll put it on the list for the spring. Looking for lots of car/bike trips to take with the hubby. We did the Norwottuck rail trail last UMass homecoming weekend. The key to holding the hubby's interest is to have a good place to stop for coffee along the route. Didn't have to go far off the trail at all to find that. (But had to cross route 9). Skipped the game which went into triple overtime. Was sad to miss the marching band though. We go to the Cape a lot and enjoy both the Shining Sea bike path and the Cape Cod Rail Trail.

Also on the list is the trail in Burlington Vermont that goes out into Lake Champlain and you have to take a ferry. Maybe the carriage roads at Acadia National Park. But we'll take the car to the top of cadillac mountain. We're not totally crazy.

indyfabz

It's called the Island Line Trail. Really wanted to ride part of during my 2018 tour from St. Albans, VT to Philly since I had an extra day in Burlington to have dinner with an old colleague. Sadly, the part of the trail that goes across the lake was temporarily closed to damaged caused by a string spring storm. I did get to ride the section south of Mallets Bay. From there to the center of Burlington is nice. You can access North Beach from it. The portion south of the center of Burlington is nothing to write home about.

The ferry spans the 250' gap in the trail that exists because the old railroad swing bridge was removed before the trail was created. It only operates certain times of the year.

rumrunn6

gonna miss VT when our Daughter graduates in May. we had a nice Fall ride on the Island Line Trail cpl yrs ago. turned around at the ferry cuz the clock was ticking & there were other things we wanted to do during our visit, like the Burly Farmers' Market

indyfabz

My second day in Burlington last June was not so nice weather-wise. This was the afternoon view from North Beach. Cold and windy, and it rained hard the night before and in the a.m.. Overall, the mileage in VT was nice. After leaving Burlington I rode south Half Moon Pond State Park, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere off a dirt road. At night the frogs and insects made a cacophony. It was really funny because it sounded like it was staged for the soundtrack of a film. One cool thing about VT state parks is that many of them offer lean tos for not much more than a regular campsite. I got one at both state parks I camped at because the skies were threatening.

rumrunn6

I imagine it's quite pleasant during late summer & early fall, swimming in the lake. ahh nice (lean-to). we walked around a campsite w lean-tos on the lake, the next year when we rented horses North of Burly. that Lake Champlain is quite changeable. last month it was -3 F w/o windchill & it was smoking ... not a great day for cycling. in fact it was so cold my Daughter swore, which she never does around me. we had no choice but to duck into a brewery to warm up!



not to hijack the thread, sorry for all the pics, but we prefer Air BnBs ...



Grand Isle State Park 36 E Shore S, Grand Isle, VT 05458 (802) 372-4300



Breakaway Farm 16 US-2, Grand Isle, VT 05458 (802) 372-8491



the Red Rocks (Queen City Park South Burlington, VT 05403) is worth a visit, but be careful!

NomarsGirl

I appreciate the pictures since I'm the one who brought up Burlington on a thread about Amherst!

It's bittersweet when the kids graduate. I miss having an excuse to go up to Amherst to see her (UMass), but I do have a whole lot more money now. So we're going to France and we'll ride in the Loire Valley in September.

rumrunn6

ooh la la, enjoy!