|
|
| The
Routes |
|
Litchfield County has some of the best roads for
bicycling in the Northeast. The maps contained on this website show
primarily very rural paved roads with as little "main road" milage
as possible. The bike routes will take you through farm country
and tiny villages rather than the well traveled town centers.
Biking on these
back country roads will provide a tour of Litchfield County not
usually experienced from your car.
A word of caution: these road usually have no shoulder and may have
steep up and down hills. These bike tours are not appropriate for
very young or for beginner cyclists.
The
route maps are marked with green arrows - these have the best road
surfaces (no dirt roads) and the nicest scenery.
Return routes along the same roads have different color arrows to
avoid confusion.
Please note that at the town lines, the names of the roads often
change. On many of these back roads, there is no indication that
that the town line has been crossed other than the change in the
quality of the road surface. Road name changes are indicated in
the written directions wherever possible.
There are six routes in three general areas: Woodbury, Litchfield
and Washington. Since biking to a destination with a view or near
a lake is so much fun, the bike routes have been designed with this
in mind. The tours can be combined for all day bike excursions.
We plan to add bike routes in Kent , New Milford, Norfolk, Colebrook,
Winchester, Canaan and Salisibury
in the near future.
|
| The
Other Listings |
Litchfield County
has
hundreds of excellent restaurants in and scores of places to stay.
Included under FOOD and LODGING are those facilities on or very close
to the bike routes. The same is true for ACTIVITIES. The Litchfield
Hills Travel Council has information covering a larger area; see LINKS
and AREA INFO.
|
| The
Maps (Image Map
of Litchfield County with All of the Bike Routes: 83K about 15 -30
seconds) |
Riders can choose routes according to their ability
or energy level. Since the Litchfield Hills run north-south in long
ridges, most easy routes follow this north-south line. The easiest
rides follow rivers or circumvent lakes (Bantam Lake and Lake Waramaug).
The toughest hills are on Routes # 2, 4 and 6. There are some short
steep hills (Wykeham Road, Blue Swamp Road, Hopkins Road and Sabbaday
Lane), but the view at the top is worth the effort even if you decide
to walk!
The road surfaces are usually very good, especially in Woodbury. Occasionally,
the powers that be decide to put down "loose stone, fresh oil" surfaces.
Unfortunately, there is no way to predict where this will happen next.
There are usually warning
signs posted at the end of the roads.
|
| Explore
(Map that links
the Bike Routes) |
All of the bike tours included here can be linked together for all
day excursions.
Connecting the bike routes means traveling some portions of busy state
roads such as Route 202, Route 61 and Route 109.
Wear a helmet & good luck!
Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail
your experiences biking in Litchfield County. Particularly welcome
are your favorite bike routes.
By
the time you get to this part of the page, photos will appear below
when you roll the mouse over the bikes! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Developed
& Designed by J. Grasmere Web Design, LLC
Norfolk, CT
860-542-5305
jgrasmere.com
© 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 All rights reserved
|
|
About
Biking Back Roads
