Find the top rated birding trails in Rutland, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Parked at the Troy depot heading south toward Fitzwilliam and encountered a huge deep puddle a short distance away, there was no way around it and I had to turn around. It had been really dry, surprised to see a puddle
I just went to Black Jack Crossing road. There is no parking. Where is someone parking a horse trailer to get on this side of the trail?
We started in Walpole at Blackjack Crossing. First few miles were tough! But the remaining 12 miles into Keene were great. Some great views and remnants of the railroad. Some beautiful cuts in the stone. Highly recommend!
My wife and I rode the Warren County Bikeway and connected to the Glens Falls Canal trail system on August 31, 2020. The trail meanders a bit through Glens Falls local streets, then we rode on Warren Street a couple of blocks to Shermantown Road and connected to the Feeder Canal Trail. The Feeder Canal trail is a hard packed dirt/stone dust trail that runs along the old canal system…takes you past some old manufacturing plants, working cement plants, etc. Very flat, easy pedaling, you don’t really need a mountain/trail bike. The route we took went around some old industrial areas, past the backyards of some neighborhoods, through some small downtowns. A good amount of shade all along the way. We ended up at the Five Combines park and turned around, so we roughly went 10 miles round trip on this section as well. This is a nice resource for local folks in this area. Definitely check out the Feeder Canal website as it details more about the trail including several different branches you can take for more miles. A nice quiet ride.
I rode the northern section today. Actually started near the Walpole bridge and rode some other snowmobile trails and some side roads to the junction with the rail trail, then on to Keene. Saw no one until I reached the dump. Trail was a lot of fun, but in much better shape south of the dump then to the north. Very slow grade, north of the dump it was great in places and pretty bumpy in others. I rode a basic mountain bike and had no trouble. Heard there was a bad section somewhere but never encountered anything that was really unrideable except one bad embankment. Trail was also easier to follow and more obvious the further south you went, multiple snowmobile crossings further north. This was the first time I tried this sort of thing and I had a very good time. I enjoyed the terrain and seeing where the remnants of the old line.
Parked at lot at ballfield at end of Depot Street in Boscawen. Go to very end of Depot Street and lot is on the right. Took trail for about 16 miles to town beach at Highland Lake on Channel Road. Slightly uphill all the way. Very few soft spots. In general all trail all packed gravel. Public beach also at Webster Lake ( about 13 miles from Depot St.).
August 2020
This short trail surprised me; it is better than you expect. Right along the Hudson River and the lock canal, the scenery is beautiful and the little village is charming. Definitely worth the visit.
Started at Depot Rd. in Westmoreland . Trail in fair condition. Some soft spots, some puddles and sticks but averaged 8 mph. For mile or two before Keene Transfer station trail in poor shape. Here it is like riding on bad, uneven cobblestones. Speed 4 mph (too fast for this bouncy ride). From Transfer station heading east trail in good to excellent condition. Ave speed around 14 mph. Trail for entire journey is gentle in slope in an area of wildly varying topography. Very impressive achievement for the people that built this many years ago. My bike has tires of 1.75" wide. This is bare minimum width for Transfer Station to west. Plenty wide for Transfer station to east.
Having ridden this trail in sections numerous times, and having ridden the entire length in a day last fall, It's my opinion that this is the finest rail trail for cycling purposes in NH.
In Merrimack county (Boscawen to Danbury) the dedication of the local friends group is evident. The trail is well maintained and the surface is excellent. From Grafton to Lebanon (Grafton county) the surface is trickier, with regular sandy spots and some exposed railroad ties. Despite this, the trail is still very ride-able in a gravel bike, and my wife had no issues in Merrimack county on a cruiser/townie bike.
We rode much of the trail on a tour from the MA/NH line area north of Winchendon, MA to Keene, NH. It's a beautiful, relatively flat route with some great views though high water source areas, ponds and some views of Mt Manodnock then descends along the river into Keene. We were on semi-loaded touring bikes, so jumped off on roads when they paralleled the trail since the surface is a little bumpy. Hybrid or MTB's (as recommend) would be more comfortable, but for those on touring bikes, the direct route through some road less areas is well worth it.
The trail was an easy and serene bike ride, we enjoyed it very much. Definitely recommend if you are in the area.
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