The Colchester Causeway is a 3.5-mile marble crossing linking Colchester Point to Allen’s Point in South Hero, Vermont. The Rutland Railroad opened the Island Line in 1901 to connect the Vermont mainland to the Champlain Islands, and it was then hailed as the world’s longest railroad causeway. For half a century, it served as Grande Isle County residents’ main link to Burlington and beyond. Passenger rail service ended in 1955, and the last freight train used the route in 1961. Planning to convert it into a recreation trail began in 1980, and in December 2010 the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy inducted the Island Line Trail into its national trails Hall of Fame in recognition of its spectacular attributes and decades of collaborative work among towns, the State of Vermont, and trail advocates. Five months later, record-high Lake Champlain flooding heavily damaged the causeway, closing it for two seasons, but FEMA relief funding covered 80 percent of the repairs and local organizations and towns covered the remaining 20 percent. The “Big Fix” was completed by June 2013, and by 2016 nearly 12,000 people used the Local Motion Bike Ferry, which runs from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.

Colchester, Vermont · USA