Biking to Waterville Valley

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

June 8, 2025

Exit 28 off Interstate 93 in Campton puts you on NH Rte 49. Traveling East, this takes you into Waterville Valley. About one and one-half miles in, you enter the White Mountain National Forest. From here forward, there are several camping and day use areas and hiking trails just off the road. NH Rte 49 turns into Valley Road as you enter the town of Waterville Valley. It’s a pretty drive, with the Mad River down along the left side of the road and the mountains on the right.

I wanted to take it in slower. We decided to bike the 8 miles or so through the White Mountain National Forest section, starting at the Campton Day Use Area on the right side of NH Rte 49, heading into Waterville Valley.

After parking and getting our helmets on, we took off. While this road is very busy during the ski season, it is not heavily travelled, in our experience, at other times of the year. I think we passed more bicyclers than motorists on this trip. I am active, but I have not done a lot of biking. I did not find it to be a difficult ride. You do make a slow, steady climb toward Waterville Valley, but I noticed it more on the return trip with the amount of coasting I was able to do. There are several flat sections to catch your breath and there are plenty of places to pull off and rest or to just take in the view. I was happy we did the uphill end of it when I was fresh and early in the day while the temperature was cooler.

Once you get to the intersection of NH-49 and Tripoli Road on the left (about 10 miles in), you can continue to go straight onto Valley Road through the main entrance to Waterville Valley. Here, you can access all the valley community roads and the town square area as I did during the winter on the fat bike rental which you can read about here. This time, we took the left onto Tripoli Road towards Waterville Valley Ski Resort. At a little past a mile, we bore right to continue on Tripoli Road, away from the ski resort. Half mile further and we took a right onto W Branch Road. This brought us to the North End of Waterville Valley. You can still access the town roads from here, but we were interested in scoping out some biking trails on this end of Waterville Valley for our next trip. There are many biking trails in Waterville Valley. A map of the biking trails in Waterville Valley can be found here.

We checked out the Livermore Road trail.

It is listed as an easy trail and is one of the longest single trails at 2.5 miles. I don’t know that we went more than a quarter of the way before turning around. While it was nice being in the wooded trail, I did not find it easy to ascend the hills - especially after the trekking we did already. Knowing we had to get ourselves back and not yet realizing it was going to be a lighter ride, we kept our reconnaissance short. Trail biking will be another day, and we will be driving into the valley so as to start fresh.

After getting back onto W Branch Road, we made our way to the town center for a much-needed rest and replenishment. We opted for grab-and-go at Jugtown Country Store and settled in at an outdoor table. We had previously talked about getting back into biking and this was our first time out. Prior to this, we had only gone on short rides when the kids were younger – mostly from our house and on a few rail trails. Before that, it was just as kids ourselves. Growing up in the 80’s, we reminisced about how much biking we did back then. How much biking all kids seemed to do. Perhaps that’s why several memorable movies of that time period (E.T., Goonies, Explorers) and the newer ones reflecting that time period (Stranger Things, IT) show kids on bikes. It’s nostalgic for us now. Are we trying to re-capture our youth? It did feel carefree to be riding again. I found coasting not just enjoyable, but fun. I couldn’t help but start to sway back and forth as I used to. I wish I could have felt the wind blowing through my hair but, alas, the bike helmet. We are more safety aware than we were back then. It’s quite amazing how we escaped serious injury in our youth. We took so many falls off bikes and skateboards. I almost always had road rash somewhere during the summer. And poison ivy. Because when we weren’t on the road we were often in the woods. Every year I’d swell up like a balloon and have to take a bath in some oatmeal mixture. Unlike me, Ronnie’s biking adventures took him far from home. In rural New Hampshire, his exploits ranged from going through corn fields and apple orchards in the hills to fishing and swimming holes by rivers and lakes. He never got poison ivy. To this day, he can not only touch it but pull it out of the ground or a tree and walk away unscathed. He’s invincible when it comes to the plant. He doesn’t have the same superpower with bike falls, so he begrudgingly wears a helmet now as well.

The end of our trip down memory lane was the beginning of our return trip to the car. We downed the last of our drinks and started back, already planning the next route. We weren’t kids anymore; we needed an itinerary, directions, parking information, a date, a back-up date for weather….

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Since this trip, we went back to Waterville Valley for another ride a few weeks later. We had set our sights on Tripoli Road. Tripoli Road is a seasonal (May-November) pass-way through the White Mountain National Forest connecting Waterville Valley and Woodstock, NH. Part paved, part gravel, it’s a little over 11 miles long.  Parking on the Waterville Valley side can be found at the Livermore Trailhead, which has a small fee (currently $5.00) and at Tecumseh Trailhead, which is free. The Tecumseh Trailhead is located in the Waterville Valley Ski Resort. You have to bear left onto Ski Area Road from Tripoli Road and go uphill to the parking area. The hill is steep, so although there is no cost in currency, there is a substantial cost in effort to return to your car. Unless you have an e-bike, Livermore may well be worth the fee. The Livermore parking area is just off W. Branch Road on the left. Either way, you get back to Tripoli Road, going away from Rt. 49, heading towards Woodstock.

It has the secluded, wooded look of a rail trail, but not the feel. It is not flat, and you have to be very cautious of the varied, rough terrain. We had expected a long ride, and I was looking forward to passing by the several campgrounds, ponds and other natural sights I’d seen quickly by car several years ago. We checked the weather the day before, that morning and just before we left. The forecast called for partly cloudy skies with possible showers in the late afternoon. We started about 10:30 in the morning. About a half hour later, the sky turned very dark and the leaves on the trees started to blow upwards. Not a good sign in my experience. Without a word, we both turned around and picked up the pace. As with the ride on Rt 49, we realized the return trip was mostly downhill. While this should have been a relief, it actually was cause for more concern from a safety standpoint. It was only seconds after making our way back to the car that the sky opened up. I have never driven in such torrential rain. I was so thankful that I had worn my sunglasses. My original intent was to leave them in the car because I expected it would be shady on the road with all the tree cover. I thought better of it only to thwart the bugs from getting into my eyes. I’m sure I would not have been able to see without them as the rain was coming in from all directions. We wanted to get out of there quickly but safely which was difficult due to the road conditions. The amount of water running down the road combined with that on my sunglasses made it hard to see the ground in front of me. I was hitting all the divots I avoided on the way up. To make matters worse, a steady stream of cars started making there way up the road, presumably going back to their shelters, having been chased away from whatever outdoor activities they were enjoying. It was probably a good ten minutes before we got to our car. Were it not for my fear that thunder and lightning would begin, I think I might have enjoyed it. It was exhilarating. The thunder started right as we approached our car. Hastily, we got the bikes into the truck, tied them down and got into the cab. Water just poured out of my sneakers. We were soaked to the bone.

So, that got me thinking, what if thunder and/or lightning had started before we got back to the car. I wasn’t sure what to do. Would I be OK to keep going? Would the tires protect me? NO!! I did a bit of quick research since then and from everything I’ve read it is not safe to continue biking in weather that includes thunder and/or lighting. The advice is to get off and far away from your bike right away. The tires will not protect you. Everyone says to stay away from trees and water (ponds, lakes, rivers) and seek shelter. Well, that’s going to be difficult in places like Tripoli Rd. You are also supposed to avoid being out in the open (where you are the tallest object) and avoid being near anything made of metal. You are supposed to separate from your companions so as to risk everyone getting struck by lighting and no one being able to seek help. If there is no other better option, then the advice is to crouch down and make yourself small. I hope to not face this situation again, but if there is thunder and lightning, I think I may just decide to wave down one of the motorists and hope that “trail magic” is not something reserved just for Appalachian Trail hikers.

You can find more information on biking in bad weather here, here and here. Be safe out there!

JUGTOWN COUNTRY STORE

This well stocked market is located right in the Town Square at Waterville Valley. They carry a variety of groceries and other provisions which, I assume, is provided mainly for the residents and vacationers with kitchens as part of their accommodations. But they have plenty of other options for everyone else eating on the go: coffee and baked goods, soup/chili, pre-made deli sandwiches, cheese and crackers and other snacks, as well as a large selection of beer, wine and soft drinks. Many healthy and low-cost options compared to most restaurant fare. For our mid-ride break during a biking trip, we opted for a hummus and pretzel pack and a pre-made charcuterie board. We washed it down with a Smart Water and a Twisted Tea.

The Reason to Visit:  Large selection of grab and go food and beverage options that can be enjoyed in the center of town, so you can keep on enjoying the activities of the area.

Jugtown Country Store, 31 Village Rd., Waterville Valley