This Menu will be used to keep folks up to date on trail conditions and issues concerning trail advocacy.
Feb 24th, 2023
Another big dump of snow has us busy. We’ve been working on a 10k race loop in MOC yesterday so that should be good to go. Working on DCF today but I doubt it will set by the weekend. All we can do is try. If the FBing doesn’t work then Snowshoeing the single track will help. We’ll then regroom and keep trying to pack it in. FYI…Substance Project Fat Bike race at MOC this Sunday from 10:30-2 so best not to ride at those times.
Jan 8th, 2023
Still some ice and hard packed snow out there…but lots of dirt. Everything is hard packed so it’s an opportunity to ride what bike you choose until it snows or warms up.
Jan 5th, 2023
Trails are still good to ride on Fat Bikes. A bit of everything so watch out for the icy bits!
Jan 2, 2023
Happy New Year everyone!
Trails are still a combination of snow, ice, mud. Some promising weather coming on Weds night so fingers crossed. You may be able to sneak in a 2 track ride at the moment on MOC XC Ski trails..but I’m not too sure how icy/muddy it would be. Hang in there…winter is coming back.
Dec 30th, 2022
Trails are pretty much mush right now and likely for the next few days. Still snow out there but riding will just rut things out. We are planning on grooming as soon as the weather co-operates. MOC has closed their FB trails but you can still ride XC ski trails if it works.
Dec 27th, 2022
13 volunteers out on Monday to clean up the countless trees, small branches and debris on the trails. So awesome to have that much dedication towards what we love to ride. Thanks so much to everyone who helped out and to the others doing everything they could while out there. Thanks to MOC for the two snowmobiles and chainsaw which helped cleaning up DCF a tremendous amount. MOC and DCF trails all cleaned up except trail to nowhere. All trails snow-dog-groomed except for the stick and trail to no where.
One more good day of weather then warm temps and rain which means hopefully folks will refrain from riding and rutting the soft trails. Then we wait for colder temps again.
Dec 25th, 2022
We hope everyone is enjoying time with each other, family and friends.
Trails are un-groomed at the moment and are a bit of a mess to say the least after the multiple days of high winds.
There is going to be a big DCF/MOC trail clean up day Monday (Dec 26th) organized by Mansfield Outdoor Centre. We will be launching from MOC and they are supplying two snowmobiles, a tracked side by side, truck (if it can get out there) and a few chainsaws. We will be heading out to DCF and MOC and hope to be able to take care of all the big stuff down. The groomer is also going to head out to DCF & MOC in hopes that we can stay ahead of them with the clean up and we can get some groomed tracks in. It will be great to have so much equipment to help with the DCF clean up as it would take us much longer without it. We can cover a lot of ground fast with the use of the snowmobiles and side-by-side.
A few others are joining in on foot/snowshoes to help with the small stuff. We have over 35km of single track to get cleaned up and re-groomed. If you wish to help and go for a hike tomorrow, we are meeting up at MOC at 9am to get set up and hopefully heading out by 9:30-10:00. They will have the fire on in the lodge and coffee will be on as well. Likely no riding until we get this cleaned up. It may be possible to Fat Bike ride the MOC XC ski trails to get further out on trails, then hike a section from there. So bring your Fat Bike if you wish to give this ride and hike option a go. Hopefully with all the equipment from MOC we can cover a lot of ground quickly. It will be a continuous clean up for a while to get all the small debris cleaned up and hopefully everyone will help out while enjoying the trails.
We are hoping that by day end tomorrow we have some trails groomed and they will need the night to set up so likely no riding Monday. Then some crazy warm weather which will force us to stay off the trails again. We just hope to get it groomed before the warm temps so we get to keep some of the snow and it should freeze up well (if people don’t ride when soft!) when it gets cold again. The challenges of Fat Bike trail grooming!
So stay tuned and we will update as we make progress. Thanks to everyone who has already been out cleaning up and thanks in advance to those helping moving forward. We’ll get this done!
Dec 19th, 2022
1cm of fresh powder snow on top of hard packed groomed trails…awesome trail conditions at MOC & DCF for Fat Biking!
Dec 16th, 2022
I had to wait until late to post up the ride based on trail conditions. Happy to say that 2 of our groomer crew (JP & DN) headed out today for a 2 person tag team 6 hour effort to groom 90% of the Fat Bike trails out there. Crazy day for them. I got out for a tour with the MOC truck and “truck groomed” the MOC blue XC ski/fat bike trail so there are two 7km “skinnies” (tire tracks) out there as well. Trails will be amazing tomorrow as temps go below zero tonight. Thanks so much for everyone who had the courtesy to hold off today and the payoff will be there tomorrow and moving forward.
Nov 30, 2022
Trails are snow free. Raining right now, but that does’t pose a concern on DCF and MOC trails. Wet trails=hero dirt! Ride what you like 🙂
Nov 25th, 2022
Most of the snow is melting away. So by tomorrow there will be more dirt than snow. No worries about trail damage if you try it out on your skinny :).
November 24th 2022
Warm temps have softened up the snow quite a bit. Likely by tomorrow it will be a “mash potatoes” kinda ride. Speculate that this snow will disappear and we’ll hit dirt. So no problem riding … may as well get rid of this snow and start again.
November 23rd 2022
A few inches of well packed in snow. Fat Bikes recommended and likely getting slippery with the warmer weather. All trails open in DCF and Mansfield Outdoor Centre.
April 9 2022
Trails at Mansfield Outdoor Centre and DCF are ready for skinnies. Still some clean up to do and a couple of soft spots but good enough to go. Enjoy and have fun!
April 12th 2021
I realize I haven’t updated this for a bit as I’ve been updating on our posts. Trails are all in great shape. The recent rain will help to pack some stuff in. They survived the spring thaw as most people got it and didn’t ride too early on skinnies when they would leave ruts. Have fun out there!
Dec 10th 2020
Here we go again…..Trail reports!
We got out last night to DCF to have look at the trails. The trails actually didn’t look that bad..but they were soft. We quickly avoided all the groomed single track. So we headed off on an “adventure ride”. The awesome thing about DCF is that there are still km’s & km’s of other trails, fire roads to explore. The “other stuff” was awesome. Due to a combo of other sections the groomer had been on as an experiment, rogue ATV’s, trucks & snowmobiles we found plenty to have fun on. We ended up way back in Simcoe. Still lots of snow in the Forest so feel free to head up this weekend and explore. Ken’s Trail may even be ridable which is ok as we do not groom that one. If everyone (including FBers) avoids the groomed trails we will be in awesome shape for next week. Thanks & have fun!
April 9th 2020
Hi everyone. Please be advised that ALL Dufferin County Forests and the Rail Trail are completely closed to the Public. This includes parking areas and trails.
I urge everyone to show complete respect for this decision and do not use the trails at all until further notice.
Please also avoid engaging in Social Media discussions about this and just understand and appreciate what the County is doing and comply.
As Warden White stated “They (the trails) will wait for you and will be there when the pandemic is over”.
He is exactly correct.
Stay safe and take care of yourselves, your friends and your family.
Please refer to the following notice.
https://www.dufferincounty.ca/news/dufferin-county-forest-rail-trails-are-closed
April 1st, 2020
I’ve had a few people ask about the trails. These tracks from skinny bikes should give you an idea. This is within the first 2km of me hiking…. 🙁
I’d say this should give you the idea….still lots of ice and mud.
March 20th 2020
Trails should be great (if you have studs!). Still lots of snow and ice out there.
March 9th 2010
The trails have been so good the past bit, I hadn’t bothered to update this. Now things are getting tricky…we still have lots of snow out there and the trails have been respected and are not rutted up. Most days are above zero coming up so you will have to pick your days and times wisely. Morning rides after a below zero night will continue to be the most fun and cause the least amount of damage. Just ride accordingly, check your tracks and make wise decisions to benefit everyone else. Spring is coming! It’s been an awesome winter at DCF!
Feb 17th, 2020
Trails were the best they have ever been today. I know I’ve said that I’ve had my best ride ever before (twice actually) but today took the cake. I met a lot of great folks out today as well. The trails where the fastest I’ve ever been on for a winter ride. An awesome day!!!
We have some overnight snow (3-5cms?) followed by rain and a plus temp day Tuesday. Please avoid the trails tomorrow and one of our groomer crew is going to try and regroom everything after the rain stops to pack it all in. Then back to sub zero temps Tuesday night. If everyone refrains from riding tomorrow and lets it set up overnight the trails will be awesome again on Weds.
Yeh Fat Biking!!
Feb 10th, 2020
We got a lot of fresh snow Sunday night and it was heavy snow. We got some grooming done today but still some more grooming to go before we are back up to good conditions.
So right now the trails are not really great. You are in all fresh snow (3-5 inches) right from the parking lot. We are trying to get the grooming done so we have a great set up for the weekend.
Feb 7th, 2020
Lots of fresh snow!!! Trails definitely needed regrooming….so we groomed, and groomed, and groomed!!
All 18km’s have been freshly groomed tonight. If you have a choice between riding Sat vs Sunday, pick Sunday as the trail will need some time to set up. There was a lot of fresh powder to pack in and it may still be a bit soft tomorrow. Ride wisely, check behind you. If you are digging in, can’t climb hills then please don’t continue. You should know within the first 300m. We spent 5 hours today combined to get these trail ready. Please respect all the hard work our groomers do. This is not easy & does carry a $$ expense and it can ruined in 30 minutes of poor judgement. One day won’t hurt & Sunday should be amazing.
On that note, TVG will be riding Sunday at 1pm from the DCF Main Parking lot. MOC is closed this weekend. It should be a beautiful day in the Forest! Check out the pics from the marathon grooming session!!
Feb 4th, 2020
As long as it’s below zero the trails will be amazing. All 18km’s of single track are open for Fat Biking. Please be careful if riding today as any ruts will just end up frozen in for quite some time.
Jan 31 2020
Trails are all good to go!
Jan 22nd, 2020
The groomer crew has been out working hard and has all the trails regrouped. They should be ok to go today. There was a lot of fresh snow to pack so please make sure that they are packed in well before you continue. We’ll see how it goes and they may or may not need another groom to get them perfect again. No ruts please!
MOC has groomed again so their trails may be good as well. Again , lots of snow to pack in so play it be ear.
Jan 20th, 2020
The hard working groomer crew is heading out today and the intent is to get the 18km network all re-groomed today.
Please don’t ride it today as it will need the night to set up as they are packing in a foot of snow and it still will be soft for a while. We are finding it needs 12 hours or so before it is set and it’s good to ride. If you ride too early you will just leave ruts behind for everyone else to not enjoy and just more work for us. Waiting a day for perfect conditions is key.
MOC will be re-grooming tomorrow so their trails should be in really good shape. They would be good for a ride today as well. I believe they are open all week for FBing as they are open for skiing. We will get out after they groom and set down an awesome FB track beside the ski track to make it even better.
Just a reminder if you want to support the FB grooming crew and help keep the groomer going (fuel, maintenance, upgrades) you can pitch in a few $$ anytime by using the “Donate” tab to the right. Anything at all is appreciated and it all goes 100% back into providing 18km’s of awesome machine groomed FB single track!
Jan 18th, 2020
What a difference a day makes. Single track will be a tough go until we groom again.
Jan 16th, 2020
Trails are back up and good to go. Groomer was out today again and 80% of trails are all freshly machine groomed. The weekend should be great and we’ll need to see how much snow we get on Saturday.
Have fun!
Jan 14th, 2020
Chris and I got out for a ride last night…
Trails are all in great shape, all “bike groomed”. Every trail has had traffic on it and is all ridable. The Yellow ski trail is also machine groomed and as they are not being used for skiing yet they are great for a Forest Tour.
One of our hard working groomer crew is out as we speak so there will be some machine groomed single track by the end of today and another crew member cleaned up a bunch of debris that came down from the ice. That is going to be amazing!
Hopefully winter sticks around and things begin to remain consistent.
Jan 8th, 2020
Lots of fresh snow since the weekend and one of our awesome groomer crew did a marathon night groom last night. All FB trails except Stick have been machine groomed and should of set up nicely last night. So ride them while you can…more rain and plus temps coming….Grrrr! At least there will be a great base packed in.
Jan 3rd 2020
Trails are in great shape, but really soft as yesterday, last night and today are all above zero. If possible, please avoid trails today as you are likely just going to rut them up. It’s going below zero tonight so trails should be amazing for the weekend. Any ruts will just freeze into the trails and are extremely difficult to get rid of once it does get below zero.
Thanks!
Dec 21st 2019
I got out with the groomer and got the “outside loop” done. There was a lot of fresh snow and I did one pass so I’m not sure how solid it will be today but give it a go. It should be about a 13km loop.
We’ll try and get the rest done soon.
It’s going to get above zero the next few days so please be careful that you are not leaving any ruts behind.
Dec 19th 2019
Wow, that’s a lot of snow! At the moment the single track is not very ridable. The snow is too deep. I was out on the groomer last night and covered a bunch of random 2 track to hopefully give us something to ride until we get all the single track re-groomed. It will take you all over the place and a lot of it won’t make sense so pay attention as you are getting lost!
It was just freshly groomed and we are getting more snow so I’m not sure how it will be but we will update on that later.
Nov 3rd, 2019
Build it Saturday…Ride it Sunday!
An incredible group of people showed up Saturday morning and put in a solid full day of work to get the logged section cleared, some trail cleaned and more trail designed, built, tamped and finessed.
Reconstructing a trail section that was basically unrecognizable from it’s previous state was a difficult task. The trail was fundamentally gone, the entire Forest had changed and there was debris and ruts everywhere. Nothing looked the same and many people couldn’t even figure out where they were on a trail they have ridden for years.
But off to work everyone went. You just had to start somewhere. As the hours went by a trail started to become apparent, lines where reworked and enhanced and by lunch we had a clear path that could be followed from one end to the other. After pizza lunch (and some super yummy treats by Sarah C, yum!) the “Gerty-ing” started followed by heaps of raking and shaping of the trail. Log overs where built, rock-stump rides appeared, berms were being tamped in and many other really cool, unique trail creations were evolving. People were spread out over the entire section all focusing on creating their own little section of trail adding in their signatures everywhere. By 4:30 we started wrapping things up and then did a group walk from one end to the other. Most people had no idea what was happening at the other end of the trail all day. As we all walked the trail it was amazing how everyone working on individual sections managed to create a very homogeneous trail from one end to the other. Everyone was impressed by each other’s work. The new trail was not just a “clean up” so it has changed…it is not the same as the “old trail”. It can’t be as the entire section of Forest has changed. So we have had to change with it.
The logging went on for a few weeks and with every passing day more and more of the trail was no longer there. Then the last day finished of the east-west section completely. It was literally not there. A lot of us watched this happen day by day. Then the group got together…Cyclists, local residents that hike the trails, Equestrians, parents with sons & daughters. The trail was recreated and reinstated, ready to ride…one day. Done. Awesome.
We rode it today (Sunday) and it did not disappoint. It seemed like a lot longer section when riding it and it made you realize how much work had been done in one day. It has already seen a lot of traffic and it’s going to pack in very nicely, just in time for winter. Then next spring we will be reminded about all the hard work that was put into it.
Thank you to everyone that came out to help, and to the County for allowing us to enjoy this Forest. What an awesome day.
Quick numbers…
34 people x 7 hours = 238 hours (that equals 6 solid 40 hour weeks of work by one person)
15 large pizzas, dozens of Sarah C’s chocolate chip cookies & bars
4 “Gertys”
Over a dozen rakes & shovels, 2 chainsaw operators, 6 tampers, a pile of orange flags.
All equals the new Ken’s/Steve’s section. The workers all hope you enjoy it.
Ocr 18 2019
A Quick update. Ken’s trail is in rough shape from the logging…I’d avoid it for now or bypass the logging section. Everything else is in great shape and conditions are amazing. A fair bit of leaf cover on the trails so it’s getting hard to see the trail in some places. It is beautiful out there right now. Tentative Ken’s trail clean up…Nov 2nd.
August 1st 2019
Another new trail to try out…the Max Extension. It loops off the Max Trail before crossing the first double track. It is approx. 1km and loops you right back to where you left the Max Trail so you don’t miss anything. Still needs riding (and some rain) to help work it in.
July 14 2019
We got some rain on Saturday and all the trails are in super shape. The new MC trail had lots of riders on it this weekend and is packing in quite nicely and with a bit more rain and some more riding it should be fully packed in in no time. Enjoy!
June 7th 2019
Trails are in great condition…check out the new “Ralph’s Trail”!
May 1st, 2019
Trails are awesome! Rain? Pfffff….it’s DCF!!! Have fun! Please be aware that Dufferin Forest is a multiuse Forest and the Equestrians are now also out using their trail network. They have over 40km’s of trails out there and they intersect with the cycling network often. Please ride with respect and be very cautious at crossings as equestrians have the right-of-way. If you are the lead rider (or a solo rider) it’s your responsibility to be aware at these intersections. Through cooperation we can all enjoy the trails and the Forest together and the Equestrians of DCF are great people and deserve our respect. If you spot an Equestrian, please speak up so they are aware that you are around.
April 22nd, 2019
Well after the Substance Projects race on the weekend the trails are in great shape. I got out for a ride Sunday and the trails are cleared, dried up and in better shape than they where last week. All trails are good to go and tomorrows rain will just make them better. Have a great ride. Enjoy!
April 17th, 2019
We got out for a ride last night and stuck to Ridge Connector, Ridge, Lollipop, Trail-to-nowhere, trail-to-somewhere and Stick. We had a great ride. The frost is still coming out in a few places which has caused some tracks in the soft dirt for some short bits but it’s nothing that we can’t easily rectify so no problem.
There was still ice on Ken’s trail last weekend so if possible maybe avoid the Ken’s/Steve’s/Wheel hill section for a bit. The warm weather this week will likely help finish everything up.
Hope this helps!April 10th, 2019
We got out for our Wednesday night ride last night to scout things out. We rode everything but Ken’s/Steve’s trail and happy to report that this Saturday will be “Skinny Saturday”! Time to put the Fat Bikes away….
There was still a bit of snow in places but nothing that wasn’t manageable and the trails are dry enough that there shouldn’t be any damage caused. Please be careful on Ken’s/Steve’s as I can’t comment on those trails.
Saturday’s ride will start at 11:30. It is suppose to be a beautiful day so come on out for a ride. If you wish, bring a snack (lunch?) for afterwards as we will likely hit the patio at TVG headquarters afterwards. We will likely do the Sausage Suit Course (which is next weekend!!!) which has been redesigned for 2019 to include even more sweet single track! See you there…yeah SPRING!!!!!March 8th 2019
Trails are awesome. 15km of groomed single track all set for Fat Bikes. Please watch the temperatures coming up to avoid trail damage….use the 1/2 inch depression (rut) as a guideline. If you find you are digging in deeper then just head out on the Sled trail for a scoot!
March 2nd 2019
I got out late yesterday. A big thanks to whoever got out for some grooming around the lollypop and stick, that was some serious work. I rode a small section of it to test it out and the pass with the tire was enough to get down to the hard base underneath and make it ridable on a Fat Bike. It looked perfect, then someone rode it after you..with a plus/skinny bike…
Anyway, I think everything that has been groomed is good to go with a Fat Bike for the weekend. It’s been powder snow so likely the best way to keep packing it is on the bike. So head out and enjoy the Forest!
Feb 17th 2019
A collective of us have been out riding & grooming since Wednesday and slowly things are maybe starting to come together. I know various folks have done many different sections so I’m going to get out today with bike and snowshoes and check everything out and get in some more grooming to try and finish everything off. I’ll report back in later today as to what is rideable and conditions. Hopefully a “Family Day Group Ride” tommorrow!? Meanwhile, keep on grooming! Thanks to everyone who has helped groom to keep the dream alive, single track riding 12 months a year!
Feb 14th 2019
Last night 5 of us got out for a snowshoe and grooming session. Awesome night out there! Shawna, BF Brian and Roy were breaking trail and Vince and I followed them both with groomers. There is lots of fresh powdery snow out there and we thought it best to stick together to pack it as much as possible hence the double groomer. We were out for 2.5 hours and did about 10km…out on the stick, right on the lolly, right-left on the double track connector to the ridge connector and back on the 1st half of the ridge connector to the beginning. I would suspect that it will take a bit for this to set up for riding as we were fresh tracks the whole way and there was at least 6-8 inches to pack down. It will likely require another quick snowshoe with the groomer to “top dress” the trail and smooth it out before it’s good to ride. Next step…quick snowshoe out on either trail and continue from there to link ridge and lolly up together. There is some great weather shaping up…up to just above zero then cold again. Both groomers are back at the start so they can go out in either direction and be left out there remotely so we can hopefully get some ride/snowshoe & grooming in over the weekend. The snowmobile trail was being groomed while we were out there and the parking lot is cleared.
That’s it for now, stay tuned for more updates as things progress. I expect we’ll have a good loop set up by the end of the weekend.
Feb 5th 2019
I was away for a bit so I apologize for the lack of updates lately. As winter keeps playing havoc with us there have been lots of people out to try and stay on top of the trails. I did get out for a snowshoe/groom on Monday afternoon to check things out. First, careful in the parking lot…it is a sheet of ice. I didn’t venture down the stick or ridge connector sections of trails. The beginning of the stick was ice. I headed to Ken’s/Steve’s and snowshoed and groomed a section where there was a lone hiker…thought it would be good to get rid of the post holes. I stopped grooming where the hiker left the trail as it looked like it may be possible to ride the remainder of the trail (it’s at least worth a go) and I think grooming it would of just encouraged ice. So I just broke different trail and groomed random trails we don’t normally use and linked it in to almost the ridge connector trail. A snowmobile had been adventuring around the forest which once frozen may be a good option for some riding. The snowmobile trail will be completely rideable. I’m going to let the week pass, get out for some rides and I’ll update for the weekend.
Jan 19th 2019
I got out yesterday for a great Fat Bike ride. I rode all the single track in DCF and it was all in amazing condition. All 8-12 inches wide, nicely packed snow and almost zero ice. No need for studs for sure. If you can stay warm, trails will be great this weekend. Enjoy the sweet groomed Fat Bike single track!
Jan 14th 2019
Trails are awesome. All hard packed snow, virtually no ice. All 28km’s open for sweet single track Fat Biking. Enjoy.
Jan 11th 2019
I got out for a snowshoe this afternoon to check things out. It was a beautiful day in the Forest…blue sky and fresh snow! There are about 3 inches of fresh powder snow on top of the frozen (read icy) trail underneath. A couple riders where out today and you could definitely tell it was very slippery in spots. I snowshoed the Max Trail and part of the Ridge Connector, then took the short cut double track to the last 1/4 of the Lollypop to the Stick. I picked up the groomer and groomed the Stick back to the parking lot. So that’s about 8-10 km packed down. I hope by packing it it may start to stick to the ice below…we’ll see. No one had been on the beginning of the Lolly yet, it’s still fresh powder.
So one groomer is back at the beginning and the other is at the end of the Trail to nowhere by the Trail to somewhere intersection points.
It should be good to ride, just be careful in the corners and downhills! With more riding the grip should continue to get better.
Have fun! J
Jan 7th 2019
Got out for a ride tonight and the trails are terrific. Virtually no ice, all hard packed and 12 inches wide. You can ride your Fat Bike like it’s true single track. Average speed on tonight’s ride 15km/hr…full single track experience & fun. Warm and rainy Tuesday so best avoid the trails and they should be fine by Weds night. Have fun and enjoy…
Jan 4th 2019
Hello all, trails are in amazing shape, we had what I think was our best Fat Bike ride so far this year on Wednesday Night. Lots of fresh powder snow on hard packed base. Get out and ride!!
All trails are open for Fat Biking (skinny tires (or plus size) not a great idea as it’s still going to be a bit soft until it re-freezes).
Jan 1 2019
Karen, Thane and myself got out for a short walk today to check out the trails after the rain (and thankfully a dusting of snow). The trails are very hard packed and likely icy in spots. The snow dusting helped to add “texture” to the ice below. The ride should be ok with or without studded tires, just as always be cautious. Worse case the double track is easily ridable so we can definitely get a ride in to suit everyone. See you there! J
Dec 29th 2018
Got out for a short scoot today. Definitely a mix, ice, dirt, and snow. When it’s icy you really need to pay attention…actually you always need to keep your head up as it can change fast. The ridge is pure dirt fun, trail to now where is pretty good as is Ken’s/Steve’s. Didn’t do the stick or lolly as I figured that would be the slickest.
Dec 9th 2018
Trails are fantastic! Dan, Andy and myself (as well as someone I didn’t know who was grooming…thanks!) got out over the weekend. Ridge connector, Ridge, Lollypop, Stick, Trail to nowhere all groomed and hard packed. No ice, no dirt just go fast snow covered Fat Bike trails. Tree down before the “double log” has been removed. You can get a solid 20km pure single track ride in no problem.
Dec 4th 2018
Chris and I got out last night for a scoot and had a great ride! We didn’t know what to expect but everything was in excellent shape. Mostly snow covered, some dirt trails (along the ridge and other random spots) and very little ice (one really slick spot right at the first few turns in the single track). We rode everything but Ken’s & Steve’s and it was all fast and fun.
Looks like a great week ahead and the weekend looks perfect so should be a great time for an awesome group ride.
Enjoy!
J
Dec 1st 2018
I was out yesterday for a ride. Trails are in absolutely great shape after all the snowshoeing & grooming efforts combined with a good number of consistent fat bike riders. There is several inches of packed snow with very little ice.
Having said that it’s already above freezing this morning (8:30am) and just getting warmer (plus 2 today and plus 10 tomorrow!).
It would be detrimental to the trails to either ride or hike them this weekend. Riding and hiking the trails will just leave indentations that will freeze in the trail and they are tough to get ride off. You may be able to get in a Fat Bike ride this morning before it warms up too much. Sunday…no way.
If you are ever on the trails use the 1/2 depression County Code of Conduct ByLaw rule which states if you are leaving more than a 1/2 depression you are to refrain from using the trail. There is still lots of winter ahead! Thanks for respecting all the hard work put in by everyone so far.
November 20th 2018
Time to start this again. The snow looks like it is going to be staying in Dufferin Forest awhile so it’s fat bike season! (at least for now). A group of us (15 or so) got out on the weekend and started “grooming”. This is basically snowshoeing while pulling the “groomer” (a trailer tire) behind you. We got 8km’s out of the normal 14km that we try and keep open all winter.
We rode last night and the conditions where awesome! Lots of traction and you can still ride all the trails with a Fat Bike. The difference was very noticeable from the groomed trails to the ones that where just ridden on. They were wider with no tire trough and less icy so our efforts were definitely worth it. The groomed trails you could ride like single track, lots of fun speed and corners to rail through.
Wednesday night should be great and hopefully next day above zero we can get the rest groomed. Still 2/3rds of the lolly, part of the ridge connector and ridge to go. There is a groomer left at the red arrow tree so anyone could ride to it packing their snowshoes, switch to shoes, groom a bit and return to the bike for a ride out.
We had lots of folks helping out last year and it was the best Fat Bike year I’ve experienced out there. So nice to be able to continue riding real single track trails all winter while still having the more “open trails” (snowmobile groomed trails) as an option. So thanks to everyone who pulled the groomer!
October 22 2018
What can be said…trails are in great shape, minimal damage from the awesome loggers that finished last week. All trails are open with obvious fall leaf coverage. It’s lovely out there.
May 1st 2018
Happy to report all is good to go! Have a great time out there.
April 28th 2018
Lots of folks checking in about trail conditions which is great that everyone is expressing concern regarding trail damage.
Good news!
I was out Friday night for a run to check out the trails. The “South Side” (trails to the south of the main east-west fire road from the parking lot). Hill Trail, Ridge Connector, Ridge, Stick and Lollypop, Trail to no-where & Wheel Hill are all good to go for skinny tires. A few soft spots but nothing to be concerned about. The “North Side” should be good by next week…still some ice and more soft stuff on that side (thanks to Chris for his scouting yesterday on the North side) so why not avoid that for one more week (or at least fat bike only) as there is still lots of trail to ride. Enjoy the trails!
Feb 19th 2018
Got out for a run today and the trails are still in great shape. Everything that had gotten groomed last week is really good and the other stuff a bit more work. But overall worth getting out. Mostly hard packed snow with some icy spots. This is likely all going to change quickly over the next few days so please ride according to the conditions….no ruts please!
Feb 11th 2018
So 6 of us got out for a snowshoe grooming session today. Ed, Kathy, Vince & Eddy snowshoed the Stick to the red arrow tree and back. Karen and I snowshoed with the groomer 3/4 of the way and back on the Ridge Connector Trails.
So where does that put us? Well hopefully the trails firm up over the next day or so. The stick should be rideable first. So a plan could be to ride to the red arrow tree, snowshoe the lollypop (there is still a groomer at the Ridge-Lollypop intersection) with the groomer and ride back with it to finish grooming the Stick. Or just even groom the Stick and back with the groomer that is at the start of the trails. If the Ridge Connector is firm enough (please refrain from it if it’s soft as only two of us packed it down) we could ride to where we ended, snowshoe the rest and the Ridge Trail then hook up the groomer at the Ridge-lolly intersection and return back. Lots of options so just do what you like! Some nice milder weather coming up which should help firm up the trails once they are groomed. As always if you are leaving a rut behind please don’t ride as the trails are going to soften and freeze again this week. Looking ahead in the forecast it looks like we may get a break from heavy snowfalls so we can enjoy our efforts. Have fun!
Feb 9th 2018
Short and sweet…trails are, to quote Chris W., wicked. Go out and ride!
Feb 5th, 2018
Well over 14 folks got out yesterday snowshoeing and grooming the fresh snow. It was a beautiful day for a snowshoe. It was a real collective of users of the trail and the large number accomplished a lot. Basically our “normal” 15 km Fat Bike single track loop has all been snowshoed and regroomed with the TVGGroomers. The groomers are back at the start of the trail. The “mule mention” goes out to Eric and from description, Wayne and Steve and his wife all put in some serious km’s pulling the groomer. This was a great effort with everyone out there putting in between 7-12 km’s of work each. Thanks to everyone, from everyone.
Karen got out for a run this morning and reported in that the base firmed up extremely well overnight and the conditions are now a few cm’s of powder snow on top of hard packed trails. All good to go!
A final note to remind everyone to be cautious when crossing fire roads as they are used by cross country skiers and in the few short bits that we need to connect to trails, if they are groomed for skiing, do not ride in the track set. Ride to the far side of the double track.
Feb 3rd 2018
Chris W. reported in that he got out for a groom on Thursday. He did Ridge Connection trails, Ridge, 1/2 lolly & stick.
I got out for a run yesterday and there’s Chris W. doing his groom loop again! Two days in a row…the man is a machine. We need to buy that man a beverage next time we are out! Thanks Chris!
The trails are ridable again thanks to everyone’s collective efforts. The Ridge stuff is excellent and the lolly and stick are getting much better, but the ruts still prevail in places. More snow coming tonight so hopefully it keeps getting better. All we can do is keep grooming in the new snow.
Jan. 25th 2018
We had twelve of us out last night for a great ride! The usual Fat Bike trails were all ridden and survived the mild weather and rain very well. They all had a bit of fresh snow on them so everything last night was fresh tracks. Traction was very good with enough ice hidden under the snow to keep you on your toes.
So if you head out for a ride just be cautious as the icy parts will sneak up on you.
The weather is going to warm back up (again) which should make things better as the hope will be that the snow melts into the ice and then freezes back up. Please ride accordingly to the weather and please avoid rutting out the trails as they are going to freeze back up next week. Looking ahead to the weekend, Sunday morning looks like the best day…below freezing Sat night and a bit cooler during the daytime. If they don’t get damaged during the plus temps they should be great on Sunday.
Jan 7th 2018.
A great group of folks where out there today snowshoeing, skiing, grooming and riding. The Stick hardened up nicely overnight as did the Ridge connector section that was snowshoed yesterday. The “Honda crew” where out this morning snowshoeing the lollypop. Part of our group re-groomed the Stick and the first half of the lollypop, then snowshed the Ridge. There were others doing the ridge and some riders had ridden the remainder of the Ridge connector. This all allowed us to ride and groom most of the trails. Still a bit more to run the groomer over (second half of lollypop. The ridge trail was being stubborn because of the high winds causing drifting). The 14 km out there is basically all ridable except the first half of the Ridge. It will likely need a quick shoe-and-groom.
The mild weather coming up will likely help out once the temps drop back down below zero. If we can avoid rutting up the trails in the warm periods we should be in excellent shape.
Because there have been so many people out working together to groom the trails, we have added a second groomer! Now we have two of them out there that can be pulled around whenever someone feels like it. One currently is at the start of the trails at the SSITT connector turn off and number two is out on the lollypop at the Ridge connection point. It never hurts to pull it around for a bit as the more the trails have the groomer pulled over them, the better they get. As a note, I have found it works much better to have it attached to your hydration/backpack then your bike.
Thanks again to the efforts of many, it’s great to still be riding single track. Keep up the great work.
Jan 4th 2018
To continue a tradition that is longer than the word tradition has been used, the Wednesday Night Ride was out with a good group last night, with 11 fat bikers in total! The bitter cold, blowing gusting wind, pelted in the face by snow the entire time, being chased by a pack of wolves, did not detour anyone. Well to be honest it was a beautiful night, -8 degrees, a little bit of a breeze in the parking lot, and nice packed snow on the trails.
There has been a huge effort by many people to ride, snowshoe, and pack down the single track to keep it rideable. So first off a huge thank you to those people. Secondly, it was amazing to see so many fat bike tire marks in the parking lot, the more folks riding the loop the better to keep it firm and rideable for all. Thirdly, is a really odd word, secondly I can understand but thirdly just doesn’t have the same ring, and don’t get me started on Fourthly….
I took a couple photos, which are below of the trail, and to be honest with you the whole loop we rode is like this.
So our loop consisted of the following:
Ridge connector trail
Ridge trail
Full Lollipop
Half Lollipop
Stick
This loop totaled us with 16km of pure singletrack heaven. For anyone who wants a quick direction, hit the contact us button, shoot us an email, and I can pass along the gps loop from Garmin.
Throughout the ride, you would hear, laughter, bell’s being rung, the odd “Umpf” from someone who decided it was a perfect location for an Impact Angel. For anyone who doesn’t know what an Impact Angel is, if Webster’s dictionary were to define it, it is when a rider unwillingly departs from their bike and lands off the trail in the snow.
The way the trail’s were last night though there were not a lot of impact angels to be had, still some, but not a lot.
Overall the trails in Dufferin are in perfect condition! So if you want to venture out, now is the perfect time to hit the trails. We are due for 5-10cm of snow, which if people are riding in the forest during the snow, it will pack the trails in even better.
Have a great day and enjoy the forest.
Cheers
Jan 1st 2018!
We had a nice combo of trail enjoyers out today. Three snowshoers, one trail runner and 5 Fat Bikers all out enjoying the day and the great trail conditions.
There has been a number of folks out working hard to keep the trails in great condition. It seems every time a trail could use a bit of touching up or repair someone has stepped up and taken it on. As a result we got to ride 16kms of single track today! Hill Bypass, Max, RC, Ridge, full lollypop and Stick. All in nice fast hard packed condition.
The snowshoe, ride, groomer combo (not necessarily in that order) has proven to be a good combo.
To everyone who is helping out (you all know who you are) thanks for keeping us on sweet single track! This has been a real community effort and it’s great to see the desire and deternimation out there.
On another topic, Mansfield Outdoor Centre has now gotten their XC ski trails groomed. The trails do cross in a number of places out there and there are a couple of times we share a very short section. On the short shared sections, please keep way over to the side of the trail and never ride in the set tracks. As skiers and bikers are both quite quiet we need to keep our heads up when crossing over the ski trails. No one wants to spook anyone or be a part of an accident. To help with this I’m going to start marking anytime the single track is about to cross a ski trail. We are going to attach a strip of orange flagging tape to a tree or branch before the crossing occurs just to indicate it is coming up soon. We will be doing this over the next week or so.
So when you see the orange tape just slow down a bit and keep your head up for skiers out there enjoying the forest. Thanks!
Dec 30th 2017.
A great group got out today. 8 Fat Bikers and 3 snowshoers. The groomer had returned to the parking lot so I decided to take it on tour and we rode the Hill bypass, Max, Ridge Connector, Ridge, 1/2 lollypop and stick out. The HBP,Max & RC was still a bit of a tough go. We got through it and it’s mostly rideable but one more round of snowshoe and groomer treatment would make it amazing. The ridge was great and the lollypop & stick were super great. The groomer made the full tour and it is now at the right turn off to the Hill by Pass trail on the stick when you first set out. Again, please let me know where it ends up so I can post it’s location for the next groomer volunteer. Best to leave it in a bit on the trail as oppose to at the parking lot.
Thanks to all the efforts out there so far. Lots of people have already taken their turn at working to keep the trails going during the winter. With the dedication I’ve seen so far, from the snowshoe group and the groomer pullers I’m sure we can keep this going during the winter. It’s so much fun being able to keep riding single track during the snowy months. It’s both lucky and lovely to be able to be out in the woods on a lovely winter day.
Dec 27th, 2017.
A bunch of us got out today…kind of a mishmash of things going on for our quest for single track! Andy got out this morning for a snowshoe and started setting the Hill Bypass, and Max Trail. Then if I had to guess Tyler II got out for a ride (?). Myself, Andy, Shawna, Eric, Joe, Mike, Brian, Bernie and Karen headed out this afternoon with special guests Sue and Mike as well! A great crowd out to enjoy the -13 degree day! Karen, Sue and Mike snowshoed the Hill Bypass section, Bernie snowshoed and utilized our new human powered “groomer” and the rest of us rode the “Stick”. Brian and Andy did an out and back on the Stick and Mike, Joe, Eric Shawna and I rode to the red arrow tree then snowshoed the “Lollypop” and then rode back on the stick. Temperature at the end, -17 degrees!
Got all that?!
So….the “Stick” is completely rideable. the lollypop?…maybe. The hill bypass, Max trail…maybe. Still need to finish snowshoeing the last bit of the “Ridge Connector” and Ridge trail (sorry, I’m done with the quotey thingamajigs).
So the ride and snowshoe plan continues. We need to finish off the ridge connector and ridge trail. That would be priority #1. It will require a ride as far as you can go then a snowshoe from there so bring them along in your backback. Then we will have it all snowshoed in. Then we need to ride it and see how it goes.
The new TVG “groomer” (ok, I used the quotey things again!). It’s a 16 inch overall diameter trailer tire. It has a rope attached to it. We are not making it heavy as the intent is not to use it to actually pack the trail more to just smooth it off. It will be out there on the trail somewhere and the idea is that if you feel like doing so, hook it up to your bike, pack, waist…whatever, and pull it around a bit where ever you are and whatever you are doing. Do as much as you like then leave it somewhere obvious so the next person can continue. It does not have to return to the parking lot or where you started from, just do what you feel like. If we all take our turn it will continue to cover all the trails we are trying to keep open. And it’s environmentally friendly!
Well I hope that was all enjoyed by everyone. With the awesome community of folks out there we can keep this going! It’s just great to have the trails open to give anyone the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the forest….we are so lucky.
Dec 26th, 2017
So I got out for a snowshoe this afternoon…we definitely have gotten some snow since last update!
Here’s where we are at. Shawna and Eric got out the other day for a snowshoe after it snowed. They did an awesome job of repacking in the “Stick” to the red arrow tree. Then it snowed a bit more! I repacked today to the red arrow tree (it was definitely easier as Shawna and Eric had the tough hike for sure!). Upon my return to the parking lot, Tyler II was heading out and was going to try and give the stick another pack.
I think by tomorrow if the trail sets in tonight we should be able to ride that section. That gives us 4KM one way. So then the plan will be tomorrow to ride in the 4km with snowshoes in a backpack, and swap to them and snowshoe the lollypop, then ride out. We’ll see how that goes.
Other item to update. Snowmobile trails are groomed! That also means the parking lot has been cleared as well. So worse case we can get a good ride in on the Snowmobile trail. Please exercise caution if on the snowmobile trail and respect the folks on sleds out there. We have had nothing but positive experiences with the snowmobile folks out there.
See you out there!
Dec 23rd, 12pm
Well it was fresh tracks for us this morning! 8 riders and 3 snowshoers. We rode the Hill By-pass, Max trail, Ridge connector, Ridge, 3/4 Lollypop and Stick out. We all had a great ride and the trail is nicely set in and good to go! Just need to close the loop on the Lollypop and maybe try the Trail-to-Somewhere next ride.
So hop on your Fat Bike and head out for a ride!
Dec 20th, 6pm, -5 degrees
Well twelve of us headed out last night not really knowing what to expect. We have experienced some great snow then a few days of above freezing weather afterwards then a temp drop and with an inch of fresh snow on Tuesday night.
To start, it was great that everyone avoided the trails during the thaw, that made a huge difference…no ruts.
We headed off a different way going off to the Hill Bypass, Max trail, Ridge Connector section. Only a few riders had been on this section and as of last Sunday it wasn’t very good to ride. Well last night it was awesome! So we linked in that section, did the Ridge trail…which was awesome, then a short reverse on the lollypop and to the Trail to Somewhere. End of awesomeness. No one had been on it at all so it was fresh tracks. At the front of the pack it was a really slog or more optimistically a really great work out. It was all rideable but one hill. But after twelve riders at the back of the pack…awesomeness was experienced! Then to the lollypop and stick out which was, well, awesome. So 12 riders and 18km ride of single-track, not bad for a Wednesday in December.
Did someone once say “this Fat Bike thing is just a passing fad”? Don’t think so. Tyler II who is new this year to fat biking remarked that he never imagined winter riding to be so much fun.
So keep on riding the Fat Bike. It’s just good for you to get into the woods.Dec. 17th, 2017
Awesome ride today. Trails were hard packed to the point where you could hear the Fat Bike tires humming!
Got a solid 16km single track ride in which on snow, on a Fat Bike feels like more KM.
Above freezing temps the next few days, best to avoid the trails until it drops below zero again to keep them un-rutted.
Dec. 16th, 2017
Got out for a run this afternoon, the forest was beautiful and the trails are in basically perfect shape! It will be a great day for a ride tomorrow. Don’t have a fat bike? Borrow one, demo one or come out for a trail run, hike, snowshoe or XC ski.
December 14th, 2017
Trail update time! We’ll keep these brief.
Stick, Lolly-pop & Ridge where all ridden last night and are nicely packed in and by today with the cold or likely very well set.
Other trails are still likely rideable, just a bit tougher going. It would be great to get the Hill Bypass, Max Trail and Ridge Connector open. Maybe this weekend!
It’s going to be fun to see how long we can keep the single track going this year. Part of the trick is that if you are out for a ride, try and keep making the trail wider by riding a bit on either side of the packed trail when you can. It will help us not end up with just a thin hard packed trail that if you veer off of you end up in deep snow. Have fun!
May 5th, 2017
Everything is perfect. All trails are cleaned, blown, major downed trees cleaned up, others now used as log overs.
April 27 2017
Oops, forgot to update! It’s good out there, all good. Dry & all cleaned up & ready to ride. Have fun!
April 7th 2017
Lots of snow in the woods again. My suggestion would be if you can want until Sunday things should be great again. If you need to ride Sat you will get wet for sure! I’m running Sat aft so I’ll update then.
April 03 2017
Well a bunch of us as well as likely 50 others were out for a ride on Sunday, what a day! All the trails are in excellent condition so feel free to come out anytime.
April 1st 2017
Karen and I and Max got out for a run today. Karen did the stick and I ran Ken’s to Steve’s…Max did both. Happy to report trails are all super dry! No mud, no ruts, no snow, completely Max approved!
So if you are looking to go for a ride, everything is good. See you out there!March 30 2017
Well the gang rode Stick, Lollypop, Ridge last night and these trails are in superb shape. No issues at all, just nice tacky single track. I still don’t have an official report for Ken’s, Steve’s, Wheel hill but I may try to have a look on Friday. Come out and ride… 🙂
March 29 2017
Got out for a run last night and checked into the Stick and the west portion of the lollypop. Happy to report everything there looks great. Trails are definitely dry enough for skinnies now! No trail damage to really speak of from any of the riding so far. Tonight should be awesome for a ride and we will likely stick to the trails south of the main east-west fire road.
Please note that this report does not extent to Ken’s, Steve’s, Wheel Hill, Trail to nowhere…I’ll try to go for a pre-ride hike and check into those tonight.
Double track is still really soft.
A bit of damp weather on Thurs-Fri to watch out for. I’ll get out Friday aft. for and update for the weekend.
Regarding lights…if you have one I’d bring it along. It seems like it just starts getting dark as we are on the lollypop homeward bound but most of the ride is now in daylight.
Come out and play…yeh Sunshine! See you tonight.
January 24 2016
We had our grooming team (11 folks on snowshoes!) out on the weekend to reset the snow on the single track. Half the group did and out and back on the “stick” and the other half made their way to the “pop” of the lollypop. The stick is completely done and all but maybe the last 700m of the pop is done as well.
Once it drops below zero again, these trails should be again in excellent condition. Taylor is planning on a late week grooming of the 9km TVGFBL. The loggers are still busy in there and have taken some of the trail down to dirt. Hopefully it won’t ice up too much. We’ll see.
If you give it a go and are leaving ruts, please wait until it freezes or we will have a frozen rut trail…no fun 🙁
Enjoy your time out there!
November 30 2016
Trails are all in great shape. Leaves are all packed down and traction is very good. Still one section on Ken’s Trail to be logged and that may or may not happen this year.
November 03 2016
Trail update…the logging is now complete on the stick and the trail has been restored and cleaned up. The tree on the uphill of the lollypop has also been removed. There is another section now being logged which will both be affecting a section on Ken’s/Steve’s trail (you will see blue flagging tape marking the trail) and the small pine on the beginning of the “Stick” (before Gorilla Mountain) which will soon be marked with orange tape. Please exercise caution on these sections of trail when the loggers are present. Trails are in great shape so keep on riding!
October 17 2016
Hey everyone. Just a little trail update…after the SSITT this weekend (which I must thank everyone for making this a great day and night. Everyone is awesome!) the trails are in superb condition!
A heads up on the first half of the lollypop which was not in the race…Janet contacted me and reported that there is a large tree top down over the trail at the top of one of the hills. We had thought the logging was complete in this section, but maybe not. She has said that it is a chainsaw operation and too large to move as it is and as a result is a good size hike a bike. Hopefully they are still around and are able to move it.
Also keep a heads up in the pine logging area. They are still in there and should hopefully be done by the end of the week. The trail is clear right now but that may change daily.
Enjoy the trails and the fall colours!
April 18, 2016
Trails are open and awesome! The stick, lollypop, trail to nowhere, the “wheel hill” and ridge trail are super clear and in great shape. Substance Projects held and event (H2i) on Saturday and the trails experienced no damage (only one wet spot for 200m) and are actually overall in better shape than before the race. Ken’s, Steve’s…haven’t been leaf blown yet but we rode them last Weds and they are clear of major debris, just small sticks and stuff left. So come on out and enjoy the ride.
April 5th, 2016
Trail Report from Bernie:
Did a ride (Monday) up to the Red Arrow tree.
Slow tough grind all the way. Not due to the snow depth (2-6″) but due to the icy crust that you had to break through.
Most was rideable!
March 30th, 2016
Bernie was out in Dufferin last, below are a few photos.
March 24th, 2016
Dufferin is getting better all the time. We did get some snow last night / freezing rain, so that may take a couple days to go away again. Last night (Wednesday) it would be about 90% rideable for a skinny bike. Couple soft sections still, dont want to leave ruts. Below is a photo of last weekend’s ride.
March 16th, 2016
Forest Management Plan Update. I’m pleased to let everyone know that the Dufferin Forest Management Plan for 2016-2036 www.dufferinmuseum.com/forest/forc.html was accepted by Council last week. This Management Plan has been in the works for over a year and now the next step is to begin the process of developing the Recreation Plan for the County Forest. It was decided that all the past input from the surveys and public input is to be utilized in this development process, so thank you all again for the time taken in the past. I’ll update as things progress.
March 16th, 2016
I was out last night (Tues) on the lollypop and things keep getting better…less snow, still kind of soft. Not bad for Fat Tire bikes but I still can’t recommend skinny tires yet. There has been a skinny bike out and it’s mark on the trail was very obvious in the soft spots. Maybe another week or after the weekend. We’ll keep updating every few days as we are out there. We’re getting closer!
March 14th, 2016
This past weekend Bernie headed out to Dufferin Forest to check the trails, and snap some photos of the spring thaw.
Check out the below! The double track is still very soft, so not recommended to ride on it.
As you can see in the below there are sections that are clear, and there are sections with snow on it.
Probably another week before she is all cleared up, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
June 26th.
Clean up is done at the logged section. A great group of 19 helpers made short work of cleaning up debris and rebuilding some of the trail. We had some extra time so we have started a new trail that will be expanded on later. No new logging expected until October so we should be in the clear until then. Trails are in great shape, likely need a full going through next year as the vegatation has been growing like crazy this year. Have a great time out there….
May 19th. So logging has begun. It is mostly a select cut of oak which will effect the first 3rd of the lolly on the “lollypop” if travelling clockwise as well as half of the “trail to nowhere”. Hopefully some clean up can happen as the logging progresses and the a full scale trail day in the future. Stay tuned for updates…
April 16th Update: Bring out the skinny tired bikes. Dufferin Forest is dry and ready to ride your normal bike! Put away the fat bikes. On Wednesday night, we finished the ride, with no mud on anyone! There are some small sticks down etc, so if you are riding there and come across something small, please kick it off the trail. There are also some new logs across the trail, we are hoping to make ride arounds and ramps for these new natural features!
March 26th Update: With warmer temperatures and cold nights, main snowmobile trail is hard as a rock, and Icy in sections. Snow is disappearing fast, South Ridge trail is almost completely opened up.
Feb. 18th Update: single track is in need of a warmer day to firm up but the snowmobile/double track is in amazing shape!
January 15th update: Single Track is now amazing for 4km, the length of “the stick”. So that’s an 8km out-and-back all on trail! I’m going to try and snowshoe a bit of the “lolly” in order to link in with the snowmobile trail on Sat. I’ll update later…..
January 11th Update: So as of this weekend, the single track has become limited to about 6km….need to snowshoe more! The better news is that the snowmobile trail has been groomed! I think this is one of the later years that I can remember that the sled trail has come into play. So now you can ride as far as you like on the snowmobile trail, it goes on for further than you will care to ride! We managed an 18km out-and-back today. Not bad for January! One less ride to do this spring.
Fat Tire Trail UpdateDecember 15th, 2014
So on Saturday we switched our Fat Bikes out for our snowshoes due to the soft snow conditions. About 10 of us were out and set down a nice 3km track which incorporated some single track and some narrow double track. The trail we set terminated at the snowmobile trail which is not yet been groomed. With a few days of mild temperatures in the forecast then a drop in temperature the trail should be good for Fat Bike riding by mid-late week. During the more mild weather it would be great to avoid riding it if you are leaving any ruts as if it gets rutted out and freezes it won’t work out well in the end for a fat bike trail. We will be trying it on Weds night so we will post an update then. Bernie and I also set out another 2ish km loop of off this track that we hope to open as a trail in the spring. Feel free to stomp it down, trim some branches and even explore and extend it! See everyone out there soon! Johnny
LIVE UPDATE: as of Monday 10am the trail is definitely too soft to ride…keep on shoeing!
Trails Still Good to Go!! (17/Nov/14)
Photo from this past weekends ride. This was taken at 11am, so not a lot of snow in the forest. The leaves made it a little slick, but all in all a lot of fun. Tyler was on a skinny bike, Mark and Ryan on Fat Bikes. Rode the North of 20 Trail, and the Lollipop Trail (or Africa).
Trails in Great Shape (10/Nov/14)
Did a ride this past weekend in Dufferin, the trails are in great shape still. The typical leaves on the trails, and a little dusting of snow in the forest, but nothing major. Skinny tires are more than adequate to ride out there!!! Head out and do a tour, it’s so nice to be out in the forest!!
New Trail Complete
Thanks to a great turn out of 17 helpful hands, the trail that was logged this year has now been rerouted and completed. The loss of this trail meant having to ride a couple of KM’s of loose, sandy fire road–no fun. The trail now meanders up (or down) the “big sandy hill” section and has some things to keep it interesting. It was great to have so many people out volunteering their time and giving back to the trails. Thanks again to all that came out, your participation means so much to us. See you out there!
Note: at the top of the hill you need to make a quick right on the fire road, then first left to rejoin the single track
Dufferin Forest Trail Build Day
So it seems like the logging has been competed for now on the “sandy hill” climb section of the forest. After many weeks of riding the loose sandy fire road around the logged section it’s time to rebuild the trail to avoid it. The trail was started last build day and Bernie and I marked out and flagged where we would like the building to continue to the top of the hill yesterday. Any help would be appreciated and we hope to get this done in one day. We will be able to transport tools and bodies to the trail building area.
Start time will be 10am in the Dufferin Forest parking lot.
Please R.S.V.P through the CONTACT US tab or let me know directly if you are coming as we would like to provide lunch for the volunteers and we need to know the numbers to be prepared for. Thanks for your help!
Last Chance for input to Dufferin Forest Management Plan
The County of Dufferin is closing out their options for the public to comment on the Draft Plan for the Forest Management Plan for 2015-2035. They have done a great job in our opinion so far as they have created a recreation plan for the Main Tract which never existed before.
If you have not read the Draft Plan here is the link to it:
Welcome to the Dufferin County Forest Website
We are quite happy with what is there and are trying to have two things altered which we hope fellow riders out there could e-mail comments regarding this.
1. As of now there is talk of trail separation for different user groups (top of page 2) which is great except that it is stated as:
“but this shall not be construed as exclusive use”
2. The other point is under General Rules of Etiquette which states:
“Most trails experience problems in the spring. Check the trail conditions. If you are leaving tracks over 1/2” deep don’t use the trail”
We would like to convince the Committee that separate trail usage should mean exclusive use and encourage the idea of exclusive trail networks for different user groups to avoid trail damage and user conflicts.
On the second point, trail conditions in our opinion should be respected year round, not just in the spring so we would like to have “Most trails experience problems in the spring” omitted.
It would be helpful to send an e-mail to:
forestmanager@dufferinmuseum.com
regarding these suggested changes and any other comments you may have.
Thank you to everyone who has helped on this project, so much has been accomplished thus far that could not of happened with out so much input from the mountain bike community. It’s been great to see that we can influence land managers and make a change.
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Dufferin Forest Management Plan – Public Meeting
You are invited to attend a public meeting on the development of a new twenty-year management plan for the 2,600 acre Dufferin County Forest:
Tuesday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Mel Lloyd Centre – Auditorium
167 Centre Street (Entrance D)
Shelburne, Ontario
The County Forest is made up of thirteen tracts located throughout Dufferin County. The plan will guide the use and management of the Dufferin County Forest over the next twenty years (2015-2035) to ensure the health and viability of this community resource.
The Forest Plan Advisory Team, which has been advising the County throughout the development of the draft plan, is holding this open public meeting to hear input regarding the draft forest management plan, draft recreation policy, and the OFTR proposal for access to the Forest by off-road motorcycles. This is an additional opportunity for any members of the public to have input on the recreational and other uses of the forest.
Documents relating to the Dufferin County Forest Management Plan are found here.
Written input regarding any of the items mentioned above can be provided to the County Forest Manager at any time between now and July 31, 2014:
By email: forestmanager@dufferinmuseum.com
By mail: Dufferin County Forest (c/o DCMA)
936029 Airport Road, Mulmur, Ontario L9V 0L3
By fax: 705-435-9876
Thanks to everyone that has helped in this endeavour, the support has been remarkable.
One last step…the Draft Recreation Plan is now available for public viewing
http://www.dufferinmuseum.com/forest/plan.html (click on draft recreation policy).
Please review it if you have time, it’s a short document. Public comments are being encouraged by the county and must be in by July 31st. Please send them to the following address;
forestmanager@dufferinmuseum.com
Beneficial points to stress are for the single track to be designated as a exclusive separate hiking/biking trail, have a separate exclusive marked and mapped network for equestrians and to mark and expand the hiking/biking network.
I would also like to say thanks to Sue and Mike at OCTRA, they have been wonderful to discuss issues with and to Caroline and the other committee members for taking the time to consider everything and create this Plan. I realize how much work this is and the difficult issues at hand to be considered.
Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time. See you on the trails!
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Dufferin County is requesting public input for the preparation of the Forest Management Plan. This is a supplement to the survey and is an opportunity to voice your opinions. As usual, our goal is to advocate for the single track to be designated hiking/biking , have a separate network for equestrians and to mark and expand the hiking/biking network. You can e-mail them at:
forestmanager@dufferinmuseum.com (you may have to copy and paste this e-mail address)
If you haven’t complete the survey for the Forest Management Plan it can be found at:
(just click the link) take the survey
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Some important dates concerning the future of Dufferin Forest in Mansfield. The County is developing a 20 year management plan and will be holding public meetings.
If interested here is the info for the public meetings regarding the Management Plan.
The next meeting of the Advisory Team will be April 15, 7pm at the Sutton Room, 55 Zina Street, Orangeville to discuss the draft forest management plan (this is open to the public, but not for comment. We are still encouraging a show from the MTB community as a show of interest). Public open houses to review the draft forest management plan will be May 9, 3-8pm at the Sutton Room and May 10, 10am-4pm at the Dufferin County Museum & Archives which are open to public input.
A good show from the MTB community at all the upcoming meetings would be beneficial.
Thanks and see you there,
Johnny
Head to the Events Calendar and click on the Dufferin Meeting for locations, times and directions
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Date: April 28th, 2014
Anyone thinking of coming up to Dufferin to ride, you will not be dissapointed. The trails are good to go. After this past weekend and the hard work put out by team van goer’s and other volunteers, all the trails are ready to ride!!!!!
Come on out and ride the trails!! They are free to ride, and ready to ride.
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Date: April 24th, 2014
Dufferin Trails are good to go! Well the Stick and Lollipop trail are anyways. A little patch of snow, but you can stay to the right or left to avoid it if you want.
You can go out and ride there for sure now on any bike you have… unless it’s a road bike, then it may be difficult to ride….
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Date: April 21st, 2014
Trails are in a lot better shape than they were last Wednesday. On the main Stick and Lollipop trail, I’d say there is about 90% of the trail open and free of snow. The other 10% are still just too deep for Skinny Tire bikes, and make them hike a bike sections. But the difference from last week to this week is night and day!!!
We have not ventured onto Steve’s trail or Ken’s trail yet, but am expecting some snow still through there as they are in the lower lying areas.
If you get out to Dufferin forest, do some exploring, pick up some small sticks off the trail, and enjoy the forest!!
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Date: April 16th, 2014
Trails are coming along really nicely, snow is melting and opening up the singletrack. There is still snow on the trail, but very little in spots, and about a foot of snow in other spots.
Any South facing trails are in great shape, north facing trails are ridable but tough.
We will check the trails this weekend, but with the drainage at Mansfield there little to no wet spots, just some stick debris, and the odd new log across the trail.
Cheers
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Dufferin County is requesting public input for the preparation of the Forest Management Plan. This is a supplement to the survey and is an opportunity to voice your opinions. As usual, our goal is to advocate for the single track to be designated hiking/biking , have a separate network for equestrians and to mark and expand the hiking/biking network. You can e-mail them at:
forestmanager@dufferinmuseum.com (you may have to copy and paste this e-mail address)
If you haven’t complete the survey for the Forest Management Plan it can be found at:
(just click the link) take the survey
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Some important dates concerning the future of Dufferin Forest in Mansfield. The County is developing a 20 year management plan and will be holding public meetings.
If interested here is the info for the public meetings regarding the Management Plan.
The next meeting of the Advisory Team will be April 15, 7pm at the Sutton Room, 55 Zina Street, Orangeville to discuss the draft forest management plan (this is open to the public, but not for comment. We are still encouraging a show from the MTB community as a show of interest). Public open houses to review the draft forest management plan will be May 9, 3-8pm at the Sutton Room and May 10, 10am-4pm at the Dufferin County Museum & Archives which are open to public input.
A good show from the MTB community at all the upcoming meetings would be beneficial.
Thanks and see you there,
Johnny