Janie Walker

Jun 11, 2023

Perfect bike path

This 14-mile trail is actually two bike paths put together: the Burlington Greenway starting at Oakledge Park and the Colchester Causeway until Martin Road on South Hero Island. This is a lovely bike path that is heavily used by a lot of polite locals on bikes and rollerblades. Lots of joggers and casual walkers, too. The path goes right by the lakefront, so one sees beautiful views of the Adirondacks across the water, and you pass the Vermont Railway, parks where concerts are held, restaurants, and a University of Vermont science facility. Leaving the main area of Burlington, there are trailside workout stations, followed by residential areas with beautiful trees and private beaches. Eventually you get to an area where you need to cautiously go down a few streets before crossing the Colchester Bog Natural area (two giant turtles were happily digging up a bunch of dirt by the trail as I passed) and heading out onto the causeway, a miles-long narrow strip of land extending into Lake Champlain and toward a 200-foot gap that requires a short trip on a bike ferry to cross. While on that causeway and headed north, you'll have the Adirondacks and New York across the water to your left, and the Green Mountains and Vermont across the water to your right. Once across the gap, you continue about two miles to a residential road on South Hero Island where the bike route continues but the official Island Line Trail ends. Note that the bike ferry is seasonal. See localmotion.org for details. And donate when you ride! Suggested amount is $5 each way. June 10, 2023