June 10, 2023
Drove back to Burlington, VT to do the rest of the Island Line Trail. This 14-mile trail is actually two bike paths put together: the Burlington Greenway starting at Oakledge Park and the Colchester Causeway until Martin Road on South Hero Island.
I did the very first part of this trail the day I finished the Cross-VT Trail. The Island Line Trail begins where Cross-VT ends, and I walked on it toward where I had left my car in downtown Burlington. Therefore, I began this hike today at the point where I had previously left the trail.
This is a lovely bike path that is heavily used by a lot of polite locals on bikes and rollerblades. Lots of joggers and casual walkers, too. The path goes right by the lakefront, so one sees beautiful views of the Adirondacks across the water, and you pass the Vermont Railway, parks where concerts are held, restaurants, and a UVM science facility. After the main area of Burlington, there are trailside workout stations, followed by residential areas with beautiful trees and private beaches. Eventually you need to go down a few streets before crossing the Colchester Bog area (two giant turtles happily dug up a bunch of dirt by the trail as I passed) and heading out onto the causeway, a miles-long strip of land extending into Lake Champlain and toward a 200-foot gap that requires a short trip on a bike ferry to cross. While on that causeway and headed north, you’ll have the Adirondacks and NY across the water to your left, and the Green Mountains and VT across the water to your right. Once over the gap, you continue about two miles to a road on South Hero Island where the bike route continues but the official Island Line Trail ends.
There are no Ubers on South Hero Island, so I did my hike, turned around and walked five miles back across the causeway and closer to Burlington. Total mileage today was somewhere around 15-ish including the doubling back.
The bike ferry is seasonal. It just reopened, and for now it is weekends-only. See localmotion.org for details. And donate when you ride! Suggested amount is $5 each way.
