Welcome to The Vineyard, we hope you brought your bicycle!
Beaches and Bicycles, a Vineyard classic combo. But there’s so many more places to ride a bicycle! It’s a great way to avoid the horrendous summer traffic and enjoy a cool breeze. Many visitors arrive to the island via ferry in Oak Bluffs and rent bicycles for the easy and super scenic ride to Edgartown and back, mostly along the water on a separated bikepath. However, there is amazing riding all over the island and figuring out how to connect it all is a beautiful part of the fun!
A few island basics:
Please do not ride on Barnes Road! There is just no need to ride on this tight road with really fast moving cars, blind corners and skinny shoulders. It is used as a speed highway for many island folks and likely has the fastest moving cars of any road on the island. It really is a horrible road to ride on, but it is also easily avoidable outside the world of Google Maps!
Barnes Road from Edgartown/Vineyard Haven to County Road has shoulderless blind curves and cars routinely speed over the 40mph speed limit. Using the nearby Old County Road bike-path is a great alternative and both routes connect downtown Oak Bluffs to Edgartown/Vineyard Haven Road.
Barnes Road from Edgartown/West Tisbury Road to Edgartown/Vineyard Haven Road has an adjacent bikepath it’s entire length with very few driveway crossings. It’s a great bikepath, even for roadies. It literally parallels the road and cars usually drive well over the speed limit on this section too.
Waterbottle Refill Stations Across the Island The Vineyard Conservation Society’s Take Back the Tap campaign’s goal is to make it easy, convenient, and rewarding to refill — not rebuy. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, refill stations were first installed in every Island school and later expanded to beaches, libraries, town halls, and ferry terminals. With more than 20 refill stations now in operation, the network continues to grow.
MV Land Bank Property Guide A great link to an amazing amount of land overseen by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank can be found here . They also have an amazing, GPS based app for your phone as well. Everyone visiting or living on MV should have this amazing app on their phone. Super, super useful, informative and easy to use.
If words like mixed terrain, gravel routes and underbiking stir up some anticipation and excitement in your soul, then ride on over to the Martha’s Gravel page for the durty stuff. There are hundreds of miles of amazing riding here on the island; beautiful back roads, single-track, paved bike paths and gravel roads for days. Paved bikepaths and multi-use paths connect Edgartown, Katama, Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. Scores more dirt trails and singletrack connect these same towns as well as the Up Island towns of West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah.
Bicycle Routes on Martha’s Vineyard:
Three Lighthouses in Three Towns Tour. The Paved Route
Three lighthouses in three different towns! This 32 mile route with only 800 feet of elevation gain is a great way to visit the three major towns of the island. Ride it straight through or take the day to enjoy the scenery and eat and snack along the way.
Three Lighthouses in Three Towns Tour…The Spicey Gravel Route
Three lighthouses in three different towns! Simply calling this 35 mile route a gravel route would be unfair and inaccurate. It is a typical Martha’s Vineyard mixed terrain route with dirt roads, backroads, busy roads, doubletrack, easy singletrack and everything in between. Ride it straight through or take the day to enjoy the scenery and eat and snack along the way.
Oak Bluffs to Edgartown and Katama
This is probably the most popular casual bicycle ride on the island, ridden by hundreds of people every summer day. It is mostly bike-path and a very flat ride connecting the island’s two biggest towns.
No Bike Ferry? Gravel Ride-Around
Sometimes, unfortunately, it happens. The Bike Ferry isn’t running. Most folks backtrack up North Road and take a right onto Menemsha Road and right onto State Road. But there is a way to avoid a bunch of cars and pavement if you’re on the right bike. And it hasn’t rained heavily recently!
i love riding bicycles 