September 25-28, 2025
Vermont Gravel –Northeast Kingdom
Ride the finest gravel roads in Vermont over four unforgettable days.
About the Ride
This Ride blends beautiful Vermont Backroads with Fall foliage, covered bridges, rail trails, and more.
September 25-28, 2025
Waterbury, Vermont
This ride takes you through some of the most scenic and exciting gravel roads in the country, visiting charming Vermont towns along the way. You’ll follow smooth dirt roads and rail trails, rarely encountering cars as we explore the backroads of the Northeast Kingdom. Over three nights, we’ll stay at the Highland Lodge, nestled by Caspian Lake. The challenging rides offer incredible rewards, including the chance to savor the state’s delicious local food and farms throughout the journey.
Event Details
Positive Planet Impact
Full Event Story
Join us for an unforgettable bike ride through Vermont’s most picturesque landscapes. Starting and ending in Waterbury, home of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, we’ll spend four days exploring the state’s top roads and trails. Enjoy three nights by the serene Caspian Lake, accompanied by the sounds of loons. Along the way, you’ll visit local breweries, sample Vermont’s finest cheeses, stop by charming general stores, and top it all off with a maple creemee. As we pedal through vibrant fall foliage in towns like Stowe, Greensboro, Craftsbury, and Danville, you’ll experience the best of Vermont’s backroads.
More Details
This is more than a bike trip – it’s an inspiring journey with like-minded people united by their passion for sustainability and adventure. You can choose from our full list of beneficiaries and proceeds will be distributed to the Climate Ride grants program based on your beneficiary selection. You will have access to our superb personal fundraising software and the full support of our team. Participants may select their beneficiaries from our list of more than 100 extraordinary non-profit organizations.
By joining us, you’ll experience epic cycling, amazing scenery, and dynamic fellow riders & speakers that all combine to make this charitable event exciting, informative, and fun.
Our professional Climate Ride staff takes care of all the details, so you can focus on riding your bike on carefully planned routes on scenic back roads. It’s challenging yet doable, and you have all day to make it to the next rest stop. On the road, the Climate Ride support team is always nearby to assist you, keep you happy and healthy, and make your ride worry-free and memorable. You’ll settle into your new home at the beautiful Highland Lodge, a classic Vermont B&B with recently renovated cabins.
We provide daily cycling mileage to suit all types of cyclists, including shorter options as needed. We welcome every level of athlete – what’s most important to us is to welcome you into the Climate Ride community and provide a cycling experience that will inspire you to bike for the rest of your life. This is a fully supported ride which means you can focus on pedaling and making connections with your new friends while we take care of everything from overnight details, meals, snacks, luggage transport, and much more to make your trip as enjoyable as possible. Learn more in the FAQ.
Photo Gallery
Itinerary Overview
Itinerary subject to change, your Ride Guide will include full details.
Day 1
Bike ~66 or 45 Miles, +5,600 feet of climbing
Our ride starts in the village of Waterbury, Vermont. We’ll get our tires dirty right away and get a taste of the smooth gravel roads of Vermont. Entering the town of Stowe, we’ll hop on a paved bike path and pedal along the Little River. Our first big climb of the trip is up the iconic Smugglers’ Notch. This paved climb winds through granite boulders and is nestled between Spruce Peak and Vermont’s highest point, Mount Mansfield. After a thrilling descent, we’ll ride along the Lamoille River for 25 miles on Vermont’s longest rail trail. The last 20 miles of our ride climbs us into the heart of the hilly Northeast Kindgom.
Day 2
Bike ~57 or 40 Miles, +5,700 feet of climbing
After a hearty breakfast, we’ll ride east under the backdrop of the White Mountains and Mount Washington. We’ll enjoy some morning baked goods in Danville, Vermont before meandering to the village of Cabot, where we’ll enjoy a picnic lunch featuring some of the famous cheese this town is known for. A handful of climbs and a section of rail trail will take us back to the Highland Lodge where we can relax on the beach of Caspian Lake or enjoy a post ride beverage at the Lodge’s bar.
Day 3
Bike ~48 Miles, +3,900 feet of climbing or 72 Miles, +6,600 feet of climbing
Today, we will head north on more perfect gravel roads with a visit to the museum of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Our route then takes us to the stunning glaciated valley where Lake Willoughby sits. We’ll have a picnic lunch on the shores of this beautiful lake where you’ll wonder if you are in Vermont or Colorado. The sandy bottom beach will invite riders to take a dip in the crystal clear water. After lunch, we’ll climb out of the lake basin and enjoy an early dinner at one of Vermont’s best kept secret pizza restaraunts. For those who want more miles, and an infamous Maple Creemee, you can ride 23 miles back to the Highland Lodge, or you can shuttle back and enjoy some more lake time.
Day 4
Bike ~46 Miles, +2,666 feet of climbing
Our final day of the ride starts again with a maple syrup filled breakfast at the Highland Lodge. We then ride a new section of the Lamoille Valley Rail trail and stop at another must-see Vermont Lake. We’ll continue our Tour de General store as any trip to Vermont doesn’t count without stopping for donuts, coffee, and other treats. We’ll pedal the foliage filled hillsides along Mount Elmore towards Stowe and we will celebrate our time riding in Vermont with a stop at Ben and Jerry’s. After our ride ends in Waterbury, we will shuttle riders back to Burlington.
Ready to get started?
FAQs and More Info
Getting to and from the Ride
Our ride begins in Waterbury, Vermont at 9:00 AM where participants will be able to leave vehicles for the week. We will offer a pickup at 8:00 AM from Burlington Airport for those who plan on flying into Burlington for the event.
On the last day of the ride, we’ll end back at the same place the ride started where riders can head out in their vehicles. We’ll also offer a shuttle from Waterbury to Burlington Airport. Participants flying out of Burlington Airport should not book a flight prior to 6:00 PM on the last day of the trip.
Accommodations & Meals
On this trip, we’ll stay indoors on all 3 nights of the trip at the Highland Lodge in Greensboro, Vermont. The Lodge sits on the edge of Caspian Lake where there is a beach for swimming as well as canoes and kayaks to paddle with the loons.
The Highland Lodge has a variety of accommodations ranging from rooms in the main lodge to adorable cabins. We’ll collect rooming preferences from all participants but all accommodations are double occupancy. There will be some single supplement rooms available for those that want more privacy for an additional fee of $300 for the trip.
All meals from lunch on Day 1 to lunch on Day 4 will be provided. Hot breakfast will be provided by the Highland Lodge, lunches will be provided by Climate Ride Guides and we’ll offer a variety of dinners where riders will enjoy the local cuisine of the Northeast Kingdom.
What type of bike should I bring and what are the roads like?
The ideal bike for this ride is a gravel bike with 38c (or greater), tubeless tires, disc brakes and a wide range of gears for the numerous steep grades we’ll be climbing. The terrain on this ride varies from perfectly smooth gravel roads, paved roads and bike trails, crushed granite bike paths, and a few rugged class 4 roads.
Transporting Your Bike or Bike Rental
Gravel Bike Rentals are available from a bike shop in Waterbury, VT, making it easy for those who wish to rent a bike for the week. Alternatively, you can fly or drive with your perosnal bike to the event.
Fundraising Beneficiaries
Cyclists can choose from the more than 100 incredible beneficiary organizations in our network! One of the things that make Climate Ride such an effective charitable event is that you can select the organization(s) you wish to benefit through the Climate Ride grants program. Our beneficiaries were selected for their work on the environment, conservation, sustainability, climate education, and active transportation advocacy. At the end of the year, Climate Ride grants the proceeds from our events to these hard-working organizations.
Fundraising and Transfer Deadlines | Important Dates
Fundraising Deadlines:
| $500 to be raised by: | 6/25/2025 |
| $1,500 to be raised by: | 7/24/2025 |
| $2,800 to be raised by: | 8/25/2025 |
Transfer Deadline:
July 24, 2025
More Questions?
Be sure to review our general FAQ and policies or contact us!
