Autumn is by far my favorite time of year. The cool mornings, warm afternoons, crisp air, and all the amazing colors of the leaves changing. The changing foliage makes every hike, bike ride, or drive a whole new experience each day. Peak color arrives at slightly different times each year but typically within a two week period. We’re just about hiking peak right now in the Monadnock Region. However you like to enjoy the outdoors, get out there and experience it anew this weekend. Revisit your favorite hike. Find a rail trail to walk or bike on. Bike some quiet country roads. Go apple picking. Take a driving tour of all the covered bridges in the area. All the experiences are even more pleasant at this time of year.
Tag: biking
Adventure of the Week – Bike the Sugar River Recreational Rail Trail
The Sugar River Rail Trail runs 9 miles from Newport, NH, to Claremont, NH, and passes through two railroad covered bridges. Start downtown historic Newport in the municipal parking lot. In less than a mile you are out of downtown and riding through rural areas. There are a couple fairly quiet road crossings on the first half of the trail and then you cross under route 11/103. Soon after, you come to the first of two taller than normal covered bridges designed for trains to pass through. The second bridge is less then a mile further down. The trail continues for a couple more miles into Claremont but it may be temporarily closed due to construction near the second bridge. Return the way you came for an 18 mile ride. The trail surface, in some areas, is softer dirt than many other trails making it best for bikes with wider tires. You can find a trial map at http://www.nhstateparks.org/explore/bureau-of-trails/sugar-river-recreational-trail.aspx.
Adventure of the Week – Bike the Norwottuck Rail Trail
Do you wish you would bike more? Don’t like climbing steep hills? Don’t like sharing the road with cars and trucks? Check out some rail trails. There are a lot of former railroad tracks turned multi-use trails around the country including many great trails throughout New England. Because they were designed for trains, you know they won’t be very steep. In most cases, you won’t find any motorized vehicles although some are open to ATVs. I enjoy the historic aspect knowing the trails have been used for a hundred or more years. Sometimes there are reminders of the rail line along the way – old depots, mile markers, and more.
One pleasant trail is the 11 mile Norwottuck Rail Trail from Northampton to Hadley, Amherst, and into Belchertown in Massachusetts. The surface of rail trails varies from trail to trail but the Norwottuck trail is nicely paved. This trail goes from in-town to passing along active farm fields, past the Hadley Mall and Amherst College and through wooded areas – a little of everything. There are even a couple places to stop for an ice cream along the way. Some sections of the trail (mostly near Northhampton) get a lot of use on sunny summer weekends. Because of the pavement and gentle elevation changes, you’ll find you can bike farther on this trail than on rougher trails for hilly roads.
You can find more information and a trail map at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/norwottuck-rail-trail.html.
Adventure of the Week – Biking the Carriage Roads at Acadia National Park
Sarah and I try to visit Acadia National Park about once a year and always bring our bikes. There are 45 miles of carriage roads around the park thanks to John D. Rockefeller Jr. You may even see a Rockefeller driving his carriage along the roads today. Most of the carriage roads are open to horses, horse-drawn carriages, bikes, and pedestrians while a few of the roads exclude bike use. The carriage roads are wide, well maintained, and well marked. Because they were designed for horse-drawn carriages, they are not too steep (of course “too steep” is a relative term). I have been on all but a couple miles of the roads walking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.
One of my favorite bike rides is around Witch Hole Pond starting from signpost 5 on Duck Brook Road. This area tends to be quieter than other parts of the park.
For a big multi-hour adventure, you can take the route I did with my cousins 10 years ago. We started at the visitor center, past Witch Hole Pond, down to Eagle Lake, on to Aunt Betty Pond, then climbed much of the way up Sargent Mountain to the highest point on the carriage roads and back to the visitor center. I believe that route took three to four hours including a couple rest stops to take in the views. We saw a young fox on the path that day and I have seen deer along the carriage roads many times.
You can find a map of the carriage roads on the Acadia National Park website at http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/upload/CRUMmap.pdf.