Mad River Valley Recreation Path - 4.5 Miles.
* Tour Difficulty: 2
Terrain and Road Conditions:
This route is quite short. It is flat on the recreation path,
and flat to gently rolling on the road portion. The recreation
path is mostly a dirt track, but may be sandy, grassy or gravely
in places and is not suitable for "skinny tires." Access
to the recreation path is provided by an easement granted through
the generosity of the landowner and the path is maintained by
a network of local volunteers (The Mad River Path Association).
Please respect all posted rules and STAY ON THE PATH. Also ride
with caution and at prudent speed as the path receives considerable
pedestrian use by dog walkers, families with small children and others.
The road sections of this loop are dirt, with the exception of a very short
section of Tremblay Road which is paved.
Tour Highlights :
This loop will take you along the banks of the beautiful
Mad River, past farm fields,
swimming holes, wetlands, under a covered bridge. and through
flood plain forests, offering views of the surrounding mountains
all along the way.
Route Description:
Park at the Recreation Path parking lot on the west side of the Meadow Road Bridge.
Turn right out of the lot back onto Meadow Road, cross the bridge and then take an immediate, hard right just after the bridge, onto the path.
The path more or less follows the course of the river for about 1.5 miles before branching off to the east. It is well marked the entire way. At about the 2-mile mark, the path will deposit you onto Tremblay Road.
Turn left onto Tremblay Road. A short climb will bring you to the intersection of North Road where you will turn left again.
Stay on North Road for about 2 rolling miles before reaching the intersection of Meadow Road at the bottom of a hill, shortly after passing a dairy farm.
Turn left onto Meadow Road and ride back to the parking lot.
Note: If you would like to avoid automobile traffic altogether, simply turn around and retrace your steps on the recreation path after reaching Tremblay Road.
* Difficulty is based on a scale of 1 (Easy - Family Friendly) to 10 (Very Difficult - Experience is Advised).
We suggest reading the route description to figure out if this tour is right for you.
