These are my neighbourhood trails, less than a kilometre to the paths leading to the trails and under two kilometres to the actual dirt trails. That being said, It was not until I undertook this mapping project that I actually managed to ride all of the trails. As you can see from the map there is a complex network of interconnected trails, at least half of which are unofficial and not on the NCC map.
The trails lie between Bridlewood and Bells Corners and are accessible from parking lots P5 on Eagleson Road across from the Hazeldean Mall, and P6 on Richmond Road, as well as from numerous trail entrances within the two communities.
These are great trails for someone starting out in mountain biking because they provide a wide range of difficulty from easy flat gravel trails to intermediate level rooty and rocky trails.
At P5 we have the main Old Quarry Trail, Trail 23. Within it are two easy gravel loops that are great to start the young ones out on and great for riding in the spring when the dirt trails are muddy. Connected to these is a slightly harder dirt loop leading to Trail 24 at the back of Old Quarry and an intermediate level rocky and rooty trail near the centre that connects to the Trans-Canada Trail. There is also a somewhat hidden and very interesting trail, very technical in places, that reminds me of Middle Earth.
When you leave Trail 23 and travel down Trail 24 you will find a series of trails on the west side of the trail that are all unofficial trails and are not heavily used. In places these trails really have the feeling of being deep in the bush. While not extremely root or rocky they can be quite narrow and twisty through the bush.
On the east side of Trail 24 you will find the Roller Coaster Trail. Ride it and you will know how it got its name. It intersects with the Rideau Trail and the section that goes north and connects to the Trans-Canada Trail at the trestle at Robertson Road can be fairly technical in places. In that section of trails near Bells Corners are a mixture of trails, some easy, some intermediate.
Probably the most technical sections of trail in the system are the two parts of Trail 25 between Trail 24 and P6 and Trail 25 and P6, especially climbing up through the rooty and rocky sections.
Across from P6 you will find a trail that provides access to the Lime Kiln Trail System.
The descriptions above do not really do justice to just how enjoyable it is to ride these trails. There are portions that are technically challenging and portions you can just race around in. You can literally spend a whole day in here just tooling around on your bike. But remember to always be respectful of other trail users.
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.
Posted 2009-06-02
Updated 2011-10-11
1 comments:
Thanx for doing this. I'm a mycophile and geocacher that had recently found these trails but couldn't get much trail info from google maps. This is just what I was looking for!!
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