Little River State Park

Photo: WATA

Overview:

Little River State Park is located to the west of Waterbury, VT. The park is filled with history including a graveyard from more than 100 years ago. Also, there is a pretty cool river at the bottom which the park is named after and makes a great spot for fishing. Recently, the Waterbury Area Trails Alliance has started building out here and created two downhill flow trails called Hillfarmer and Highbridge, as well as a climb trail to access them called Stonewall.

Pros:

If I’m being honest, this is the best flow trail I’ve ever ridden, even after going to places like Bellingham and Laguna. Everything is just so well built, and since it’s a new trail the dirt is still prime. Although both these trails are rated blue, I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t enjoy them since there are tons of doubles to hit if you’ve got the speed. Also, the climb trail here is very well built and goes by in no time with a few rocks to keep things interesting.

Cons:

Obviously trail quantity and variety are still factors which this place lacks, however this might just be due to how new it is. Although there are technically two trails, you can pretty much ride everything there on one lap of Hillfarmer to Highbridge, minus the 0.2 mile start of Highbridge. Another thing I found annoying was that the builders didn’t take full advantage of the elevation here. Despite the longest downhill run being 1.2 miles long, you still have to climb 1.5 miles to the top which is because of the fireroad section at the bottom of the hill which could be used for more singletrack.

Rating: 7/10

For a place with only two blue trails, Little River packs a serious punch and as long as these wicked awesome trails exist I can’t give it anything below a 7. It’s honestly hard to comprehend just why these trails are so fun and it seems like a lot of time and planning went into making them.