The Great 8
Climber’s delight with big views
Stats:
SURFACE TYPE: Mostly unpaved
DISTANCE: 17 mi (27 km)
VERTICAL: 2,354' (717 m)
Description:
This ride is a true Mad River Valley gem, piecing together low traffic gravel and off-road sections in a route with great variety.
If you start off on the Power Hour and want more, this is how to add to it. Less than 10 minutes from Madbush, you’re already in the land of huge 360 degree views as you crest the first climb up Rolston Rd. Quick left on Sherman Rd and you are on the flanks of Scrag (elevation 2874’) and off on a class IV rd with a full frontal view of Sugarbush and Mad River. Follow Cider Hill Rd, and Dump Rd, which is not at all a dump!
Refuel in Warren at the Warren store or cool off and jump in crystal clear Freeman Brook right in the Warren Village. The climb up Fuller Hill Rd is one of Waitsfield’s best, with views north and south of the whole length of the central and northern Green Mountain spine. Senor Rd is a literal and figurative high point before an endless series of rolls and descents down Roxbury Mountain Rd and Airport Rd back to Madbush.