Island Line Trail, Burlington VT

• 5-star trails • 6 to 27 mile options • Easy | Minimal gradient • Burlington, VT | Northwest Region . Cycling the causeway north of the city of Burlington. The Rutland Railroad engineers who drove a line straight into Lake Champlain in 1899 were solving a freight problem, not planning a recreational trail. Built to shorten the route toward Canadian markets and bypass a competing line, the corridor never turned a reliable profit. Following a strike in 1953, passenger service was discontinued and the line was abandoned altogether in 1963. After sitting unused for decades, local advocates converted the historic right-of-way into the Island Line Rail Trail, linking downtown Burlington to the Champlain Islands. While the full trail spans over 13 miles from Oakledge Park south of downtown Burlington to South Hero Island, this review focuses on its most remarkable stretch - the 3.2-mile northern section running from the free parking near Airport Park to the south dock of the seasonal bike…