For a day or an hour of fun, conduct yourself down the old railroad track now know known as the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT). You can go by bike or foot on this wide, smooth and gentle trail. It runs alongside the Lamoille River where you can canoe or kayak. The trail traverses the northern tier of Green Mountain Byway towns: Cambridge, Johnson, Hyde Park and Morristown. It is wonderfully scenic place to relax and recreate.
A good starting point for your adventures is the Cambridge Junction Trail Head off of Vermont Route 15. The history of the railroad is celebrated with informational displays, a rail car dining area, and a replica of a train (kids love to play on this). Take the Greenway into Jeffersonville for lunch, head east towards Johnson, or drop your kayak into the river. Bootlegger Bikes rents bikes here, and parking and bathroom facilities are available. For more info visit lvrt.org.
Many communities, organizations, and individuals have contributed to the creation and maintenance of the LVRT. One of those individuals penned the poem below.
FUN in the Lamoille Valley of Vermont
By Peter Ingvoldstad
Thousands of years ago ice and water carved the Valley
that would become known as Lamoille
with a river running west
to what now is known
as the Great Lake Champlain
In the eighteen hundreds
though the Valley
they build the Lamoille Valley Rail Road
that carried goods and men
Now days you can have some fun
walking, running or cycling
where the iron horse once ran
pulling it’s heavy load
And if you are energetic
you can paddle west
from “Willow Crossing”
along the Lamoille River
You can pull out of the River
when you reach the covered bridge
at the hamlet known as Cambridge Junction
where if you planned ahead
you can have the lunch you brought
in the dining car
parked at the train station
Or you can play
the engineer
or the brake man
on the playground train
And if you left your bike here
you can ride up river
on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail
to Willow Crossing where you left your car
All just to have some FUN…….
