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Burlington, Vermont

Always Wear A Helmet

VERMONT
Burlington Bike Path
(Outdoor Explorer, May - June 2000)

All seven miles of the Burlington Bike Path lie within the limits of the state's largest city, but it would be misleading to think of it as an urban trail. We're talking Vermont here: land of rolling green mountains, dairy cows and fertile farmland. This gem of a path hugs the eastern shore of Lake Champlain as the Adirondack Mountains peer over from the New York side. The Central Vermont Railroad built the line, and the first train arrived in Burlington in December 1849. Within 20 years, the city had become the nation's third largest lumber port, behind Chicago and Albany. Although the lumber business had declined by the early 1900s, the railroad thrived well into the 20th century.

Oakledge Park, the trail's starting point on the southeastern side, is one of many spots along the paved route where you'll find small beaches and picnic areas. At Roundhouse Point, you'll start to see sailboats tacking across Champlain. North Beach, the trail's midpoint, is a good place to picnic on the rocky shore. (One of the best features of the Burlington Bike Path is that you're always within a block or two of a deli if you need food or drink.) The next mile is a quiet ride through a forest of maples, oaks and willows. Leddy Park is another fine place to stop; the path then trails off into a residential neighborhood, but less than a mile later Champlain reappears for the remainder of the trip: more sailboats, mountains and a whole lot of lake. For more information, call the Burlington Department of Parks and Recreation (802) 865-7247.

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Excerpt from Health magazine, March 2000, article entitled "America's 10 Fittest Cities"

Burlington, VT
Attitude - Go ahead and enjoy the famous local ice cream - you'll work it off later. Signs of Success - A shoreline path on Lake Champlain bustles daily with cyclists, walkers, runners, and skaters, while sailors and kayakers take to the water. For longer journeys, a 350-mile path loops around the lake and connects to a scenic network that reaches into Quebec. And the setting in the Green Mountains offers up plenty of nearby hiking, biking and alpine skiing. No Joke - Qualified citizens can take aerobics and yoga on the house at local health clubs.

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I "discovered" this area a couple of years ago and returned again last year. I camp on route 7 at the Dutch Mill campground (you can't miss it; the Dutch Mill restaurant is a well-known landmark and serves excellent steaks), just outside of Burlington in Shelburne, which is about two miles from the Shelburne Museum, the Morgan Horse Museum and Vermont Teddy Bear Company. If you're looking to go into town for a shopping expedition and don't want to drive, the bus stop is right next to the campground. Burlington's buses are outfitted with bike racks on the front of the buses so if you get tired and don't want to bicycle back, put your bike on the rack (no extra charge for bike, but you have to put it on and take it off yourself) and hop on the bus. I usually bicycle into town from the campground early morning when traffic isn't too bad (prior to the commuters' rush). Cycling back on Route 7 later in the day when there's a lot of traffic can be tricky since for a couple of miles on the outskirts of the city there's no shoulder and not much of a sidewalk. If you take a left on Swift Street at Denny's just after the entrance to I-89 on Route 7, then a right onto Spear or Dorset Street, you can ride a much more leisurely and safe route back to the campground (take a right at Webster Street, just pass the golf course). The city of Burlington itself is well worth a visit. It's built on a hill which rises from the shores of Lake Champlain. Burlington has been named as one of the top 10 cities in the country. There are seven colleges located in and around Burlington, so it's an upbeat city with lots going on.

Click on Burlington area photos to see what's doing in this area.

Click on Shelburne Museum area for photos of Shelburne Museum, Vermont Teddy Bear, the Morgan Horse Museum and Shelburne Center.

Shelburne – Hinesburg

(25 Bicycle Tours in Vermont - John S. Freidin)

Easy-to-moderate terrain, 18.5 miles

This tour offers an opportunity to combine a visit to one of the nation’s greatest collections of American folk art with a short, delightfully pastoral ride in the Champlain Valley. Being open and mostly flat, the terrain not only affords panoramic views but makes most of the bicycling easy. Although approximately one-quarter of Vermont’s 548,000 residents live within twenty-five miles of here, the route uses roads with little traffic. Shelburne, where the tour begins, has rightly acquired nationwide fame for its extraordinary museum. The village itself, shaded by sugar maples and elms, boasts a variety of charming shops selling antiques, woodenware, crafts, foods, and country kitchenware.

0.0	From the blinker on US 7 in Shelburne, follow Mt. Philo Road south so you pass the Shelburne Country Store on your left.
		If you have a half-day either before you begin cycling or afterwards, try to spend it at the Shelburne Museum. Nowhere in Vermont and few places in the United States display a finer or more varied collection of Americana. Founded in 1947 by Electra Havemeyer Webb, the Shelburne Museum consists of thirty-five buildings and the S.S. Ticonderoga, the last vertical beam passenger and freight sidewheeler remaining intact in this country. Spread over one hundred beautifully groomed and gardened acres on the west side of US 7, a quarter-mile south of the light at Mt. Philo Road, the museum is open daily from mid-May to mid-October, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is charged. * Please note comments and photos at the end of this article
		The museum reflects the electric taste of its founder, who began collection American craft and folk art before its artistic merit was widely recognized. Many of the buildings are important historical artifacts themselves and were dismantled and moved to Shelburne piece by piece. Four examples are: Prentice House (1733, Hadley, Massachusetts), a salt-box outfitted with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture, delftware, and stumpwork embroidery; the Shelburne Railroad Station (1890), an example of Victorian architecture now filled with railroading memorabilia and beside which are parked a ten-wheel steam locomotive and an opulent private railroad car; a stage coach inn (c. 1783, from nearby Charlotte), now housing sculptured folk art, including many cigar store Indians, trade signs, and weathervanes, and Dorset House (c. 1840, East Dorset, Vermont) where Audubon prints, Joel Barber watercolors, and one thousand waterfowl decoys are displayed. Among many other things, the museum contains a 525-foot-long scale model of a circus parade and two galleries of important paintings. The Webb Gallery features American primitive and academic works by Edward Hicks, Erastus Salisbury Field, Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, and Albert Bierstadt among others. At the Electra Havemeyer Webb Building, in Georgian paneled rooms removed from Mrs. Webb’s magnificent New York apartment, hang two paintings by Rembrandt and several by Monet as well as works of Manet, Whistler, Goya, Mary Cassatt, and Degas. The museum also has a cafeteria and picnic area. Should you wish to buy food to carry while you are bicycling, stop by Harrington’s, which sells its own smoked meats and Vermont cheeses, or the Shelburne Country Store. Harrington’s faces US 7 across form the Shelburne Museum, the Country Store is at the intersection of Mt. Philo Road and US 7.
0.7	At the Stop Sign, go STRAIGHT across the intersection and ride south on Mt. Philo Road.
		From Mt. Philo Road, if the day is clear, you can make out the distinctive shape of Camel’s Hump (el. 4,083 feet), Vermont’s fourth tallest mountain, and also Mount Mansfield (el. 4,393 feet), the tallest. Both rise in the east to your left. To your right you can glimpse the Adirondak Mountains at one or two points if you look carefully.
4.6	At the Stop Sign, turn LEFT onto Hindsburg Road.
		During the next six miles the road rolls over several small hills, providing roughly equal amounts of short climbs and descents. This is the most difficult part of the ride.
6.4	At the blinker in East Charlotte, go STRAIGHT toward Hinesburg.
		In about three and a half miles, as you turn a ninety-degree curve to the left, you may notice some peculiar cattle grazing in a small pasture by the road. These animals with reddish brown hair and long horns that can measure three feet in width are Scotch Highland Beef cattle.
10.8	At the Stop Sign in Hinesburg, turn LEFT onto Route 116 North toward Richmond.
		Hinesburg is the last place you can buy food. There are a couple of good grocery stores, but I enjoy Arthur’s Deli most. From this Stop Sign, turn right and ride a tenth mile south on Route 116. You’ll find Arthur’s Deli on your left, where 116 curves to the left. Be very careful crossing the road. Arthur, an emigrant New Yorker and ex-potter of note, now makes homemade soups, salads, sandwiches, pizza, and pastries. His deli is open seven days a week.
11.8	At the Traffic Light, turn LEFT onto the unsigned road away from Champlain Valley Union High School.
		Between 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on school days, traffic between here and Shelburne can be bothersome.
15.8	At the ninety-degree bend in the road, follow the main road to the RIGHT.
16.3	At the Stop Sign, turn LEFT onto Irish Hill Road.
17.3	At the crossroad, go STRAIGHT to continue on Irish Hill Road.
18.0	At the Stop Sign, turn RIGHT onto Mt. Philo Road.
18.5	You are now back in Shelburne where you began.
		If you would like to go swimming, go straight at the Traffic Light across US 7 onto Harbor Road. Then follow Harbor Road four miles to Shelburne Point on Lake Champlain, where you can swim off the rocks. Just after crossing US 7 you pass the Shelburne Craft School Shop, which sells weavings, woodwork, pottery, stained glass, graphics, and jewelry made by its students and staff.
Bicycle Repair Services:
	Earl’s Schwinn Cyclery, 2500 Willston Road, South Burlington, VT (802-864-9197 and 864-6190) Endurance Sports, 100 Main Street, Burlington, VT (802-865-3387) Pagocycle, 227 Main Street, Burlington, VT (802-864-6878) The Ski Rack Bike Shop, 81 Main Street, Burlington, VT (802-658-3313) Vermont Bicycling Touring, Monkton Road, Bristol, VT (802-453-4811) Winooski Bicycle Shop, 26 Main Street, Winooski, VT (802-655-3233)

The Vermont Wildflower Farm
Route 7
Charlotte, Vermont 05445
(802) 985-9455
Free Seed Catalog - call or write

Five miles south of the Shelburne Museum on U.S. Route 7 in Charlotte, Vermont, between Burlington and Middlebury.

Natural gardens - 6 acres of wildflowers from forest glade to bright flowery fields. Pathways are lined with easy-to-understand plaques that explain herbal histories, romantic legends and other fascinating facts about the flowers. (admission for theater show and gardens) - no charge for gift shop, seed shop and book shop. Open 10 - 5, early May though late October.

This is a nice bike ride from Burlington along Route 7. On Sundays, there's a good flea market in Charlotte, VT, about a mile south of the wildflower farm.