This is not a "blog" in the sense of a daily journal but a place for me to post GPS trail maps of mountain biking and hiking trails, particularly but not exclusively, in the western Greenbelt in Ottawa, Ontario.

Hybrid & E-Bikeable Routes and National Capital Region Cycling Routes and Resources are also included on this site,

Date codes do not reflect actual posting dates but are manipulated to allow me to order the posts in a thematic order.

20001230

Jump Links to Trails

(note: maps are listed in a rough geographic order that sort of makes sense to me)

Latest Post:  Bridlewood, Bruce Pit & Britannia Loop Hybrid & E-Bikeable Route

Background - GPSing the Greenbelt Trails

Backroad Mapbooks GPS Map Review (Ontario)

Downloading and Using GPX files

Western Greenbelt Trails

Stony Swamp Conservation Area Trails

NCC Trail Closures Map

Old Quarry Trail System Remapped 2015 Updated 2020 & 2023

Lime Kiln Trail System Remapped 2015

Jack Pine & Trail 26 Trail System

Lytle Park Trail System

Monaghan Forest Trails

Trail 27 Trail System

Bruce Pit Trails

Hazeldean Woods Trails

Trails 20, 21 & Untrails Trail System

Trails 11 & 12 Trail System

Trail 10 Trail System
 
Carling Place (Former Nortel Networks Campus) Hybrid Rideable Paths and Trails

Stittsville Trail System

Stittsville “Jackson Trails” Trail System

South March Highlands Trails

South March Highlands Conservation Forest Intermediate Mountain Biking Trails

South March Highlands Kanata Lakes Trails

South March Highlands Beaver Pond, Trillium Woods & Shadow's Ridge Trails

Marlborough Forest Roads

Richard's Hybrid & E-Bikeable Routes - Introduction (& National Capital Region Cycling Routes and Resources)

Bridlewood to Stittsville Paths, Ponds and Creeks Hybrid & E-Bikeable Route

Bridlewood to Britannia and Return Hybrid & E-Bikeable Route

Bridlewood, Bruce Pit & Britannia Loop Hybrid & E-Bikeable Route 

Britannia, Ottawa River, Rideau Canal, Experimental Farm, Pinecrest Creek Pathways Hybrid & E-Bikeable Route  

Beyond Richard's GPS Trail Maps – Open Street Map and GPS Visualizer 

This is a work in progress. More maps will be added in the future.

Posted 2009-05-30
Updated 2023-10-13


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Richard, I've been enjoying your blog. I'm new to Ottawa, so no doubt I'll be enjoying your trail maps, come spring. Have you heard of google mapmaker? You can add your maps to become part of Google's publically-available maps. Also, a question... many people have told me mountain bikes aren't allowed on dirt trails on NCC lands. They walk their dogs there, so maybe they know something I don't. Or maybe it's a misconception, possibly based on headlines about e-bikes. I can't figure it out whether I'm allowed to bike on trails on NCC land, or not. A topic for your blog, maybe? Keep up the great work! Jennifer

rww said...

The following quote is taken from my blog post:

Why Mountain Biking Should Be Allowed on the Greenbelt Trails
Submission to the National Capital Commission Greenbelt Master Plan Review

http://the5thc.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-mountain-biking-should-be-allowed.html

from my blog, The Fifth Column - http://the5thc.blogspot.com/

The following statement, contained in an email from an NCC representative, dated May 12, 2006, makes it clear that the current NCC policy banning mountain biking on the Greenbelt trails is unenforceable.

"We know that there is a lot of interest in off-road riding on Greenbelt hiking trails. On the other hand, section (16) of the NCC Traffic & Property Regulations states..."No person shall ride a bicycle on property of the Commission other than a driveway or on a bicycle path set aside by the Commission for the purpose...". While we have not actively tried to enforce this particular regulation, we do not condone the practice. There are long-term impacts on the trails and surrounding area, particularly rutting, trail erosion, trail widening as users veer off the designated route to avoid ruts and muddy surface, and destruction of adjacent vegetation. In the winter, we want to discourage bike riders who may travel across groomed ski tracks."

How I interpret that and how it seems to work in practice is that mountain biking is not officailly allowed on the Greenbelt trails but is unofficially tolerated.

More at the link above.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I'd read both of those posts, but I was really hoping that was an old policy! I enjoyed your argument for why bikes should be allowed. I guess I'll just take my chances, but how disappointing that the NCC would actually have such a policy.

That quote brings up an interesting point... is a driveway different from a bicycle path? 'Bicyle path' isn't defined in the regulations or in the NCC act. If so, their regulations on speeding don't cover bicycle paths, only driveways. Not that I'm planning on being reckless, but that 20 km/h limit isn't going to be happening most of the time, and it would be nice to know if they can ticket me, or if it's more of a suggestion.

rww said...

Actually they define a "driveway" as anyplace a vehicle is allowed and since bicycles are vehicles that would include bike paths, although normally driveway refers to the NCC parkways.

As to the 20 km/hr limit - in some ways it's irrelevant. if there is no pedestrian traffic on the pathway you can safely go a lot faster and if there is a lot of pedestrian traffic on the pathway you should be going a lot slower than 20 km/hr.

I would not worry about mountain biking on the trails, just respect the trails and other users.

You might want to check out http://ottawamba.org

If you have more questions you can email me directly at richardw.woodley@gmail.com

FlexFulton said...

Great work Richard. I've been riding in the Stony Swamp area for a couple of years and I also enjoy geocaching out on these trails.

I've got a pretty good idea in my head of a few sections you have mapped out but it's always nice to see them laid out on an arial map. I'll be sure to download your work to my GPS for future use.

Do you still get out to ride these trails often? Things are looking pretty good so far this spring.

Cheers and thanks again.

rww said...

Everything seems to be about a month ahead of things this season. I've been on the trails a few times but mostly I'm riding my hybrid right now to get ready for the CN Cycle for CHEO.

FlexFulton said...

Right on brother! Good luck on your ride for CHEO.

Happy riding! Maybe I'll run into you (not literally though) some day out in the swamp!

Keep on peddling!

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Richard W. Woodley was born in Sudbury, Ontario in 1950. He earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Laurentian University where he was the News Editor of the student newspaper Lambda and active in student politics. He was active in the New Democratic Party and Waffle in Sudbury and Kanata, as well as Kanata municipal politics. He was a member of the Bridlewood Residents Hydro Line Committee (BRHLC) and creator of the now archived Bridlewood Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) Information Service. He worked on Parliament Hill for 33 years indexing the Debates of the House of Commons (Hansard) and it's committees. Richard has been an outdoorsperson and environmentalist for most of his life and a life long cyclist who also mountain bikes.