A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

We make a left on Salmon Kill Road and begin the most beautiful five-mile section of the route through rolling hills and beautiful farm country spread out over the length of the scenic valley. Fortunately, the Salmon Kill Bridge has been reopened after a two-year reconstruction — its lengthy closure was a real bummer.

After a short climb and descent, Salmon Kill terminates at Lime Rock Road.

This is the busiest and least enjoyable section of the ride, but lasts only about a mile when we turn left at the Trinity Lime Rock Episcopal Church and follow Dugway Road, with its rolling hills along the south side of the Housatonic River.

We usually stop on the Falls River Bridge to check out the volume of water flowing over the Great Falls. We make a right off the bridge on to Water Street, pass the power plant and Appalachian Trail parking lot, and go under the railroad bridge with a sharp left up a steep but short hill north on Route 126 (Point of Rocks Road.)

Now we’re on a long, flat run that includes a slight right on Sand Road, which we follow all the way to Route 7 at the Canaan Country Club. A left here leaves you on a very busy state highway less than a mile before turning right onto Lower Road — be careful — but there’s plenty of shoulder.

Lower Road runs parallel to the Blackberry River and passes both modern and historic local industry: the impressive lime rock quarry operated by Specialty Minerals Inc., followed by the Beckley Iron Furnace State Park.

Next, we make a left on the appropriately named Furnace Road, across Route 44 — careful again — and face a steep but short climb up Allyndale Rd. Following it to the left begins a long stretch of beautiful farms and distant views of the Southfield and New Marlborough hills. We pick up a lot of speed downhill, zip past Sodom Road, and then a flat stretch to Clayton Road and into Massachusetts.

Continue straight (north) on Polikoff Road, then make a left onto Hewins Road if you want to keep the ride short. Alternatively, you could turn right on Hewins Road and follow it to Maple and into Sheffield to add another 5 to 10 miles.

But, if you’re sticking with the 32-mile ride, turn left on Hewins and take it across Route 7, followed by a left on Main Street and into Ashley Falls’ bucolic town center.

The right turn on Rannapo Road takes us along and across the winding Housatonic River ,where we watch the corn grow from seedlings to more than six feet by late summer.

Next is a left on to the daunting Cooper Hill Road — the steepest and only tough climb of the route. The effort is rewarded by spectacular 360-degree views, including the mountains of the Taconic Ridge and Appalachian Trail to the west.

A left onto Silver Road leads to the payoff: two steep descents, a view of the Twin Lakes on the left, and arrival at stately Taconic Road, home to some of Salisbury’s grandest old estates. A left on Taconic Road offers more rolling farm hills and beautiful views of the Taconic Ridge.

It terminates at Route 44, where we make a right (west) and let the long, steep descent carry us all the way into Salisbury, past the White Hart Inn and back to our starting point at Town Hall.

That’s the route: a relatively flat 1,500 feet of climbing with minimal car traffic. We usually reward ourselves with post-ride refreshments on the White Hart lawn.

I hope you enjoy this local gem of a ride!

Kent Hiteshew is a Salisbury cyclist.