Need help finding roads and camp grounds

[jtryz]

New to MA and looking to take a 3-4 days to do a ride to check it all out. I am looking to venture into NH, Maine and VT but need some nice roads, twisties, views and camp areas i can use. If you have some sites or personal experiences you want to share with me, that would be great. Thanks

anyone wann to meet as well i am looking to ride around the first week of Aug

[Garandman]

Do you have a GPS? Taking a three day trip or just want three day trips?

[JohnCVermont]

Welcome to Vermont !

I am sure that others, including the wisest & coolest of the VT riders, will be chiming in shortly... but... in the meantime, take my comments with a shaker of salt...

a nice list of VT & NY rides below (shout out to those Bennington Bash folks & MarkBTV 's signature for putting me onto this list), well documented. originating in Bennington, VT in support the Triumph Bennington Bash. I will refrain from giving too much detail & allow the most experienced rider to comment ... but I am very fond of the rides that hit "The Gaps" and the Adirondacks has some great riding.

http://www.armchaircommando.org/benn...ash/Rides.html

Generally, on a given day with some hours of free time, I try to hit Smuggler's Notch, Appalachian Gap, Lincoln Gap (can be a little treacherous due to poor road & traffic) & Middlebury Gap (more of the various gaps in the central Green Mountains, i.e. Brandon & Rochester Gaps, Hazen's Notch further north.. etc) ...since I am not strapping into a head-down-zoom-rocket for some knee-scrapping-canyon-carving fun, the pavement conditions, while important for safety & comfort, don't factor into my route selection criteria as heavily as for others. (...I also do a fair amount of quality dirt roads in my usual lazy-pokey fashion)

Generally pavement conditions are been fair to poor this year, route 15 between Jeffersonville & Johnson was terrible. I haven't been out for a few weeks due to work overload (which ends tomorrow night). I will be heading back out on the VT roads starting Sunday.

I haven't camped around Vermont that often so I hope others will comment but I am planning on visiting each Vermont State Park this year. So, I will be getting around Vermont this summer & fall....but I can usually recommend good coffee stops & brewery tours. (After the riding is finished of course)

If I discover anything cool to see or something to avoid, I will post it. Make sure your plans include being in the Burlington VT area on Tuesday 5p-8p.

Cheers!

[jtryz]

Thanks so much, so far great info to get me started.
This may help, if anyone is not sure what I am looking for.

First let me tell you I am not 100% throttle crazy. I do enjoy fast pace with the occasional, " O SHIT" Moments, but also enjoy stopping and taking in the scenery. I like it all. The only thing I hate is stopping every 20 miles to talk... lol
I like to ride

I would like to explore the NE take is a camp ground or two to save some cash but am open to some great ideas. I would rather hear from the locals what to do's and not to do's so that I can have a fun experience. Even though getting lost and doing my own thing is also exciting, I do not want to waste a whole day on crummy roads when there may be some hot stuff in the area.
My plan was to hit NH to white mountian then cruz on up into Maine and just mabey go into Canada to just say I did.

Over all just need to take some time so what better way then to learn my new home.....

I wouls love to see some water falls, Moose, and and what ever else I can find.

[ranette]

Gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole in Stowe called Bingham Falls. Very close to the previously mentioned Smugglers Notch.

[JohnCVermont]

A good stop for coffee, bathroom break, and general refresher is the The Village Store at Warren, VT ... just off Route 100, near "The Gaps" on the way to "The Notch" ...

After going through Smuggler's Notch, I will often stop at Trapp Family Lodge's Deli/bakery for a coffee & breakfast snackage, know they are open 7 days a week at 7am. I am sure that the Stowe Mountain Road has other interesting coffee shops & stops.

Hero's Welcome in North Hero is a nice coffee stop when I am riding up through the Vermont's Lake Champlain Islands ..

After going through Appalachian Gap via west on Rt. 17, I will often pop over to Bristol & stop into the Bristol Bakery for... coffee, bio break, & baked goods ...or... I hit the Gore Rd/Hanksville-Hunnington Road off of Rt. 17 just a few miles west of the AppaGap, take it into Richmond, stop in at the On The Rise Bakery... for coffee & bread ...or a slice of pizza.

Morrisville ... if I need to stop & chill, the Bee's Knees...for...you guessed, coffee & snacks.

I believe you can sense a pattern here.... ... I will add URLs with details in this post in the very near future.

Heroes Welcome --> http://heroswelcome.com/
The Village Store at Warren --> http://www.warrenstore.com/
Bristol Bakery --> http://www.bristolbakeryandcafe.com/
Bee's Knees --> http://www.thebeesknees-vt.com/
On the Rise Bakery --> http://www.ontherisebakery.net/

[jtryz]

more great info. i am taking everything all have said and trying to add in to the routes. coooool and thanks

[typeone]

Coleman State Park on Little Diamond Pond in northern NH is a great spot. plenty of roads to tie together and suuuuuper peaceful up there.

on the closer end, Macedonia Brook State Park in Kent, CT is a nice little campground near TONS of sweet roads and good eats.

[Garandman]

Here's one loop for you.

[JohnCVermont]

For Father's Day today... I did a little "Loop Around the Kingdom" A goal for riding this summer was to have coffee in Beecher Falls, VT. Well, I made it but there was no place to have coffee. ...lol... but it was a great ride. Left at 7:15am with great weather & light traffic, returned back home by 6pm. (some breaks & side trips) Link to a trip photo album Not a lot of pictures because we were riding a lot to get where we wanted to go, but there were some great vistas to behold, etc. Stopping would have added an hour+ to an already long day.

The google maps route shows only 270 miles but my odometer read 300 for the trip because of the side trip up Burke Mt. & some dirt & logging road exploration around Beecher Falls, VT.

http://goo.gl/maps/Ru8Z

Rt 109, 58, 102, & 114 were great today. This loop has two stretches of dirt roads as "shortcuts" which may not appeal to some. Theses were decent quality dirt roads but not suitable for the turn & burn crowd.

Surprise of the day : The Burke Mountain Toll Road. We were able to ride to the top of Burke Mt. on a narrow but decently paved road. Great twisty ride (but low speeds) ride up to the very top with great view...including a small & not your average tourist friendly lookout tower. There is a small fee to use the Toll Road but there wasn't an attendant yesterday but there was a self-service payment box at the gate. Cars & motorcycles are permitted.

Not even quite the top of Burke Mtn... but a good vista for a bike shot..




Doesn't anyone know why you can't get breakfast after 11am on a Sunday in the Northeast Kingdom? (we tried three different places)