Moosalamoo

Mount Moosalamoo is located in Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest.  This 2 day bikepacking route offers a mix of singletrack, dirt roads, fire roads, xc-ski trails and lakeside camping.

What to know

Start: There is a small dirt parking lot for the Oak Ridge Trail on Rt 125 just west of the Ripton general store.  Overnight parking is allowed.  The trail starts on FR 296, but parking is just east of where FR 296 hits VT 125.  The Ripton general store is a great place to swing in and grab some last minute snacks. The Trail:   Most of the singletrack of this ride is found in the first day.  Mile 1.25 – 8 is all fairly challenging and slow going.  At mile 9.5 we took a snowmobile trail in towards Silver Lake.  This is of questionable legality, it can be avoided by continuing on FR32 and taking Silver Lake Rd into the campsite.  From the campsite there is an 8 mile mountain bike loop that you can ride unladen.  We find it best to ride counterclockwise, this will leave you with a nice mellow 3 mile climb on jeep trail back to camp.  Day 2 uses mostly a mix of dirt roads and legal xc ski trails to get back to the singletrack and fireroad to the car. Camping:   Silver Lake campground is a free primitive campground run by the United States Forest Service.  There are picnic tables and firepits at the campsites.  There are also a few vault toilets and a fresh water spring (it has signs saying you should purify). Weather: It’s New England, it’s unpredictable and always changing. Resupply:  There are no points to resupply on this route with the exception of water from creeks and the lake/spring.

Resources

Moosalamoo National Recreation Area Interactive Trail Map Silver Lake State Park Website Gps Files: Day 1: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/3727385 Day 2: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/3727386