Travel: Cycling Burlington, Vermont’s Causeway Bike Trail

My husband and I recently traveled to visit family in Vermont, and brought along our gravel bikes. It was the height of leaf season (October 3-11), and Vermont has tons of great bike paths, rail trails, and quiet roads to explore. In our home area (Colorado) we mountain bike almost exclusively, but we took this trip as a chance to try some new two-wheeled adventures, starting with a fun half-day ride on the Burlington/Colchester Causeway Bike Trail. Here’s a map of the entire Island Line Trail, of which the Causeway Trail is a part.

Gear tips and general Burlington advice

If you need to pick up any bike gear or other outdoor items before your ride, Outdoor Gear Exchange at 37 Church Street in Burlington is a great source. We stopped off there for a pair of bike gloves, a spare tube, and some chain lube.

The Church Street area has tons of food options; we’re fans of Muddy Waters coffee at 184 Main Street and the Burlington Bagel Bakery at 93 Church Street. The City Market Co-Op, 82 South Winooski Ave. is a short walk from Church Street and has a full selection of food and drinks. If you’re looking for a place to have a “real meal” after the ride, we enjoyed the Skinny Pancake, a restaurant with mainly crepes but also other things, right by the lake front, 60 Lake Street in Burlington.

Downtown Burlington is pretty compact; for all-day parking options, check out the city’s parking website.

Pick up the trail in Burlington

If you’re looking for a mellow, beautiful bike ride from Burlington, the Causeway Bike Trail is an excellent option. We saw people on pretty much every imaginable type of bike: road bikes, e-bikes, cruisers, maybe a couple of mountain bikes, and lots of gravel bikes! I was glad to have wider gravel tires, but a confident rider could definitely do this on a road bike; just be prepared for some significant crosswinds on the causeway section.

The entire trail is about 14 miles each way (see information about the Island Line Trail here) and it’s easiest to start in Burlington, where the Burlington Greenway trail runs along the very scenic shore of Lake Champlain. We parked near Church Street in downtown Burlington, then rode down the hill on cyclist-friendly Main Street, picking up the bike path at Waterfront Park. Head north and you’re on your way!

The first eight miles of the trail are paved and pretty much flat, with beautiful views across Lake Champlain, to the Adirondack Mountains on the New York side.

The Colchester Causeway

If you’re from a state with little to no water (lookin’ at you, Colorado), things really get fun when you get to Colchester. After winding through a short section of suburban streets (very little traffic), you’re on the gravel-surfaced Colchester Causeway.

If you’re doing this ride on a weekend and you want to avoid the bike and pedestrian traffic on the Burlington Greenway, you could also drive to Colchester and park at Airport Park, where there’s a large parking lot, bathrooms, and a playground.

From Airport Park, follow the signs to the causeway (down a steep-ish hill). Out on the causeway, you’re likely to get some wind, but also amazing views of the Adirondacks to the west and the Green Mountains to the east as you cross the lake. If you’re riding with kids, older people, or anyone not particularly confident on a bike, note that this section of the trail is around four feet wide and totally exposed (no guardrails); it’s in no way dangerous for confident/experienced riders, but something to consider if you have less confident people in your group.

The bike ferry!

The true novelty on this ride is…the bike ferry! At the end of the Colchester Causeway (about 13 miles into the ride if you started from the Burlington waterfront), you’ll reach The Cut, a 200-foot gap in the causeway where boats can cross from one side of Lake Champlain to the other.

My husband mused whether teenagers on BMX bikes ever set up a ramp at night and try to jump this opening, but the better option is to hop aboard the Local Motion bike ferry. Our bikes had never been on a boat, so we were excited to find that it was running on the day we were there.

The bike ferry is seasonal and runs only on weekends in spring and fall, so check the schedule before you go. On the Burlington side, there was an attendant who explained the system (suggested donation $5, the ferry takes anyone and anything non-motorized, including pedestrians, bikes, standard e-bikes, and wheelchairs, but not including e-motos). You wait for the incoming passengers to get off, then the crew waves you down to the dock and helps you load your bike.

The crossing takes all of about 90 seconds, but it was still really fun being on a boat for human-powered vehicles only. On the other side, you arrive on South Hero Island, officially known as Grand Isle, the largest island in Lake Champlain.

To return to the Burlington side, you raise an orange flag (see photo above) to summon the ferry, then reverse the process (wait for the crew to wave you down).

Apples! The big attraction in South Hero

If you’re just here for the ferry ride (no shame in that!), hang out on the causeway for a bit and then ride back. But if you’re up for another three miles of riding on quiet roads, follow the gravel road from the end of the causeway, hang a right at the paved road (very little traffic), hang a left at the stop sign (still very little traffic) and head down to Hackett’s Orchard, where all things apple await!

We picked up a half-dozen cider donuts (you can get them plain, sugared, or half and half), a hot cider, and some loose apples just to eat. It was a sunny day, New England autumn at its finest, so we sat outside and enjoyed our treats, then cycled back to the ferry.

The whole experience (Burlington to Burlington) took us about five hours including the orchard stop; definitely a day well spent on a human-powered adventure!