Trying to talk a couple of buddies in Newfoundland into coming up for a week of vacation, and taking them riding. I know a few great places to ride but I’m curious: what would YOUR dream NS riding week look like? Empire? Keppoch? Others?
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Fight and Whopper might be distinctive but maybe not to someone from NL.
Fitz is big on my list too.
Do a day in the Valley, Gorge, P2, Pumphouse and bird sanctuary. Maybe the Reservoir on the way home. Empire is fun. Fight is unique.
Fitz
Fight
Keppoch
The Gorge
Whopper
That would be my top 5
Keppoch
Woodville
Empire
Grey Mountain
Victoria Park
then either Irishman’s, Wolfville Reservoir or Anima Mundi as they are really only good for an hour or so.
For the most fun, I would recommend going with a rider who knows the trails well, else you spend too much time trying to figure out where you are, which turn to take, and climbing the downhills or vise versa.
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Don’t forget Wentworth.
In addition to the ones above I would include Cape Split.
If you do Cape Split in the summer, do it at night during the week. Otherwise, it’s stop and go and you have the potential to piss off hikers.
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From personal experience:
the valley (gorge, P2, Bird Sanctuary, Woodville)
Fight for it’s uniqueness in the area.
Grey mountain
From what I’ve heard
Empire trails
Fitz
Victoria Park
Keppoch
Great trails, but shorter:
Irishmans
Mahone Bay
Wolfville Reservoir Park
Anima Mundi (can be included with a ride at Grey Mountain with the right guide)
Can do a killer ride from Wolfville, to Woodville hitting up pretty much all of the trails.
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You could start in Grey Mountain and then ride Bishopville Road to Gasperaux and then do Anima Mundi and Res Park as well. Depending, of course, on how much time/motivation you had for riding between trail systems.
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Is Grey Mountain really that great?
(I’ve never been, but I haven’t heard much about it until recently.)
Went once in the winter and really enjoyed it… worth checking out for sure.
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Yes… old school trails, narrow, technical and fun! A fair bit of climbing, but it is the valley afterall!
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Evil Birch type climbing or longer x2 or more?
Longer for sure. But it is dirt singletrack/doubletrack as opposed to granite rock.
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Was out the other night at Grey Mountain with the Banks Bikes ride.
**Massive Disclaimer ** I am a novice MTB rider. It was my first group ride after a few shakedown rides with my new hardtail.
It’s technical. There’s lots of elevation change - some if it is steep. It’s also rooty and rocky. As I said after coming through a particularly steep descent…“If I had any skills, this would be fun”
After about 90 minutes (?) of riding, I was cooked. If you like old school technical trails, I think it’s probably really good. Keeps you honest. Probably too hard for my first re-entry into MTB, but I survived.
EDIT: Also, there’s been a lot of new trail development there recently, so that’s why you are only really hearing about it more now. Some of the new trail might need some ‘seasoning’ as well.
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Depends on what they ride in NL…
I have ridden on the west coast near Corner Brook and the trails there are sweet but somewhat similar to what we have here in the Valley, Victoria Park, Fitz, etc. If they are coming from the Avalon, I have heard the riding there is a little different.
Fight is truly unique compared to the other riding available here in NS, so I would say it is a must. Otherwise, even though other trails might not be “unique”, there is lots of fun to be had. Personally, I love Empire, Victoria Park, The Gorge and Fitz, but all personal preferences. Obviously systems with variety are nice so that you can get a nice ride in without having to ride sections over and over, which can get boring. Cape Split is a beautiful ride too, but timing is tough there due to hikers using it as well.
I am sure you can put together some rides that your buddies will be happy with no matter what you do…
Grey Mtn is fun I like it a lot, rough but with enough elevation change to make it not a slog on the way down. @JeffV more climbing than evil birch for sure, the main climb up Eldridge Rd (atv/jeep doubletrack) for me is 15 minutes of pure climbing at a moderate/higher pace. But could easily be 20 to 30 minutes depending on your style or more if you take the singletrack side trails on the way up. The hammerheads do it in under 10 min.
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