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USGS
Topographic map of Colchester
The location of the Colchester Station has not been determined, however, it is presumed to be near the end of Airport Road.
Approximately 4 miles of the Rail-trail is currently open for use as the Causeway Park Trail. Scott Hamlin's Malletts Bay Web Site contains the following additional information about the trail:
Causeway Park - pictures and the text of the official town brochure about the trail.
Rock Sculptures at Causeway Park - photos of some rock sculptures along the Causeway.
What follows is supplementary information to Scott Hamlin's Web Pages noted above!
1998 Rail Trail Ferry Demonstration at Winooski River Bridge
Colchester/South
Hero Bike Ferry Grant Application
This
grant application dated January 6, 2000 will study the feasibility and plan
the implementation of a bicycle and pedestrian ferry across “the cut” in
the historic marble railroad causeway between Colchester and South Hero.
Champlain
International Bike Route
The vision statement attached to the preceding grant application
briefly outlines the vision of a bike route across the Lake Champlain
islands to the Canadian Border where it will connect with a Canadian bikeway
system.
Books about the trail:
A 3.2 mile section of the Trail within Colchester from Airport Park to the site of the Point Allen Drawbridge is described in section 28 of the Official Rails-to-Trails Conservancy New England Guidebook by Cynthia Mascott published in 2000 by Globe Pequot Press. This trail listing contains a photograph, historical description, trail head directions and parking, a trail map, trail details, a local trail manager contact, and much more.
Because there is virtually no risk of inadvertantly wandering off the Rail-trail, a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver can not be justified for reasons of personal safety. However, a GPS receiver would be useful in alerting the user to each significant point along the trail and otherwise monitoring progress towards the destination. Usage of a GPS receiver would also be helpful in returning from all departures from the trail, precisely noting points of interest along the way, and choosing the wisest course of action in an emergency situation.
Since the Rail-trail follows an abandoned railroad bed that are well documented on the DeLorme Atlas of Vermont as well as the USGS Topographical maps, a waypoint route file for the rail-trail has been relatively easy to create from maps that have been reproduced on a carefully calibrated CD-ROM. Accordingly, the following GPS Waypoint file has been created from the USGS topographic maps on the Maptech Terrain Navigator CD-ROM. The Webmaster anticipates that the FREE Demo version of this software available at the Maptech Web Site can easily be used to upload the waypoint files to a variety of consumer grade GPS receivers for use on the bikeway without ever purchasing the associated CD-ROM. Note however that these files are comma delimited ASCII files that can also be easily examined using any Web Browser or loaded into a spreadsheet program for further manipulation if desired.
The datum for this file is presumed to be WGS 84.
Causeway Park Trail Route File (includes the route from the nearby Lake Champlain Bikeway via Porters Point Road and Airport Road to the Trailhead)
Colchester Reef Waypoint File (to locate the former site of the off-shore lighthouse)
Ample parking, flush toilets, drinking water, trash buckets, picnic tables,
picnic shelter and a playground are available at Airport Park on Colchester
Point Road. The western end of Airport Park is the junction between the Causeway
Park Trail and the Bike Route to Delta Park (as well as the Winooski River Bike
Ferry).
A
small parking lot was noted just southeast of the Mills Point Road crossing,
about a mile down the trail from Airport Park.
The nearest food service and grocery store was observed near the corner of Porters Point Rd, Heinburg Dr, and Primm Rd, at that point of departure from the Lake Champlain Bikeway!
The Chittendon
County Transit Authority (CCTA) North
Avenue bus line (Weekdays & Saturdays) is the closest
available public transportation to the Causeway Park Trail. Note that all
CCTA busses have bike racks! When the Winooski River Bike Ferry is running,
the suggested route is via Bike Route to Delta Park, the bike path through Delta Park,
s the Winooski River Bike Ferry, a short section of the Burlington Waterfront
Bikeway, then North Street to the end of the bus line. Otherwise, trail
users are advised to follow the
Lake
Champlain Bikeway South from the corner of Heinburg Dr. and Primm Rd in Colchester
to a bus stop sign on North Street between Turf Street and Starr Farm Road.
The Burlington Waterfront Bikeway page details
the regional public transportation options available to trail users in the
Greater Burlington area. The Chittendon
County Transit Authority (CCTA) North
Avenue bus line and connecting busses (Weekdays & Saturdays)
provides a connecting bus service.
The Lake
Champlain Bikeway passes through Colchester on Heinburg Dr. and Primm Rd.
Mrs.
Farrell's Home Hostel at 27 Arlington Court in Burlington is
listed at the Hostels.com Web Site.
The Vermont
Chamber of Commerce offers visitor information on the Web for the
Burlington Area. Visitor information is also available at:
Listed on the
National Register
of Historic Places:| Item | From | To | Year | RR | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 251 | Burlington | Rouses Point, NY | 1963 | RUT | 40 |
Sign images are from the Manual of Traffic Signs by Richard C. Moeur.
Updated on August 07, 2001 by Kenyon F.
Karl <[email protected]>.
Unintentional errors are likely!
