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The scenic Valley Trail spans 9 miles connecting Dover and Wilmington in southern Vermont along the Green Mountain National Forest. It provides a critical off-road pathway for bypassing State Route 100. Much of the trail is lushly wooded, traveling along brooks and passing occasional small ponds. The system consists of a mix of trail types: The lower two-thirds of the trail (approximately 6.5 miles) are narrow, natural-surface track; The Crosstown Trail between Handel Road and Country Club Road features wide gravel paths. There is only one paved, off-street section of trail -- 0.5 miles along SR 100 near Dover Town Park.
Note that there's a short gap in the trail at its northern end. A short, disconnected portion of the trail travels to the Mount Snow Ski Area in Dover.
On the southern end of the trail, in Wilmington, you can cross W. Main Street and go over a footbridge across the North Branch of the Deerfield River to access the Hoot, Toot and Whistle Trail.
Northwest of Wilmington, parking is available at the trailhead at the intersection of Haystack Road and Birch Loop. Farther north, more trailhead parking is available at the intersection of Ski Area Access Road and Fannie Hill Drive. Approaching Dover, there are parking areas off Handle Road, Cross Town Road, and Kingswood Road.
We rode part of this trail while doing some single track riding on the Crosstown trails in West Dover, which connects with this trail. This is not a family friendly paved trail which is the impression I had from the description. I am glad I didn't plan to ride it from Dover to Wilmington with my 9 year old. The part of the trail we saw was single track comparable to a hiking trail. It is not wide, not flat, and not smooth. It is narrow, windy, and filled with rocks and roots. It is not appropriate for little kids or bike trailers.
The Crosstown trails in this area are wide gravel paths. Great for kids who can make it up a decent hill. The single track in the area is nice. It needs some trail maintenance and reroutes along with clearing and trimming. Some areas are nice to ride, others are a mess of roots which are difficult. The trails on the map were very well mapped. It was a nice find on a trip to the area, we will be back!
NOT ASPHALT! Only one small section (1.5 miles) in Dover is paved... ended up biking Rt100 from Wilmington to Mt. Snow, not much of a shoulder but not much traffic and pretty flat.. nice scenery!
The entry leads you to believe there is a 9 mile asphalt trail linking two towns in a Vermont valley with just a small gap near the north end. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. The trail is a very confusing series of blue signs which go through the woods on dirt (mud) tracks, over grass lawns with no identifiable trail, and on busy and narrow town roads (the only asphalt on the trail). Talking to locals, we discovered that parts of the trail are used for mountain biking, but that the idea of a continuous trail linking West Dover and Wilmington is a dream that has yet to be realized.
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