My wife, 2 year old, and myself enjoyed this trail a lot . Other than some Sandy areas it is a very easy ride for mountain bikes. The bridges are very cool to ride over and see the different types. We went on a 80° day, but with plenty of shade we did not get very hot. Had a tire blow out after first covered bridge, packed a spare so no problem. Along the way we met a lot of nice people. Both ATV and bicycling. All ATV ers were very considerate to allow us to move off to side of trail when passing by. Most stopped to ask us how the trail was and if we were enjoying ourselfs. My family will be coming here again.

A beautiful trail ruined by ATVers. Very dusty when dry and the ATVs fly by you with no trail etiquette. The trail is very soft in spots too. Not a good place to walk or ride a bike. A shame.

I can only recommend this trail to those Mt and Hybrid bikers who are prepared to deal with lots of soft sand. The reviews said the first 2 miles were soft sand torn up by the ATVs and Dirt Bikes, but about half of the rest of the trail was soft sand. The ATVs ignore private propeerty and love to make wheelies or what their efforts to tear up the trail are called. The stretches with firm surface were delightful and the views along the river wonderful. In the middle there is a section where the trail is very rocky for 100 yards or so and people ride on the dirt road along side the trail. The managers of this trail could learn from other trails how to improve signs at the trail heads, how to mark the mileage along the trail and how to solve the problem of soft sand tracks. The best signal for the end of the trail parking in Claremont is the sign for Old Newport Road. The small trail parking sign is easy to miss and the start of the trail in Newport is also not well marked. A contractor is re-constructing the RR covered bridges so it is good to walk thru those areas as long as the construction continues. The wonderful old mills in the town of Clarement are a sight to see after your bike trip. Youker 8/26/2010

Road the trail today and yes it does have some soft spots but with a cross-trail or mountain bike should be no problem. I averaged 8mph. Maybe late spring or early summer would be a better time to ride so as more moisture would be on the trail to keep it packed down. The shady places were harder packed than sunny spots. At one point you ride up to a parking lot and it appears as though the trail ends but if you keep going you will find that the trail drops down out of the parking lot and continues. If you follow the trail along side Washington St. you can also ride through part of the town and the trail picks up again. You will re-enter the woods and be able to ride to Pleasant St. It ends at Claremont building supplies. You can see some left over tracks if you cross the road and go into the parking lot of the building supply company. It is a multi-use trail and you will meet up with OHRV and dirt bilks. They were very courteous towards me by slowing down and not making dust. The trail follows the river for most of the trail. Plenty of places to stop and get wet if it is hot. Total length of the trail is 11.5 miles. Very scenic ride.

The trail guide mentions the sandy condition of the first part of the trail but not the fact that it has become 6-8 inches deep as the result of Heavy atv use. We gave up after the first 2 miles as at least 10 atv's and the dust that came with them drove us from the trail. The trail is so soft in places it's like riding in sand dunes. Nice location but not good for biking.

"We biked on this trail on October 5, 2003. It is one of the most scenic bike paths we have been on, but at the same time one of the worst riding paths we have ever been on. It is too soft in so many place to ride a bike on. It is used very heavily by ATVs and I'm sure they loosen up the path even more. We won't go here again until there is great improvement."

"This trail was beautiful, riding along the Sugar River. The conditions made it more difficult. It was very sandy in parts. The change from a harder surface to loose sand which continued especially from Newport to Kellyville made for a good workout."

"I have jogged about half of the trail, beginning at the Claremont end (from Chestnut Street), several times, whenever I visit my parents who live in Claremont. The trail surface is mostly packed cinders, good for biking or hiking or running, and there are some nice views of the river. I hated to have to turn around and head back, and I hope that the next time I'm there (Thanksgiving Day) I'll have time to run the entire length, just so I can see it all. I'm sorry for all the people who live near this trail and never experience it, but then again I like having it all to myself."

"I just did this trail from Newport to Claremont and back yesterday. It is as the description says very nice. I used my mountain bike on this trail, and the only slight drawback is the first 2 miles out of Newport heading west can be sandy in spots... enough that a couple of times by front wheel dug in enough to have to stop and restart. The rail surface does get better as you countinue on to Claremont.

The two great jewels on this trail as has been described are the two covered bridges... they are majestic, a lot longer than I expected and the height of these two bridges to accomadate locomotives, etc. is also majestic, and a lot different from your normal covered bridge.

Dogs! Coming from Newport, about 1 mile into the ride you will come to a road crossing with a repair garage on the left just after crossing the road.... there seems to be 3 dogs that hang out at that garage that like to give a bark and a somewhat lame chase... it was enough to just give them a loud ""HEY!"" to kind of ward them off... they came after me but really didn't seem to mean business.
The other ""dogs"" are two dogs in a yard that you will encounter at the point the rail trail runs on a road just above the river for about 1/2 mile. These 2 dogs are in a yard, but sure seems like if the gate was left open you could be in for a ""tour de france"" run! I just mention them so they won't startle you a whole lot.

Lastly, the trail runs downhill from Newport to Claremont, and the 1-1/2 miles in Newport (with the dogs too) are the least impressive, if you want an easy ride back and the most scenic part of the ride, I would start in Claremont... best place to park I think is the K-Mart parking lot on Route 103 about 2 miles east of downtown Claremont... ride your Bike east on 103 for about 1/2 mile (you might see some old RR ties right off the orad) until you see an orange gate on the right, this is a good place to jump on the trail.

Just a note, that this trail is open to ATV's and Motor bikes, I saw two ATV's on the trail and they were very polite and courteous, and one kid on a motorcycle who for some reason thinks it's the coolest thing in the world to pass someone on a dirt path going as fast and making as much noise as possible... some people lack common courtesey

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