macaroni steve

A friend and I have about 4-5 days to bike in sept.

We are trying do decide between the allegheny/Pittsburgh Cumberland trail or a bike around Maine starting in Portland.

Does anyone have any experience in either of these areas? The allegheny is pretty self defined so just curious if anyone has any experience there. Additionally, are there any nice routes or loops starting from Portland, ME?

Thanks

bwgride

Many here have ridden the GAP and C&O so you may receive a number of replies that differ from mine. A friend and I rode both a few weeks ago and while we found them pleasant, we also found the trails monotonousness. Much of the scenery looks the same over hundred of miles -- trails with tree canopies. Highlights were the small towns, bridges, lock cottages along the we. We departed from the trail near Antietam and found riding the roads there much more interesting. I think we both concluded future bike trips will be on roads.

Using Google maps and street view I think the Maine coastline to be interesting -- nice scenery, small towns to visit, state parks spread every 30 to 60 miles or so.

Bryan

raybo

The ACA Atlantic Coast route goes near Portland, ME. But it doesn't go in a loop.

I did the ACA route from Acadia NP to Boston last summer and wrote a journal about it that might give you some ideas.

From Portland, you could ride up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and back.

Ray

VT_Speed_TR

Maine is very nice, but if you think that you'll be riding and seeing the ocean most of the time, forget about it. The riding is nice, but until you get to a harbor/village, most of the views will be blocked by private land. Still nice riding, but its not like riding along for miles and miles with ocean views. For the best views, you need to head down the many points of land that jut out into the ocean. you'll not make much headway up the coast doing this, but you chance for views and small towns are better. Of course, when you do get a view, you'll appreciate it.

Did the C&O/GAP trails twice, very relaxing with no cars, nice history on the C&O, nice views and towns on the GAP.

macaroni steve

Very informative. Thanks for The feedback.

JimDDD

I did a nice coastal New England route(including Portland) last September.

I started at Long Wharf in Boston, took the fast ferry to Provincetown MA (at the end of Cape Cod), road off the cape, up through Plymouth MA, to Hull MA, picked up a commuter ferry for a short (maybe 10 miles) ride to Boston long wharf, picked up another ferry from long wharf to Salem MA (maybe 20 miles), and from there followed the coast all the way to Portland ME. In Portland, I picked up the Amtrak DownEaster back to South Station in Boston. South Station is only about 1 mile from Long Wharf, but I still managed to get lost in the North End .

The entire riding distance was about 330 miles. The ferries were quite scenic and a nice break. The short ferry rides allowed me to bypass the more urban/crowded areas. The Downeaster has roll on/ roll off bike service. You just lean the bike against the wall in a section of the passenger car where a few seats have been removed. Absolutely no hassle, although you do need a special bike ticket.

I camped along the way, which was very easy in September. The town campground in Salem was particularly nice, with great harbor and ocean views and a nice little beach. There are many cute historic towns and sites, oodles of old buildings dating into the 16th century and some even earlier, great clam shacks and lobster pounds, working fishing harbors, scenic beaches, etc. All that traditional New England stuff. I found the riding to be nice and quite easy, but some of the roads did have some traffic. This is not a low population rural area.

I started and ended in my driveway in Lexington MA, but you could stash a car in many places along the circular route. I would recommend parking in the lot at Alewife ($8 per day for up to 1 week) if you were doing a Boston start. Or you could park in my driveway for free and ride the Minuteman down into Cambridge and cross into Boston, a 15 mile ride to Long Wharf.

Have fun where ever you go.

Jim

spinnaker

With only 4-5 days you should look at it what takes your least travel time to get there. Maybe even consider some other options. If I had only 4-5 days tp spare, I would probably ride the GAP but it is pretty much right outside my front door.

IMHO the GAP is more scenic than the C&O portion (which is sometimes considered a part of the GAP) but the C&O probably has more historical interest. But it ill take you more than 5 days to do the whole thing comfortably anyway. It can be done in 4-5 but 7-8 would be better. Pittsburgh to Cumberland can be easily done in 4-5 days.


Should you settle on the GAP let me know. I can provide a place to stay, tour guide through Pittsburgh or the Montour Trail or what ever you need at this end. But I will be on tour myself in the Selkirk Mountains, from Sept 10 - Sept 23.

dwmckee

I have ridden both and agree with most of the comments. Co is very monotonous but no cars. Maine is fantastic but as said you have to ride down a lot of peninsulas to have a view and that way you never make any distance. We did Erie canal last year and it had the benefits of being mostly off road with lots of towns and variety as well as lots of camping and places to stay or eat. I also rode across vt and Maine finishing at Orrs island and suspect this might give you a better trip in Maine. You could follow the adventure cycling northern tier route to make planning easy too. If you do go for GAP you can use Amtrak to shuttle which parallels the trail. I think Amtrak started roll un roll off service this year, or at least they planned to.

macaroni steve

Interesting. What would the ride from Portland to Bar Harbor be like? A loop Portland > Bar Harbor > Portland would be ideal. Would that be a nice ride?

Steve B.

Probably not much fun if you're on US 1, which is the route most tourists take instead of using I95 to Bangor and then down. Thus you fight traffic somewhat and not much of it is along the water, excepting Rockport/Camden and north along Penobscot Bay.

Have you considered the P'Tit Train du Nord, the 120m long rail trail north of Montreal ?. You can do the RT then loop back on local roads. Nice time of year to be up there. https://www.out-there.com/pt-train.htm

SB

raybo

It took me 4 days of 45 miles/days to ride from Acadia NP (Bar Harbor) to Gorham, which is just north of Portland.

You don't mention daily mileage, so this may not work for you, but if you started in Augusta and rode to Belfast (60 miles), then Bar Harbor (70 miles), spent a extra night in a campground in Acadia NP (they have hiker-biker sites there, I believe), then rode back to Augusta (another 2 days), you would have a nice 5 day ride with one day for hanging out in Acadia/Bar Harbor.

You could likely find different routes for going and coming though, they would be going over the same basic terrain.

Ray

Steve B.

And as add-on to Raybo's suggestion, Acadia/Bar Harbor is a great destination. You could kill an entire day and +40 miles just on the carriage roads, then another day on the loop road and local routes.

SB

AlanSmithee

I just did the GAP / C&O trail this past week with some friends. It took us 6 days to complete, averaging about 55 miles/day.

We started on the GAP at Homestead in Pittsburgh and made it to Cumberland on the morning of our third day, then continued on the C&O Canal Path for three more days before finishing up in Washington DC.

The GAP trail is relatively flat and smooth (although there is a gentle but continuous 50-mile uphill climb from Connellsville to the Continental Divide); the C&O trail got pretty rough at times, and there was a 5-mile detour on hilly county roads just North of Sharpsburg to get around a washed-out portion of the trail.

Both trails could get a little monotonous at times with a "hall of trees" feeling. That said, both also had some spectacular highlights: on the GAP, there was Ohiopyle, viaducts, tunnels, the Continental Divide near Frostburg; the C&O was steeped in history (Antietam Battlefield, Paw Paw tunnel, many locks and canal houses) and passed through some great old towns (Cumberland, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry). The fact that we didn't have to contend with motorized traffic also added to our enjoyment.

I highly recommend the full trip, but if given only four days I would start at Cumberland and take the C&O path to Washington DC - IMHO, there's more to see.

VT_Speed_TR

The thing with the Maine routes are they are completely different then say the Oregon coast. You really aren't able to see views except every now and then. If you're thinking along the line of the west coast, not going to happen in Maine.

I'm headed to Maine in mid/late Sept for a four day weekend tour, but I'm heading far north to see moose and enjoy the mountains without all the crowds. basicly Bethel, up to Rangeley, over to New Hampshire then back to Bethel. Lots of dirt/gravel back roads.

I'd plan carefully we you want to ride the coast before Labor Day be cause of traffic and accomdations.