Marlborough Forest Roads

My first experience with the Marlborough Forest was in trying to follow the Rideau Trail through the forest and map it with my GPS. I started following it with the Rideau Trail map along the forest roads till it went off onto single track and almost immediately became a messy mud hole with signs of some kind of tractor or ATV traffic. It was clearly not rideable and an unsustainable route. I then decided to just start by mapping the forest roads.


The closest access point to Kanata is along Kettles Road south of Richmond, near the rail line not far from the South end of Munster Road. There is also a small parking area at the end of O'Neil Road and a large parking lot along Roger Stevens Drive.

Over several days I followed all the interconnecting roads starting from Kettles Road. There may be other roads in the forest that do not connect to these roads. The roads are closed to motorized traffic during the summer period due to fire hazard but are open during the spring and fall and open to snowmobiles in the winter. These are rough forest roads and I would be cautious driving them, although trucks and SUVs with high clearance should have no problems.

Biking through the forest you do feel like you are in the wilderness. The only drawback is that the width of the roads partly detracts from the experience. If it was single track it would be wonderful. The real advantage is that you cannot do any harm riding them when they are wet and muddy, during those times when the MTB trails are too wet and muddy to ride. They really are fun to tool around on and there is lots of distance to cover. I learned that when I had to walk my bike back to the parking area with a broken chain.


There are a lot of side trails and cart tracks off the roads. I don't think much of it could really be described as single track but there is still a lot more in the system for me to explore and map with my GPS. So hopefully these maps will be updated in the future.

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 2009-09-10
Updated 2011-04-10

Richard's Hybrid & E-Bikeable Routes - Introduction

This section of the website differs from the rest as it does not involve comprehensive maps of pathway systems, like my trail system maps, as they already exist and will be linked to below.

Since I ride my E-Bike (previously my hybrid) on the local roads and paths, as well as my mountain bike on the trails I thought I would post some of my favourite routes for people that are looking for paved, or easy gravel or sand-dust, routes to ride. Since I ride both throughout the season I will not wait till I finish mapping all the trails to start posting these maps.

For specific hybrid & e-bikeable routes go back to the Jump Links. More routes and maps will come later but below see existing maps of the local pathway systems and cycling routes.

National Capital Region Cycling Routes and Resources

Routes and Maps, including Official Cycling Map for Ottawa-Gatineau and the Outaouais Region

Capital Pathway Network and Cycling - NCC

NOKIA Sunday Bikedays - NCC  

Cycling in the Greenbelt - NCC

Cycling in Gatineau Park - NCC

Winter Cycling Pilot Project - NCC

"Cycling" search - NCC website

Cycling (City of Ottawa)

Bike Ottawa Maps

 

Ottawa by Bike 

 

Hans on the Bike Ottawa Cycling in Ottawa (including Ottawa Cycling Maps) 

City of Ottawa Self Guided Cycling Tours of Rural Cycling Routes: CBC Article;  Maps

"Cycling" - search on City of Ottawa website

Kanata North Cycling Map

Kanata South Cycling Map 

Cycling in Ottawa (Ottawa Tourism)

Google Maps - Cycling Ottawa

Ottawa OpenStreetMap

Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail (Rail Trail)

Log Driver's Waltz Bikepacking Route - Ottawa Valley and Outaouais regions:  

Canadian Cycling Magazine Article & Website

 

OttawaVeloOutaouais – Biking around Ottawa and the Outaouais

GoBiking.ca (bike routes and rides in Ontario & Quebec, with emphasis on Ottawa-Gatineau area)
 
Ontario By Bike - Ottawa

GPS gpx Files

The gpx files for my hybrid routes can be downloaded by clicking this link:

GPX files - Google Docs

If you do not have a GPS unit you can still use the gpx files by loading them onto software that has background maps such as TopoFusion, or Google Earth, and see the detailed routes over the maps or satellite image.

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 2012-04-02
Updated 2024-04-20

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

When I fist started mountain biking one of the first things I noticed was the number of unofficial trails in the Greenbelt not on the NCC maps, or other maps that I was aware of. So I decided to make it a project to map all of the NCC trails in the Greenbelt, including those not on the NCC maps. I never did get beyond the western Greenbelt because there were enough places there to ride without heading to the far east of the city. However I did end up adding some trail systems not part of NCC lands. One commercial map source even requested to use my maps in their products, to which I agreed in exchange for a copy of the map my trail maps were included in.

Now that I have retired from mountain biking I will not be updating these maps anymore (although I intend to expand on the E-Bikeable routes section of this site). I hope people will still find value in the trail descriptions and slide shows that are not available elsewhere.

Fortunately there are now many free options for trail maps of the Greenbelt and other areas. One of the best is the “community driven” Open Street Map project. Despite it’s name it has excellent trail coverage. Their coverage of the Old Quarry Trail System, which I am most familiar with, is excellent.

There are a number of sites where one can download maps based on Open Street Map data. The one I find the most convenient and easiest to use to download maps to load on my Garmin GPS and to install on my computer for use with BaseCamp or MapSource is Open Map Chest. You can download the Open Map Chest Canada map here.

I also discovered another map site, 4Umaps, that looks like it may be interesting, but more complicated. It may be worth examining further.

For those that like to create maps of the tracks of their rides or hikes to share, using the gpx or gdb files, there is an excellent web site, GPS Visualizer, that allows you to do this. It uses a number of different background maps, some based on Open Street Map, and includes topographical and relief maps and satellite imagery. I usually go directly here to create my GPS visualizer maps and then take a screenshot of the results.

 Open Map Chest Canada Sample Map Showing Track of a Ride

 

GPS Visualizer Sample Maps (not all options are shown) Showing Track of a Ride

ArcGIS Hybrid

 

ArcGIS Street Map

Canada Toporama

Open Street Map

 

OSM 4UMaps

OSM Topo

 

Posted:2023-10-08