Looking to do a little mountain bike road trip in either late May or June. Would be going for like 3-5 days total and would be driving from Vancouver. Anything within 6 hours driving of Vancouver would be an option. Any recommendations?
BC/PNW MTB road trip recommendations
Sunshine coast: Roberts creek, Gravity park or Sechelt, Powell River- (Civil disobedience trail is pretty good). Then ferry over to Cumberland is a good loop. Go during the week and the ferries are mellow.
Okanagan. We try to do a trip every year because my wife likes kayaking on the lakes while I ride. Lots of good trails and very different from the coast. So far I've explored the Penticton and Vernon areas, Kalamalka Park near Vernon is probably my favourite so far. Haven't done anything around Kelowna yet.
Last edited by: niels@nsmb.com on April 26, 2018, 10:42 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
Thanks guys - those were two of my top options. So many good options in the region.
Ended up going with the Okanagan... any recommendations aside from Kalamalka Park? Looking at Trailforks it seems like Crawford, Gillard, and Smith Creek look like good options. Any other recommendations?
Not super familiar with the Vernon trail system. Was there last early June. All I can say is pack bug spray, the mosquitos were insane, pretty much ruined the ride.
I am super familiar with the Penticton trails, have family that live right near the mice great trails. Headed up there this week, making sure I hit the Thursday night shop ride with the Freedom bikes possee. Its loads of fun
People always ask me what's the phenomenon
Yo what's up? Yo what's goin' on- Adam Yauch
Last edited by: Brocklanders on April 30, 2018, 9:39 a.m., edited 2 times in total.
Three Blind Mice in Penticton/Naramata is great but the trail density is crazy and confusing. Trailforks has some BC Enduro courses that you could use as a guide.
I also want to mention Ellison Park near Vernon. The trails are pretty mellow but I enjoyed riding straight from our campsite and having post-ride/paddle beers on the beach watching the sunset with my wife.
Another vote for Three Blind Mice and use the BCES enduro tracks. You will have to stop and look at Trailforks as there is a ton of criss-crossing. I've only ridden Kalamaka once, we rode up the blue climb trail and down Twisted Sister another blue trail then down to the lake.
Kal park a must. Keep climbing from stone free up Pali gap and come down big ed.
I go out there a couple times a year. In laws are in Vernon. Pali gap could be considered(hate this word) epic. Don’t realize the terrain right behind Vernon. Can’t see it from the lake.
Nod for Ellison as well
Last edited by: KevinP on May 1, 2018, 5:38 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
Posted by: niels@nsmb.com
Three Blind Mice in Penticton/Naramata is great but the trail density is crazy and confusing.
Are they all legit mtb trails or is it a lot of random connector trails? Trail map looks really confusing!
Posted by: Bull_Dozer
Posted by: niels@nsmb.com
Three Blind Mice in Penticton/Naramata is great but the trail density is crazy and confusing.
Are they all legit mtb trails or is it a lot of random connector trails? Trail map looks really confusing!
It can be. If you park at riddle road and ride yellow brick road, neverland up to the rusty muffler lot. You ride one big decent back to the car pretty much. Muffler, marmot, dead horse, rollercoaster or Rainbow , Bronco is a great lap also. Yes it can be confusing but all the trails kinda link together and end in the same spot. You just aim for the south end of the lake. The mice is on private property so its fenced in at the north and south end. Another good one which is a shuttle is arawana beer run. Has crazy stunts on it.
Posted by: KevinP
Kal park a must. Keep climbing from stone free up Pali gap and come down big ed.
I go out there a couple times a year. In laws are in Vernon. Pali gap could be considered(hate this word) epic. Don’t realize the terrain right behind Vernon. Can’t see it from the lake.
Nod for Ellison as well
Thanks for the tips. How gnarly is Big Ed? Is it a true double black? Totally doable on a trail bike while wearing an xc helmet?
Posted by: Brocklanders
The mice is on private property so its fenced in at the north and south end.
Do you have to hop a fence to ride the trails or is it just kind of like the situation with British Properties on Cypress?
Last summer we did this, and it was awesome. Camped the whole way, and it was actually an extremely cheap trip. Ferries are costly I guess, but you don't need ot burn yourself out driving, and you don't pay $1.60 for gas on those portions. We also chose this route because of the fires raging in the interior:
Day 0: Depart Vancouver and ferry over to Nanaimo. Not enough time/daylight to get a proper ride in, but we checked out the Stevie Smith bike park. Bring lights and ride Nanaimo's trails if you want. We then drove to Cumberland where we were staying.
Day 1: Rode Cumberland: https://www.trailforks.com/ridelog/view/1675210/ (there is a climbing trail you could take to shorten that big loop on the road)
Day 2: Wake early, first ferry to Powell River, ride Civil Disobedience. Wow.
Day 3: Wake early, ferry to Sechelt, Coast Gravity Park. Finish your day with Huggies to get back into town. Did an evening ride at B&K afterwards.
Day 4: B&K/Robert's Creek: https://www.trailforks.com/ridelog/view/2854059/ (Just one lap for me, because my friend destroyed his wheel), ferry to HSB in the evening.
Posted by: Bull_Dozer
Posted by: Brocklanders
The mice is on private property so its fenced in at the north and south end.
Do you have to hop a fence to ride the trails or is it just kind of like the situation with British Properties on Cypress?
No fence hopping when I was there last summer, we got a ride up and rode Rusty Muffler, Eagle, Crow, Sir Drops-a-Lot, Fred, Skull Coaster, Roller Coaster to Sweet Tsue. Mix of blue/easy blacks. Pretty much all single track I don't remember any connector trails really. Much faster/open/flowy single track than you find on the shore, fun rock drops, jumps too as well as lots of sharp rocks... highly recommend checking the area out.
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