Cross Vermont Trail - Route 232 at Ricker Mills - Groton, VT
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 44° 14.442 W 072° 14.338
18T E 720468 N 4902315
This part of the Cross Vermont Trail, a multi-use bike and hiking trail running east-west across northern Vermont, enters Groton State Forest at its southern end on the former bed of the Montpelier-Wells River Railroad.
Waymark Code: WMPMMF
Location: Vermont, United States
Date Posted: 09/21/2015
Views: 2
In Groton, along Vermont Route 232 and near the southern boundary of the Groton State Forest, is this access point for the Cross Vermont Trail along an old rail bed of the Montpelier-Wells River Railroad.
The access point is located on the east side of Vermont Route 232, almost two miles north of the junction of Vermont Route 232 and US Route 302.
The Cross Vermont Trail is a trail that runs east-west from Wells River at the Connecticut River to Burlington on Lake Champlain. The trail is not all on rail beds - in fact, a lot at present is still on paved roads. This stretch, however, is about a 12 mile stretch that is mostly on rail bed that was once for the railroad mentioned above. There are many access points, so the trail can be traveled on for a few hours or overnight. About a mile up is a campground and further up are more. The length given is for this stretch of rail bed. There are other rail bed sections along the 90 mile long Cross VT Trail.
The railroad here was built from 1869 to 1873. It went 38 miles between the two cities. Train traffic went from 1873 to 1956. The line runs through a hilly region of Vermont, with a maximum height of 1440 ft and a minimum of about 460 ft. In this region, the primary hauling was lumber.
The Cross Vermont Trail is listed as a Rail Trail on a Wikipedia Web Page.
Other Sources:
Wikipedia (List of Rail Trails):
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visit link)
grotonpond.com (Railroad):
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visit link)