Vermont Northeast Kingdom Circuit

Motorcycle Route Author

By showland (5 McR Points) on Aug 14, 2011

Rider Reviews

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Written Directions

Starting in St. Johnsbury take Route 5 North to Lyndon, then route 122 to Glover, 16 from Glover to Willoughby Lake, 5A from there to Derby. In Derby head SouthEast toward Island Pond on 111 which ends when it joins 114 and takes you into Island Pond. In Island Pond tabs 105 to Debanville, 102 South until it ends and from there Route 2 West back to St. Johnsbury

Scenery

The nicest part of this route is is follows along some nice winding rivers and passes some nice lakes. If the weather is nice it's worth striping off the riding gear and taking a dip in one of these lakes. I wear swim trunks under my Kevlar suit just for this purpose. This area is unique to Vermont. It is the most remote part of the state and the roads are not heavily traveled, so you can relax and enjoy the ride and stop to take pictures or have a leisurely lunch. This is actually not a very mountainous route as it mostly follows along the river valleys, but that also makes for some nice twists and turns, but nothing to extreme. You also pass through towns in Vermont that look like a step back in time. I stopped at the Old Home Days festival in Lunenburg for to listen to the music and have some fried dough. The church on the common is no longer in use, but a local group is raising money to restore the historic building and they had a volunteer giving tours. Apparently this is the most photographed church in the United States.

Drive Enjoyment

The hard part about riding in New England is finding roads that are in consistently good shape. The winters take their toll and they simply can't be resurfaced as often as they need it. So figure that the roads will vary from perfect recently rebuilt roads to cracked and bumpy highways. The best stretch on this day was 102 from Debanville to the Junction of Rte 2. This section was near perfect pavement and was the windiest stretch of road. It follows right along the headwaters of the Connecticut River.

Tourism Opportunities

There are plenty of small towns to pass through. Each one has a pizza joint, gas station, and ice cream shop. Fine food is a little harder to find, but Island Pond is a tourist town with a couple of decent restaurants and a good half way point.