The North Country Experience Gift Card is officially back.
Buy it >> Here <<. Amazing gift for yourself or others!
GEAR LIBRARIES NOW OPEN IN
Bike the North Country is a 501(c)3 organization. We rely solely on grants and donations to fund our initiatives which include promoting and increasing bike safety, education, and accessibility while also increasing bike awareness and making information available for all riders. Please reach out if you want information on our specific goals and projects.
Welcome to Bike the North Country! We are New Hampshire’s year round cycling destination for all types of riding and riders. Whether you’re new to cycling, riding as a family, or out for a killer workout, we've got great rides for you. We have almost 100 miles of mountain bike trails, many of which are groomed for fat tire riding in the winter. Plus, we have some great rail trails and bike paths, and about 100 miles of great road routes that we’ll tailor to the type of ride you want. For those with disabilities and want to be on the road or trails we have adaptive bikes, guides and lessons through our amazing partner, Adaptive Sports Partners. We also have great amenities for riders – a gear library, rental, repair and gear shops, pump and repair stands where you need them, information kiosks, bike racks, and of course everything a rider needs – coffee shops, breweries and amazing ice cream, and of course some great bike-friendly lodging facilities.
We are officially a Bike Friendly Community!
The League of American Bicyclists certified the Tri-Town area of Bethlehem, Littleton, and Franconia as a Bike Friendly Community. We were one of only three communities nationwide that received a new certification!
This only happened through the hard work of a lot of people in the area all committed to making cycling safer and more accessible. Look through our website as well as those of the trail networks and supporting businesses to see all the great things going on cycling related.
The League of American Bicyclists certified the Tri-Town area of Bethlehem, Littleton, and Franconia as a Bike Friendly Community. We were one of only three communities nationwide that received a new certification!
The Poker Run Was a BLAST!
We held the annual Chris Huyler Fat Tire Poker Run over Valentines Day weekend (what better way to show your love for your bike) and had a blast.
There was plenty of great riding thanks to a real winter and all our amazing groomers, and the turnout was fantastic.
Everyone had a great time, laughing, riding, playing in the snow, finding some poker chips, getting great prizes, but really, just enjoying having so many people that appreciate the beauty of fat tire riding in the winter was just amazing!
OUR GEAR LIBRARIES
HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR WINTER
We now have locations in Bethlehem, Littleton and Franconia!
We’re ready for a winter outdoors – are you?
All three sheds have fat tire bikes, snowshoes, micro spikes and trekking poles to get you outdoors this winter. All three also have kids gear too!
And of course we have helmets that you can borrow; never ride anywhere without one!
The gear is all free to borrow, so go to the Gear Library and get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and the amazing outdoor resources of the North Country!
And don’t forget, in non-winter seasons we also have mountain bikes, fat tire bikes, gravel bikes and so far, Bethlehem and Littleton have e-assist bikes that you can borrow too. Need to run some errands – borrow an e-bike, it’s so much more fun than driving!
The Bethlehem shed is located in the parking lot at the Bethlehem Elementary School on Main Street.
The Littleton shed is located on the rail trail at Cottage St – across the street from the Little Grille.
And the Franconia shed is located on Easton Road across the street from the Franconia Inn.
And if you need gear to keep warm while outdoors, don’t forget to check out Franconia Basecamp as they always have a great selection.
All three sheds were placed in their locations with the generous support of the landowners (BES, Little Grille, and Franconia Inn). Please be sure to thank them, be considerate of their property, and visit the businesses often to show support!
SAVE THE
DATE
It’s time to start thinking ahead for all your warm weather events. Here are a few to get you started:
May is Bike Month! Stay tuned for lots of events coming your way, including everyone’s favorite – Bike Bingo!!
The Trans New Hampshire Ride for Muscular Dystrophy: June 26 – 28, 2026
The Trans-NH Bike Ride is a fully supported 1, 2, or 3-day exploration of New Hampshire roads, scenery and fire stations. Its mission is to raise funds and awareness for people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related neuromuscular diseases.
Top Notch Triathlon: Saturday August 1, 2026
This is always the ultimate mountain adventure race – are you up for the challenge this year? Start training and get ready to conquer the course! Registration is open and can be found at: https://www.gsrs.com/node/5982
The Highs and Lows Tour: August 8, 2026
This is a one-day cycling event to raise awareness for mental health illness and suicide prevention while helping to break down stigmas around mental health. As you know, this is something we believe strongly in.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
That’s the date we’re hosting our family friendly, 30 mile bike ride for mental health awareness and suicide prevention in the North Country.
The ride will start and end at Cannon Mountain and go through Franconia, Littleton and Bethlehem.
We’ll have music, food trucks, refreshments and lots of information and fun.
Concerned you can’t ride 30 miles? We’re working with Franconia Basecamp so you can rent an e-assist bike from them and pick it up right at the start line. No excuses not to join in the fun and to support and incredible cause.
Stay tuned for more information.
More North Country Businesses Are Recognized As Bike Friendly
Not only is the tri-town area of Bethlehem, Littleton and Franconia a certified Bike Friendly Community, we just got word that two more organizations were certified by the League of American Bicyclists as Bike Friendly. The brings the total to 19 businesses and organizations, in addition to the tri-town area of Bethlehem, Franconia and Littleton being certified as a Bike Friendly!
Be sure to congratulate Lahouts who was certified as “gold.” They’ve done so much for such a long time to promote outdoor activities in our community; it’s in their blood! They’re always supporters of bike events, the gear libraries, and anything we want to do with biking, and they’re involved in local biking boards and help promote as well as volunteer at biking events. Did we mention it’s in their blood?!
And the Littleton Coop received a “silver” certification. They’ve been a great partner to the biking community as we’ve built out the biking infrastructure in the area. Early on they worked with us to put in whole biking area at the Coop including a bike and repair station, new bike racks, as well as maps and information about all the biking resources in the area. And through their partner of the month program, as well as through generous donations, they have always supported our cycling organizations. And just wait to see what they’re up to for bike month… always so much going on!
As a reminder, when we started this, there were only seven bike friendly organizations in the whole state, and none in the North Country! There are now 27 statewide, and 19 of those are in the North Country!
If your business or organization wants to learn more about becoming certified Bike Friendly, please reach out to us at the “contact” button at the top of this page.
Below is a list of all our certified bike friendly organizations – be sure to stop in and let them know that we all appreciate all that they do.
- Littleton Bike and Fitness – Gold
- Adaptive Sports Partners – Gold
- Bike the North Country – Gold
- Bethlehem Trails Association – Gold
- FA NEMBA – Gold
- PRKR MTN Trails – Gold
- Unspoken Bike – Gold
- Lahout’s – Gold
- Franconia Basecamp – Silver
- White Mountain Bike – Silver
- Rek-Lis Brewing – Silver
- Franconia Inn – Silver
- Iron Furnace Brewery – Silver
- North Country Council – Silver
- Littleton Coop – Silver
- Profile Regional School
- Littleton High School
- Crumb Bum Bakery – Bronze
- Riverglen House – Bronze
Seven Miles of New Adaptive Bike Trails Debut in the North Country
Bethlehem Trails Association officially announced the completion of seven miles of upgraded adaptive-friendly mountain bike trails on BTA’s network thanks to the incredible collaboration with @adaptivesportspartners
This project, completed by the @dirt_slangers upgrades the existing network, making the lower town and river trails (all except Logan’s Run) adaptive-friendly so riders of all abilities can enjoy them.
With support from the Neil & Louise Tillotson Fund and Athletic Brewing Co., these trails were built to meet adaptive standards and are great for all.
This is a big step forward in making outdoor recreation accessible to ALL.
The Caledonian Record published a story on Oct 5, 2025.
Bike Assistance
Need any kind of assistance for ride or bike related resources – see our new tab “Assistance” for lots of information including:
- Where you can find local restrooms
- Repair stand and pump locations
- On-the-road quick bike repair instructions
- Local bike shops
- Where to rent or borrow a bike
- No rider left behind
- Bike Information Kiosks
10 Things that Make Biking the North Country so Great
- Three great trail networks with over 100 miles of trails for all levels
- Amazing road and gravel riding across hundreds of miles of roads in the scenic White Mountains
- No rider left behind – a program to pick up riders that need help on their bike (see details below)
- A rail trail that stretches 30 miles from Bethlehem to Woodsville (part of the XNHAT)
- The Franconia Bike path
- Free loaner bikes and helmets for all ages through our Gear Library located in three towns – Bethlehem, Littleton and Franconia
- Lots of great gear and rental shops in a small area including Littleton Bike and Fitness, Franconia Basecamp, White Mountain Bike Shop, Unspoken Bike Shop, and Drummond’s Mountain Shop
- Fantastic supporting businesses like Rek-Lis Brewing, Iron Furnace Brewery, Crumb Bum Bakery, Maia Papaya, Super Secret Ice Cream, The Little Grille, Rosa Flamingos, Franconia Inn, Thayers Inn, and The Wayside, and other great places to eat and stay
- Supporting resources throughout the area including 16 bike repair and pump stations, information kiosks, bike racks, and free maps in the community
- A great partnership with Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country so everyone can ride including miles of aMTB certified trails
No Rider Left Behind
Ever have a flat tire or a mechanical that you just can’t fix while on the road or trails? E-mail us at BiketheNorthCountry@gmail.com or text us at 603-991-1413 and if you’re in the Tri-Town area we’ll do what we can to get someone there to give you a ride home or to a bike shop. Riders helping riders – that’s what it’s all about!
New and Improved North Country Cycling Maps
Bike the North Country Recommended Rides
- We promised to start posting some good riding routes, so here’s our first pass. We welcome road and gravel suggestions from others as well, just e-mail them to us at BikeTheNorthCountry@gmail.com. Click here for a full route description.
- Easier ride: Franconia Out-and-Back: Route 116. 18 miles for full ride and 700 feet of elevation gain. >> Link to download ride
- Easier ride: Bethlehem/Carroll Out-and Back: Route 302. 23.6 miles (for full ride) and 1,000 feet of elevation gain
- Easy to moderate: Littleton Lollipop. 19 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation gain >> Link to Download Ride
- Easy to moderate: Bethlehem/Littleton/Whitefield Figure 8. 17.5 miles and 1,100 feet of elevation gain
- Moderate: Littleton/Bethlehem Loop. 18.5 miles and 1,250 feet of elevation gain. >> Link to download road
- Moderate: Bethlehem/Twin/Trudeau Loop: 18.7 miles and 1,100 feet of elevation gain
- Moderate: Bethlehem/Franconia/Cannon Mountain/Littleton Loop: 24.2 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain
- Advanced: Sugar Hill Loop. 23.8 miles and 1,700 feet of elevation gain.
- Advanced: Littleton/Whitefield/Twin Mountain/Bethlehem Loop. 32.5 miles and elevation gain of about 2,300 feet >> Link to download ride
- Advanced: North Conway Out-and-Back. 85.5 miles and 5,300 feet of elevation gain.
Mixed Terrain Routes
Littleton: Mann’s Hill to Forest Lake Loop 20.6 miles with about 2,150 feet of elevation gain
Littleton: Slater Ledge to Partridge Lake Loop 27.7 miles with about 2,700 feet of elevation gain
Bethlehem: Wing Road/River Road to Trudeau Road/Swazey Lane Loop 14.7 miles with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain
Bethlehem: Lewis Hill Road, South Road, Cherry Valley loop 17.0 miles with about 1,750 feet of elevation gain
Franconia: Mt. Eustis Road Loop 23.25 miles with about 2,150 feet of elevation gain
Franconia: Pearl Lake Loop 27.4 miles with about 2,800 feet of elevation gain
Mountain Biking Routes
Bethlehem Trails – enter at the end of Elm Street (Where Super Secret Is)
Beginner >
Start at the trail head at the end of Elm Street (it’s at the end of the parking lot, by the kiosk).
Ride People’s Court, follow it onto Railroad Lady, across to Ryan’s Revenge, and then do Clay Pigeon. If you want to ride some more, keep going on the snow mobile trail until you get to Caddyshack and then do an out and back.
For a slightly more advanced route, add in Water in the Woods.
Start at the trail head at the end of Elm Street (it’s at the end of the parking lot, by the kiosk).
Ride People’s Court, follow it onto Railroad Lady, across to Ryan’s Revenge, and then instead of doing Clay Pigeon, head straight on Ryan’s Revenge towards Harkless. It’s a fun downhill and not a very technical uphill. If you want to ride some more, keep going on the snow mobile trail crossing the street and do Water of the Woods and then Caddyshack out and back.
You can also skip any of those trails and head to Belly Roll or Ripple – both fun downhills, and then you ride along the river on Ammo and up Gruntless which is a good climb with a few technical spots.
Intermediate / Advanced Routes >
- Do any of the intermediate routes, but add in the black diamond downhill trail – Logan’s Run, that connects to Ammo and then Gruntless back up.
Advanced Routes >
- Ride Logan’s Run – it’s a new, fun and fast black diamond downhill and then a great ride along the river on Ammo and up Gruntless,.
- Spend a lot of your time across the street and head up Mt. Agassiz on Truckin’ and then you have a lot to choose from at the top of the mountain including Into The Wild, Cry Baby, Cry Harder, Fast Times, Shoulder Roll or Broke Down Palace. Make a fun day by trying them and looping to the summit. Also make sure to follow directional arrows, all of these are one way trails!
PRKR MTN Trails (Park at the top of School Street Littleton NH)
PRKR Mountain has a variety of easier, fun beginner rides, great intermediate rides, and plenty of riding for advanced riders too. Their trails have a combination of classic New England old school tech trails with a mixture of machine built flow trails.
Click here for a variety of options for the type of riding you want to do.
It's an incredible feeling of freedom to be able to bike from my house in downtown Littleton to access a network of mountain bike trails (PRKR) with beautiful forest and clear signage. We also have easy access to the rail trail and river walk in town. We feel very lucky to live here."
Angela