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Easy Rides:
1. Hanover, NH-East Thetford, VT
2. Quechee, VT-Woodstock, VT
3. Northern Railtrail
4. Corinth and Topsham
Buy the book, Adventures in Paradise, for over 30 more
rides!
Quechee, VT-Woodstock, VT
Woodstock-Quechee Gorge and return. 17 miles, easy,scenic.
Numbered cues below refer to MAP. Click here. (PDF)
After the Woodstock to White River railroad sounded its last
whistle in 1933, Route 4 was quickly removed to its roadbed,
leaving an “old road” behind. And what a friendly old road
it is, probably the most popular bicycle route in the area
for visitors today. Although the suggested route is to
Quechee Gorge from Woodstock, direction doesn’t matter.
Note: Without shoulders US Rt. 4 between Woodstock
and Quechee IS TO BE AVOIDED AT ALL TIMES. The short
stretch between the gorge and the blinker lights at Quechee
Village offers two-foot shoulders where cyclists can feel
somewhat comfortable.
1. Billings Farm, a must see. Top-drawer interpretation
of how the gentry idealized farming before WWI. National
Park Service tours of the adjacent mansion and estate are
equally first rate.
2. Daniel Taft dammed the river for mills around 1800; also
built most of the period homes in the village. Later, town
lines were rearranged so that the entire covered bridge sits
in Taftsville (Woodstock) and none in Quechee (Hartford).
3. Quechee Lakes second-home development, once sued by
Conn. Consumer affairs for misrepresenting “lakes” when
there was only one (and that one was artificial). Plastic
bottom keeps water in.
4. Simon Pearce glass works, another must. See display of
period dynamo in lower levels. Covered bridge adjacent is
ordinary steel structure with a 1960s hat on it.
5. Path from overlook on east end of bridge leads down into
mouth of the gorge. Little-known path on west side leads
upstream to falls and mill site, connects to lavish avian
display at Vermont Institute of Natural Science complex.
Copyright: Dick Mackay, 2007
Website Creator: Abraham Clayman
Website maintained by RLG.