New Empress Bypass

Nothing special to see but I made a quick vid of the new Empress Bypass. It's a great addition to Seymour. Thanks to everyone involved who made this happen.

Good times eh!

great trail!  I hope they maintain it better than Upper Dales.  It's going to get beat in the summer.

Thanks for posting, looks sooooo much better than the misery of the old one. Couple fun doubles in there... I do fear for those steeper berms which are going to be destroyed by people braking in them.

So is this still multi-use? Now you can gain way more speed isn't it more likely to see a hiker v biker crash event happening?

Posted by: Kieran

So is this still multi-use? Now you can gain way more speed isn't it more likely to see a hiker v biker crash event happening?

I rode it yesterday and there is signage at the entrance that it is mountain bike primary.  The sign also asked that hikers take the 'new' hiking trail or old buck back down to the parking lot.  Not sure what the new hiking trail is, but I assume there is something between Old Buck and the Empress Bypass entrance.  It was wide and fast and flowy.  Glad I rode it now, I think it is going to get pretty beaten down by traffic in the coming weeks.

Right, thanks. Not that I'm ever likely to ride it the whole thing. Empress is way better IMO.

A dedicated single track hiking trail was built from the gravel path up to BP. Not sure if the new Bypass is bikers only (is that possible? Depends on land owner I guess) but there's zero reason for hikers to be on it.

Rode it once yesterday morning, perfect dirt, really well built and FAST. There's a couple decent sized doubles only one of which I attempted and cleared. There are a few steeper berms that are showing signs of wear already and are going to be A-Line size bomb holes in dry August.

Huge improvement from the old bypass.