Take the Puppy to the Beach!

A route from East Beach in Charlestown, Rhode Island to the beginning of the Puppy Dog Route in Greenfield, Ma...on as much dirt as possible.


I'm going to guess that its about 45% dirt roads, with the rest uncongested and sometimes quite scenic paved roads. Mrs Trip and I have been scouting this route for a while, and I'm relatively satisfied with it. We have a variation that I'm hoping to connect up with the Hampster Ride in NH to make a complete loop of New England when combined with the Puppy Dog Route, NNEAT, and the Hampster. I've also experimented with an east-west route across Connecticut to meet up with the Trans Mass trail, but that one is proving to be more difficult.
I don't know if anyone else is interested, but living in Rhode Island this has become our favorite route up north.
It starts at East Beach...that's the ocean out there!



Do a donut in the sand! Then its along "Sand Road" for a little ways



From there, its on to pavement. The route runs right past Burlingame State Park, which has a campground...although it's full a lot, so you probably need to make a reservation. http://www.riparks.com/Locations/LocationBurlingame.html
Further along it hits another spot of gravel and then passes over I-95. Then you're into more gravel:



Runs north through Rhode Island on mixed gravel and paved backroads, then heads into Connecticut.



Goes through Thompson, CT, a really quaint New England town:



Its paved for quite a ways now. You enter Massachusetts on Dresser Hill Rd, a nice ride on a high ridge with sweeping views and almost always a cool breeze. Also on here is "The Clam Box" with good food and ice cream!



After Spencer, MA there's some quiet country roads. Loring Hill Rd runs through a wildlife preserve, and proved to be the toughest part of the ride.



We had a hell of a time getting the bikes past this mud pit because I was too stubborn to take the panniers off.



Up around Quabbin is tough, because there's a lot of old, unused roads there, but they are pretty much all off limits because of the reservoir. Once around it, though, there's a lot more gravel and dirt. The route runs through Wendell State Forest, where we followed Jerusalem Rd past this interesting rock formation



Unfortunately, despite the good roads



...there is a gate up there. We easily rounded it and rode a rougher section that came out in a farmyard. Can't recommend that, though, so the track skips Jerusalem Rd and meets Montague Rd early.
From there, its through Millers Falls, Turners Falls, and ends at Colrain Rd in Greenfield.

Once I figure it out, I'll attach the GPX file.

I don't want to disappoint anyone...its largely paved, but its pretty good (if I do say so myself) considering what we have to work with in southern New England. Why East Beach? Well, everyone knows that Rhode Island has the best beaches...in CT there's no surf, and further east, there's too much congestion. And I thought some of you Green Mountain Boys might like to see the ocean. If you are familiar with mid-state Massachusetts, maybe you can offer some additional ideas.
Like the Hampster Ride, The PDR, and the others, I wanted the route to be suitable for loaded big bikes, so there's some possible hero sections I've omitted, but there are also a couple of sections that I would rate as a little more challenging than anything I've ridden on those other rides.
Comments and suggestions...I'm looking forward to them!

Nice report, thanks for sharing! Looks like I get another route to add to my list...

Nice! Living in the Wendell area, I know the roads North from the Quabbin quite well, but not from there South. I have been looking for an off-slab trip to the beach and it looks like now I have it!

Thanks, Para504. I've been trying to find a way to connect Templeton Turnpike with the Hampster ride to make a big loop.

Wendell is awesome. A local guy was telling me that Wendell has a higher percentage of gravel roads than any other town in Massachusetts.

***The current file is in post #49***

Wendell Meetinghouse



Beaver Lodge on Moosehorn Rd in Wendell

Wendell is awesome. A local guy was telling me that Wendell has a higher percentage of gravel roads than any other town in Massachusetts.


Can't afford to pave the roads out here. thank goodness!

I'd call it a wise use of public funds!

Very nice!

My son will be a Freshman at URI this fall, I think I may have to take the bike down and make sure he's doing his home work....:)

Hey, flie we should find a meeting point and do that ride, what do you think?

Nice work Trips

Thanks, Gents.

Rideon2, I don't know, but surprise visits to the college age son may be contrary to the spirit of this ride.

Pratt Road, CT



Another shot of Thompson, CT

Nice job linking the routes Road trip! I give you an "A" for all your effort. Bookmarked for next time I come down your way. Thanks for posting.

Take the TRIT to the Puppy Dog! We should get the Rhody gang together for a weekend of camping off the bikes in the fall.

+1

RT Did my son pm you? He's laid out a very definate protacol for visits

Definatly will come to see East Beach. Been into Windsurfing for along time.

Ha,ha, both my daughters went to URI. I know the procedure.

My plan is to attempt the southern Hampster again this weekend. Maybe some updates next week.

Absolutely!

A run from the Beach to the Border would be a great way to spend a weekend.

Labor Day... Still pretty warm, but the next three day weekend is Columbus Day.

Some additional photos from last weekends trip to the Hampster route.

Yosemite Valley Rd.


The Clam Box...how is it we always are passing by at lunch time??



We found some interesting new material...I think a re-route is in order:


some interesting history in this area. Prison Camp Road. How cool is that?









Going to give it another go this weekend and see if we can't eliminate some more pavement by routing a little further north.

I found a little bit of dirt in the Quabbin area (off 122). I needed to get home quickly and didn't do a ton of exploring, but Rhode trip, you and I should talk.

Yeah, definitely. Sorry we missed you and Cheesebot this weekend...we never made it to VT.
I'll pm you. I have some new roads to try.