Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Anticipating the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

Photo credit: Google Maps
Our little state of Vermont was named #2 as the healthiest state in the country. We are an outdoorsy population, have a world class teaching hospital, and a young population—albeit helped by a high concentration of college students—plus we're only a few hours away from major U.S.cities, Montreal included.

Skiing, water sports, and cycling attracts tourists. Bicycle tourism, especially, is growing. I expect broad support for Vermont's newest long distance pathway: the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, can't be far behind.

Photo credit: Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition
Long anticipated—and still a few years from completion—the 96 mile trail will connect Swanton in western Vermont to Saint Johnsbury in the east, making a virtually flat cross-state option. That's something to celebrate. The Green Mountains run North to South the entire length of the state—an imposing barrier to cyclists. The LVRT (Lamoille Valley Rail Trail) traverses small towns, through covered bridges, all on rail road grade surface.

A few sections are already complete. VAST (Vermont Area Snow Travelers) manages the LVRT and currently uses trail sections in winter. With cyclists pedaling it other times of the year, it can become a year-round playground.

1 comment:

  1. Good to see new rails-to-trails in the works. That's a good promo video on that first site.

    ReplyDelete

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