“Cycling up here is like the ultimate powder day,” my dad, Mr. Scarola, said just before departing on a gravel bike ride during my freshman move-in weekend. He was so consumed by the beauty of the Upper Valley that he got lost in the Norwich woods without cell service. After a not-so-fun excursion to try to find him near Gile Mountain, a missed dinner reservation and a dorm room that still needed unpacking, I made a promise to my dad: For his future visits to campus, I would compile the best cycling routes in the Upper Valley.
My dad might be hopeless with biking directions in Norwich, but he was right to equate the region's outdoor adventure to a skier’s idea of heaven. Many Dartmouth students turn to all kinds of outdoor exercise such as cycling and running as their go-to destressors since the best trails seem to be right in our backyard.
To offer my dad — and the rest of the Dartmouth community — suggestions for routes in the Upper Valley, I turned to the experts to learn more about top cycling and running options near campus. John DeForest ’25, an avid cyclist and member of the triathlon and cycling teams, bikes “seven to eight times a week.”
While he grew up Nordic skiing and enjoys the outdoors, DeForest didn’t get into cycling until a Dartmouth friend brought him on a ride during his freshman year.
“One of my friends was like ‘you should come bike’ in the fall, and that’s how I got into it,” he said. “Then all the cycling friends shared routes and took me on rides.”
Hanover is also a major hub for running, with several routes accessible just off campus. Nathan Hammerschmitt Le Gal ’27, another member of the triathlon team, started his search for routes and trails early in his time at Dartmouth — looking at a campus map, he “figured out which roads seemed like [they would] be great to run on.”
“Through Strava [a workout app], you can look at the global heat map, and it shows you where people run or ride the most,” Le Gal said. “I’ve just tried out different paths and roads and seen what works best for me.”
According to Le Gal, two of the “classic” running routes near campus are Rip Road, a loop that begins at Alumni Gym and extends slightly longer than three miles, and Occom Pond, which is about a mile and can often serve as an ending to a longer run.
DeForest’s favorite cycling routes include Dogford, a popular 16-mile loop to the south of campus that he enjoys for its accessibility to all skill levels.
Le Gal’s favorite running route, River Road, begins just across Ledyard Bridge and continues through Vermont alongside the Connecticut River. While a defining characteristic of the Upper Valley terrain is its varying elevation, Le Gal added that he prefers River Road because it is “one of the flattest routes around.”
According to DeForest, elevation is a major factor in choosing what route he wants to ride on a given day.
“Along the [Connecticut] river is nice because you can always double back, and you know what it’s going to be like,” DeForest said. “If you want to plan a longer route, you can do some long gravel trails in Vermont or up to Stratford, [N.H.] if you go up the river.”
Carter Bartel ’27, who bikes both recreationally and with the cycling team, said he enjoys biking and running along the Connecticut River.
“It’s the only way to escape the hills in the Upper Valley,” he said. “If you want to avoid them, you can just go up and back along the river. Any time you go left or right into New Hampshire or Vermont, you just go up.”
For runners looking to challenge themselves with elevation, though, Le Gal suggests running in Norwich.
“There’s this great hill that’s actually 800 feet of climbing. It’s called Bragg Hill,” Le Gal said.
Bartel also said he enjoys biking that same route, explaining that the hills are worthwhile for the views of the Upper Valley.
“When you’re looking for a short, hour-ish long ride, the best thing to do is Bragg Hill,” he explained. “It’s a gravel road up for about six miles and then pavement down for the rest of the ride.”
I have discovered some of my favorite running routes with other people. The miles seem to fly by when my friends and I blast music on our phones and push each other, always ending with a jump in the river to cool off. So maybe my dad was on to something when he left campus with nothing but his bicycle and a desire to explore the beautiful surroundings of Hanover.
