VT-12 runs from Hartland north to Morrisville and is a typical Vermont country road with a mixture of sweepers, straights and curves through a combination of woods and open farm.
Riding from the south you can use VT-106 to join VT-12 at Woodstock. Woodstock Vermont is a nice tourist town with interesting shops, places to eat and tourist events. Woodstock provides all of the amenities that an out-of-state traveler might need.
Coming into Woodstock on 106 can be confusing. As you enter town on VT-106, go right at the town green and then straight to the Woodstock downtown. Follow the signs for US4 east and VT-12 will be a left.
A short distance east from Woodstock on US-4 is the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, VINS Nature center in Quechee Gorge. VINS has an outdoor preserve for injured birds of prey. This is a worthy stop if eagles, hawks and falcons are cool to you.
VT-12 travels through Bethel VT, where you can find the typical small-town Vermont amenities. Tozier’s Restaurant is a short hop west of the VT-12/VT-107 intersection. Toziers serves great seafood, homemade dinners, onion rings and crèmes. They also have a covered outdoor seating area. From Tozier's continue west to join VT-100 or backtrack east to rejoin VT-12.
Just North of Bethel, VT-12 intersects Bethel Mountain Rd – a short, twisty road with high views. Bethel Mountain Road can be used to cut-off VT-107and connect into VT-100 at Rochester.
The next major town in a south-north ride is Randolph. Randolph is a medium size Vermont town with a variety of shops and food choices.
For a less traveled route north, try VT-12a. This alternate route is longer than VT-12 proper, but adds curves and has less traffic. In the summer of 2009 there were new sections of pavement and the overall ride quality was very good.
The intersection for VT-12a is before you enter the Randolph "downtown". There are few services on VT-12a, so if you need fuel or food, stick to VT-12.
In Randolph, VT-66 provides a cut-over to VT-14 and provides a looping route with that road.
North of Randolph the road takes on a woodsier feel as it runs along the western edge of Allis State Park. This is my favorite section of this road. Baker Pond in Orange is a small fishing pond that has a parking area and is a good place to get off the bikes and walk around.
Adjacent to Baker Pond is VT-65 which has the famous floating bridge in Brookfield (video). This is literally a bridge that is floating on – or is it in – the water. When we were there in 2009 the bridge was closed. The bridge surface was green and slime covered and was poorly matched with my Power Pilots. Personally, I would not recommend this as a route. The bridge is an interesting side-trip, however, and worth the adventure to get there.
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VT-12 runs through Montpelier’s downtown. Montpelier – Vermont’s capital city -- offers a strong variety of food, shopping and attractions and makes for a great rest stop.
North of Montpelier, VT-12 returns to open country roads and few towns. Run this north to Morrisville, where VT-12 intersects with VT-100 and VT-15.
VT-100 Alternatives
Key Mileage (approximate)
- Plainfield to Woodstock - 11 miles
- Woodstock to Bethel - 12 miles
- Bethel to Randolph - 11 miles
- Randolph to VT-65/Baker Pond - 4 miles
- Baker Pond to Montpelier - 16 miles
- Montpelier to Lake Elmore - 22 miles
Map
