Monaghan Forest Trails

The Monaghan Forest Trails are almost in my back yard yet I was unaware of them for years. This is likely because they are not on any of the National Capital Commission (NCC) maps nor on the list of City of Ottawa conservation areas, although an after the fact search discovered mentions on several bird watching sites. I have a fellow mountain biker to thank for suggesting I check them out.

 

The Monaghan Forest Trails cover a variety of terrain from bush to grassy areas and includes forest roads, double track trails and even some technical single track.

The trails are located in a corner between Old Richmond Road, Fallowfield Road and Moodie Drive, north of Steeple Hill Crescent and south of a working quarry. You can access the trails from a parking lot on Fallowfield Road across from the Valleyview Little Animal Farm. There is also a parking lot on Alti Place, off of Moodie Drive.

Interestingly I did notice a few trees with what looked like NCC trail markers on them that the trees had grown over. They were also higher up the tree than normal suggesting they moved up with the trees growth. So if they were once NCC trails that was quite a few years ago.

Rideau Trail

The Rideau Trail runs through this area and interestingly the other maps I looked at do not agree on exactly where it goes. Even the official Rideau Trail map does not match where the trail goes according to the signage. The map on this website reflects the signage, the orange triangles used along the rest of the Rideau Trail.

Warning

At the end of Kyhmer Court where the Rideau Trail enters the Monaghan Forest Trails there is a trail going northeast in a loop with a spur off of it. That spur ends at a gravel road that goes around a working quarry. For some reason there is no fence at that point but the road clearly is on private property and should be avoided. I understand the road around the quarry goes dangerously close to the edge of the pit cliffs in places.

GPS gpx Files

The gpx file for this trail system (and other trail systems) can be downloaded by clicking the link below:

GPX files - Google Docs

If you do download the gpx file please email me at richardw.woodley@gmail.com and let me know so that I have an idea of how many people are downloading and using the files.

Photos

I hope to add photos or slide shows to each of the specific trail sections above in the future.

Posted 2016-09-03