Cycling Vermont's Route 100

This bike camping tour took us from the hill towns of western Masschusetts to Newport Vermont on the Quebec border on one of the "must do" bike rides in New England, Vermont Route 100.

Start: Worthington MA :We drove to Worthington, MA and stayed for the night at the very nice Worthington Inn on Rt. 143 just a block away from the center of town.   Rt. 100 actually starts in Readsboro VT just north of the Berkshires, but this gave us a chance to ride through the isolated hill towns between the touristy Berkshires and the more populated Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Worthington is one of the highest communities in the state at 1433 ft.

Day 1: Worthington MA to Wilmington VT:  In the morning we took Rt. 143 a short distance to Old Cummington Rd.  That connected us to a quiet section isolated section of Rt. 112, and a great downhill ride to the Cummington General Store at the intersection of Rt. 112 and Rt. 9. From there, you can take Plainfield Rd. to connect to Rt. 116 in Plainfield, then continue north, and take Rt. 8A on to Charlemont, where we got lunch.  Rt. 8a climbs out of town along a nice mountain stream, eventually connecting to Rt. 112 and then Rt. 100 in Jacksonville VT. It's a short ride from there toWilmington, a popular ski town near Mount Snow.  We stayed at the Viking Motel, which was inexpensive but you can certainly find better in this town. Today's ride was about 45 miles. 
Day 1 map

Alternative Day 1 start:  To do all of route 100, begin this tour in North Adams MA. From there you can ride up Rt. 8 through Clarksburg into Vermont, at which point Rt. 100 starts and joins Rt. 8 for 7.7 miles to Heartwellville. Rt. 8 then turns left, and continue on Rt. 100 through Readsboro. At 22 miles from the Rt. 100 start you will reach Jacksonville. Continue on Rt. 100 from here to Wilmington, a total of 26 miles from the Rt. 100 south starting point. We recommend Clarksburg State Forest (27 mile ride) for camping, and Jae's Inn in North Adams (31 mile ride) for lodging.

Day 2:Wilmington VT to Ludlow VT:   Today Route 100 took us from Wilmington to Ludlow VT, a quiet but attractive small community where we found clean and affordable lodging at the Ludlow Village Inn .  The toughest part of today's ride was the 1000 ft.,10% grade climb that went on for two miles at Terrible Mountain Traffic in this section of Rt. 100 is very light, so on the awesome fast downhills, we felt comfortable moving out into the road, away from the rougher paved edges. Today's ride was 55 miles. Day 2 map

Day 3: Ludlow VT to Waitsfield VT:  Today's ride was one of the most beautiful in Vermont. It took us up an enjoyable climb in the Green Mountains through Moss Glenn Falls., and a worthwhile detour on old Rt. 100 into charming Warren.We continued  to Waitsfield at the intersection of Route 100 and Rt. 17. You'll find a lot of inns on Rt. 17 as it ascends to the 2356' pass called Appalachian Gap near Mad River Glen ski area. Today's ride was 65 miles.  Day 3 map

Day 4: Waitsfield VT to Newport VT:  Today was a long day with a great mix of things to do. There are a lot of good downhill stretches on the way toWaterbury , where our first stop for the day was a visit to the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory. Before we reached Stowe, we climbed the steep hill to the Van Trapp Resort, and then a great descent into the trendy downtown. We found Route 100 from Stowe to Morrisville quite heavy with traffic, so we took Old Stagecoach road, which has killer climbs but very little traffic. Morrisville didn't offer much to see, and the heavy traffic continued for a while. As we continued north the countryside opened up with marvelous vistas, long easy climb stretches, and much less traffic. It was as much fun to ride as it was beautiful. There are very few stores and even less inns in this area. One option is to leave Rt. 100 in Troy and head up Rt. 101 to North Troy and the Canadian border. We made it to Newport , and found it to be a real gem.We stayed at the Newport City Motel, which despite its dated appearance is clean and run very professionally.   Don't miss dinner at Lago Trattoria and lunch at the Newport Natural Foods and Bakery.   Today's ride was 72 miles.  Day 4 map

Description by Gordon Harris, www.bikenewengland.com

Cycling Routes throughout Vermont

North central Vermont
(Thanks to Charles River Wheelmen)

Middlebury/Appalachian Gaps Route
Brandon/Appalachian Gaps Route
Duxbury and Back Route
Duxbury/Appalachian Gap
The Mad King Challenge
Mad River Century
Middlebury Century Route
Northfield Rides - Long - 53 Miles
Northfield Rides - Short - 39 Miles
Smuggler's Notch Century
Duxbury Metric Century
Stowe and Back Route
Bristol-Middlebury Ride

Central Vermont
(Thanks to the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce)

Berlin Pond Loop 5 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
Calais Historic Hamlets About 20 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
Mad River Valley Recreation Path 4.5 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
Mad River Tour Overview 16.3 Miles (5.7 Mile Option). Print Friendly pdf file.
Montpelier - East Montpelier 16.5 Miles (9.2 Mile Option). Print Friendly pdf file.
Northfield Tour 12.3 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
The Lakes Tour 7 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
Waterbury-Stowe 22 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.
Websterville Loop 13.7 Miles. Print Friendly pdf file.

Northwestern Vermont
(Thanks to Vermont Bike-Ped)

Beebe Spur (4 miles)
Back Roads of Royalton and Brandon (20 miles)
Brandon Lollipop (20-30 miles)
Burlington Loop (10 miles)
Mad River Scenic Byway
Sheldon Junction/Enosburg Falls Loop (40 miles)

Northeast Kingdom
(Thanks to Northern Vermont Development Association)

Around the block
East-west 61
Hardwick loop
Hardwick-Irasburg
Island Pond loop
Lunenberg
Lyndonville 40 mile ride
Lyndonville Loop
St. Johnsbury
Troy 21 mile ride
Troy-Canaan 80 mile ride
Westfield-Big Falls loop

Southwestern Vermont
(Thanks to the Bennington Bicycle Club)

Cossayuna Lake
Arlington - Cambridge Loop
Rupert - Salem Loop
North Adams - Stamford - Searsburg Loop
Petersburg - Berlin - Green Hollow Loop
Bennington - Stephentown - Williamstown - Petersburgh - Bennington Loop
Bennington - Searsburg - Jacksonville - Wilmington Loop
Bennington-Manchester-Londonderry-Wilmington-Bennington Loop
Bennington-Manchester-Bromley-Wilmington-Bennington Loop
Bennington-Lake St Catherine-Salem-Bennington Loop
Bennington-Searsburg-Greylock-Petersburg Loop
Two Legs of LAMB (Brandon/Middlebury Gaps)
Bennington/Searsburg/Readsboro/Kingsley Rd/No Adams/Bennington

Southeastern Vermont
(Thanks to Windham Regional Commission)

Brattleboro area cycling suitability map  Brattleboro area
Cycling suitability map for roads north of Brattleboro .  Putney, Bellows Falls, Townshend, etc. 
LLegend for two suitability maps

Descriptions, cue sheets and maps for all Bike New England tours and our past cycling trips throughout New England and Quebec are available with online access and on one disk. Order below for  high resolution PDF cue sheets and maps from the Berkshires, the Massachusetts North Shore, Cape Cod, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Adirondacks, Lake Champlain and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, plus inn and campground information. View description page and order options.