It’s a rainy day ECMTBers, pull up a chair, grab a coffee and let’s discuss the top five trails in each of the maritime provinces. I took a look at Trailforks and grabbed the top five from each province for comparison.
Please bear in mind that the trailforks top 5, like this list will be, is purely subjective. It’s based on rider ratings, so it’s subject to bias and could be manipulated.
Here’s the guidelines. List your top trails on the province you live in, and substantiate why your top trail is the top trail. At the end we will try to build some kind of top five list, then build some polls and see what the votes have to say.
This is just for fun, kinda lame, but just for fun. Be cool.
There are many trails I have yet to be on like those in Fundy, Edmundston, Cambellton, Bonshaw, and so on. I haven’t heard of most of the trials on the above list.
I can’t personally speak to Campbellton, but Fundy, Edmundston and Bonshaw are all a blast! Strath in PEI is also great if you have a local like @murrdogg to take you thru the best routes.
Those NS trails made the list based off amount of users who took time to go and rate them, while I will admit they are popular trails, I would not count those as the best trails in Nova Scotia by a long shot in terms of fun/overall enjoyment.
My personal favourites for Nova Scotia are :
Switchcraft - keppoch (unidirectional downhill)
The stadium - gorge
Chicken cougar and money shot - keppoch tied (unidirectional downhill)
Riverside - keppoch, this one is only at number 5 because I haven’t rode it yet, but when I do, it’ll probably be tied with switchcraft (unidirectional downhill)
Well the example lists aren’t segments, those are trails as they are they are listed in Trailforks. Limiting it to riding areas is very “limiting” so to speak, as there isn’t exactly a plethora of them on the east coast.
We have some incredible riding in this region but many don’t have, or take, the opportunity to explore beyond their local networks. I’m excited that these networks continue to expand and there’s lots more to experience!
My fav networks would be as follows:
NL:
White Hills- techy, rooty and steep, easily accessible to SJ’s. Lots of locals to ride with.
Cornerbrook- the views! Lots of steeps and sooo much more to explore.
Oceanside- the views, the whales, the exposure.
Pippy- fatbiking mecca in the winter.
Clarenville- lots of new stuff in the works apparently for summer and winter
NB:
Minto- INCREDIBLE. Flowy singletrack with lots of variety and unique soil and terrain.
Edmundston- faaaast purpose built singletrack. Close to town and facilities. Lots of kms to ride.
Sugarloaf- the only lift accessed park. Techy or flowy trail options, solid jump lines, facilities,
Rockwood- so much work in recent years has transformed this place. Easy to rip 2-3 hrs hard there now and not repeat yourself
Bathurst/Caraquet- go spoil yourself with a doubleheader of both networks. Fast but twisty singletrack that’s great with families or ripping with a small squad.
PEI:
Bonshaw- if you haven’t been there in the past 24 months you haven’t been there.
Brookvale- ditto
St Catherines- haven’t ridden this in about 5 yrs but it was a great trail back then.
NS:
McIntosh Run- no need to explain
Railyard- winter or summer. Tons of new upgrades in recent yrs. Shorttrack, fatbikes, wall rides, cool crews to ride with.
Keppoch- go enjoy the ROI on all their hard work and earn your turns.
Wentworth- ol skool hostel trails for everyone or new skool steeps across the hwy (I’ve yet to ride the newer stuff, stoked to hit that this summer.)
Empire/Gore- just enough great singletrack to keep you busy for an afternoon. Lots of great race memories here!
The Valley- Gorge tech, Reservoir twists, Bird Sanctuary flow, Cape Split IG pics and mix it with that Valley hospitality and a wine tour.
Lots left off this list in the interest of brevity, not b/c they aint good riding.
If we are doing riding areas, then my list is very different. I like this better.
NS and NB Together (because we are too small to be seperate)
Minto
Hillsborough
MRWA (Fight)
Kentville (more than just the Gorge)
MVP (Freddy)
Gore
Railyard (Truro)
There are so many places I haven’t been yet, and many where I have only raced like Keppoch, French Fort Cove, and Brookvale.
This season if I’m still not working when the weather really improves, I’ll be checking out Rockwood, Sussex, and Fundy. Hopefully Brookvale, and Bonshaw if I can afford the bridge. Keppoch too. The Northern NB networks are just too far away, even for me living in Dieppe.
NB has been crushing it in the mtb scene in recent years, you could easily spend a week or two riding different trail networks there without a thought of heading for the borders.
Forgot French Fort Cove! Great trails.
Sussex/Fundy too!
