Benefits of Trails

https://vtdigger.org/2025/04/21/cross-vermont-trail-expands-into-nearby-communities-with-connector-to-lamoille-valley-rail-trail/

“Eventually, the idea is that we’re all connected — and not just by car,” said Michael Thomas, a founding member of the Cross Vermont Trail Association.

VT Digger

Imagine a commute without the worry of traffic jams, potholes or detours, a path to town that’s nearby, maintained and linked to routes just like it all over the state.

That’s the Cross Vermont Trail Association’s vision — to create a web of trails for bikers and walkers to have easy access and safe travels between north-central Vermont towns.

VT Digger

A new multiday mountain bike trail opened this summer in central Vermont — the culmination of almost a decade of work by myriad organizations and volunteers.

The ‘Heart of the Greens’ loop runs up to Chittenden Brook Hut in the Green Mountain National Forest as well as through downtown Rochester and Pittsfield. The adaptive trail comes in at just under 39 miles total with around 6,000 feet of vertical gain and loss — if you decide to ride (or hike) it in full.

But the new multiuse trail is just the first piece of the Velomont: a long-distance mountain bike trail that is expected to run 485 miles from Massachusetts to the Canadian border, crisscrossing Vermont and linking together existing mountain bike networks.