Heart of the Greens Loop

A Preview of the Velomont

By Riley Momenee

I was pedaling up my third 1,000+ foot climb of the day when I was thinking about how spoiled Vermont is with its countless bike routes winding throughout the state. The Burlington Causeway, D&H Rail Trail, Montshire Maze, Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, VTXL, Cross Vermont Trail… the list just goes on! I was riding a (relatively) new addition to that list, the Heart of the Greens Loop. Completed in the Summer of 2024, it is a 38-mile mountain bike loop near Rochester, which makes use of road sections, logging paths, and singletrack – even utilizing the first completed section of the Velomont trail. 

For those that don’t know, the Velomont is a shared project between Vermont Huts & Trails and Vermont Mountain Bike Association to build a mountain bike optimized, hut-supported trail system running the length of Vermont – think the Long Trail of mountain biking. Suffice to say that Velomont is a unique project and will be a fantastic addition to Vermont’s ever-growing roster of dedicated bike routes. It is still in development, so for now we get to ride snippets, and if the completed trail is even half as good as these smaller portions, we are all in for a real treat!

The Heart of the Greens Loop is promoted as a multiday adventure, recommending riders stay at huts, yurts, and hostels along the way. However, my plan was to ride the loop in one go. I had just purchased a new-to-me mountain bike (2020 Kona Hei Hei, for those curious) and was looking to put it to the test with lots of climbing and a good bit of distance. I did end up underestimating the trails though – 6,000 feet of elevation gain looks like a lot on paper, but it feels like even more when it’s broken up into only a few major climbs.

With the route downloaded to my Garmin, I finished stuffing my jersey pockets with snacks and pedaled out of the Rochester park-and-ride. It is recommended to ride the route clockwise, so I headed south on Route 100 through downtown, immediately passing Green Mountain Bikes, The Stable Inn (one of the recommended accommodations along the loop), and a creemee place that I made a mental note to return to. These first few sections follow public roads, and a wide logging trail climb, before turning into super smooth doubletrack descents that you can just blast down. There is a gate or two, but fear not, they are clearly marked well in advance. 

The first singletrack of the ride comes in the form of Contest Trail, a fun winding trail with small ascents and descents. This area was undergoing logging when I rode it, and some doubletrack sections were soft as a skidder had just gone through. The logging also made navigation a bit tricky, with turns hidden behind big wood piles. 

The trail takes you back onto Route 100 for a short bit as you make your way to the quaint village of Pittsfield. At 10.3 miles in, it’s a good spot to refill water as the rest of the trail is remote and doesn’t pass by any other resupply stops. 

Around 14 miles in, the Heart of the Greens Loop meets up with the Velomont trail, and that’s where the real fun begins. From here on out, I enjoyed extremely well-marked and maintained trails, serious climbs, long and exhilarating descents – and almost entirely singletrack. This is where you see the magic of the developing Velomont trail, and what really makes this loop shine. 

The trail meanders along Class IV roads and then turns to a killer switchback-filled climb to Perspiration Pass. I was greeted with gorgeous views and a fantastic descent down Chitty Bang Bang, a super-fast flow trail. This downhill section felt like it was never-ending and its many turns, berms, and banks felt intuitive to ride. Part of the way down, the trail splits and you have the option to turn left and go to the Chittenden Brook Hut campground or turn right to continue to the rest of the Velomont trail. As you might expect, the descent does eventually end, and with that you come to an intersection with Brandon Mountain Road. Soon, there will be a new trail, Likin’ the Lichen, which avoids this road section of Route 73, but for now it’s a fast paved downhill that brings you to the next round of trails.

After a bit more uphill singletrack through beautiful forests winding up and over Swan Gap, I was greeted by a large group ride from one of the local bike shops. Here, the trail meets up with the crown jewel of the loop, Tunnel Ridge – its five miles of machine-built flow is linked together with over 100 berms! It’s basically a never-ending pump track and is such a fun reward after the day's climbing. Before dropping in, I chatted with a group of three who had ridden the loop over three days, taking advantage of the huts along the way. They were about to ride the final descent into Rochester and were taking it all in before their multiday adventure ended. Once Tunnel Ridge ends, the trail splits, with the Velomont continuing to the left and the short return to downtown Rochester to the right – and my long-awaited creemee!

After the Heart of the Greens Loop was completed in 2024, another 100+ miles were approved for the Velomont trail in the fall of 2025. The newly approved trails include 72 miles of singletrack in the Manchester District of the Green Mountain National Forest, 30 miles in the Rochester District, and another 10+ miles on private land near Randolph. Realistically, the timeline will greatly depend on funding and will take close to 10 years for the currently approved trails to be built. But for now, the Heart of the Greens Loop stands as a fantastic preview for the future Velomont, and I encourage anyone to get out there and give it a whirl.

Riley Momenee (riley@adksports.com) edits and designs for Vermont Sports and Upstate Sports magazines and spends most of his free time outdoors. He loves biking of all kinds and enjoys exploring the dirt roads and farmlands of his new home in Addison County.