ATV trails

[Duramaximos]

Hi all,
Looking to do some trail riding this summer and wondering if the community could make some suggestions or point me to a resource.

I think I'm an odd-ball that prefers long and dry trails, rather than a mud hole every 100 yards lol. I live in Calgary so I've been to McLean Creek several times already. With this year being particularly wet I'm not looking forward to going there any time soon.
My idea of a great trail is 60 kms one way, with cool scenery, taking a full day with breaks. Do these trails exist within 2 hours of Calgary?

My favourite ride to date departed from the Golden Golf Course and ended at Quartz Creek. 3.5 hrs from Calgary is a bit far for a one day trip tho.

Thanks!

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[Getzcold]

Porcupine hills has one decent size loop. You can kill a day there not to bad. Indian graves is alright but no side by sides. The crows nest pass has lots of trails and the atv club does a good job down there. Other close option is wiperous that is bigger then McLean creek hit and miss in the mud there.


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[schreyer]

I bought hard copies of Backroad Mapbooks. I ordered mine through their website but Cabelas may have some too. These books are very informative on OHV trails and also other things as well.

[Talking moose]

Not 2 hours from Calgary but the iron horse trail would be your thing.
They tore out the old train tracks and made a riding trail from just east of Edmonton all the way to the Sask border.
Good scenery, little to no mud, passes right through multiple towns, free camping or hotels if that’s your thing,
I’ve done it a couple times. It Y’s off and one way goes up to cold lake and the other through elk point and beyond.

[Duramaximos]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Not 2 hours from Calgary but the iron horse trail would be your thing.
They tore out the old train tracks and made a riding trail from just east of Edmonton all the way to the Sask border.
Good scenery, little to no mud, passes right through multiple towns, free camping or hotels if that’s your thing,
I’ve done it a couple times. It Y’s off and one way goes up to cold lake and the other through elk point and beyond.

Yes! This does sound interesting to me. How many days to get from Edmonton to the Sask boarder at a comfortable pace with lots of breaks?

[Tactical Lever]

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

Yes! This does sound interesting to me. How many days to get from Edmonton to the Sask boarder at a comfortable pace with lots of breaks?

One day!

Driving the back way from Edmonton to Elk Point is about 201 km. The Iron Horse is probably even shorter. From EP to Lloyd is 110 or 115 km driving, and I think the trail might be slightly more direct. I believe that's where it leads. If it bypasses Lloyd, it's shorter.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

Yes! This does sound interesting to me. How many days to get from Edmonton to the Sask boarder at a comfortable pace with lots of breaks?

I’ve done it in under 5 hours. Just stopping for gas.
It really all depends on your breaks and stops.
A nice moderate pace with nice breaks will fill up a long day.
Google iron horse trail. Tons of info

[Talking moose]

https://ironhorsetrail.ca/

[Tactical Lever]

I'm not sure what your expectations are for scenery and trail, but some of it is a little boring. Mostly about as straight and flat as you could imagine. I don't think there is any mud or obstacle worth mentioning. Passes through lots of farmland, bit there are a couple nice spots I think.

Haven't went extremely far on it myself. Mostly just a little farther than St. Paul from Elk Point, and out to Lindbergh. At the time, it almost seemed to end at Lindbergh and I can't recall why I didn't go farther. I think I may have been on the trail a bit farther East though. I don't think there is a whole lot for side trails.

[CBintheNorth]

You can take the iron horse from the pumpkins in Smoky Lake right to the McDonald's in Cold Lake. That leg is roughly 200 km. It says you can launch in Waskatenau, but there's no trail to Smoky Lake.
The stretch from Smoky Lake to Bellis is very scenic with some off trails in the sand dunes. A couple of stretches after that are fairly boring as they just ride along the open beside Highway 28. Between Vilna and Ashmont to be exact.
If you choose to go south at Ashmont it is also very scenic, as the last stretch past Elk Point goes along the North Sask. river. Lots of cool heritage sites along that stretch with the most interesting being at the end.
I've done 90% of the Iron horse several times with my wife and 2 kids on their 125's. No issues other than the dust.
Bring fuel as some of the gas stations are a ways from the trail. All the hamlets along the way are very quad friendly.
Just Google Alberta's Iron Horse Trail and lots of maps and info will come up.
Happy riding.

[Tactical Lever]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I’ve done it in under 5 hours. Just stopping for gas.
It really all depends on your breaks and stops.
A nice moderate pace with nice breaks will fill up a long day.
Google iron horse trail. Tons of info

Yes, if you have a fast machine, it wouldn't take long. Can cruise at a pretty brisk pace, if one was inclined. No problem going an average of 80 kmh, but for a slow relaxed ride, you'd probably be going more like 40 or 50 with breaks.

How many km did you put on TM?

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

Yes, if you have a fast machine, it wouldn't take long. Can cruise at a pretty brisk pace, if one was inclined. No problem going an average of 80 kmh, but for a slow relaxed ride, you'd probably be going more like 40 or 50 with breaks.

How many km did you put on TM?

Went to cold lake, went back to the Y intersection, then out to heinsburg, then back to smoky lake. Don’t remember how many klicks it was…..

[Tactical Lever]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Went to cold lake, went back to the Y intersection, then out to heinsburg, then back to smoky lake. Don’t remember how many klicks it was…..

Mighta been Heinsberg I was thinking of where it seemed to end. Thought it picked up again now, so you could practically cross the country!

All this talk about it kinda makes me want to go on the nice mellow cruise.

Lots of trail here, but so much of it just comes to an end due to ponds, creeks, or machine swallowing 'skeg. Presently looking for bigger, "muddier" tires for that purpose.

[-JR-]

Is the fallen timbers campground still an Atv campgrounds .
You might want to check that out

[jcrayford]

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

Hi all,
Looking to do some trail riding this summer and wondering if the community could make some suggestions or point me to a resource.

I think I'm an odd-ball that prefers long and dry trails, rather than a mud hole every 100 yards lol. I live in Calgary so I've been to McLean Creek several times already. With this year being particularly wet I'm not looking forward to going there any time soon.
My idea of a great trail is 60 kms one way, with cool scenery, taking a full day with breaks. Do these trails exist within 2 hours of Calgary?

My favourite ride to date departed from the Golden Golf Course and ended at Quartz Creek. 3.5 hrs from Calgary is a bit far for a one day trip tho.

Thanks!

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Shhh... Keep this little secret.

Go South to CNP. Check in with the Quad Squad down there. The trail system there has a mixture of everything, including some fantastic nowhere else seen offerings.

My favorite trail down there launches from just SW of Coleman and goes up York Creek to a plane crash.

Only suggestion I have is to use a machine with fuel injection on that trail - you get up higher than treeline and when I used a carbureted machine, it coughed and sputtered the last 300 feet in altitude.

J.

[X-Treme]

The Iron Horse trail sucks, IMO. You may as well be riding a dirt road. Straight as an arrow and dusty as all hell.

The Rail Trail in the Nordegg area is something else though. Yes, it's straight, but it's in the mountains and along the NSR. MUCH better riding than the IHT, and closer to you as well.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by X-Treme

The Iron Horse trail sucks, IMO. You may as well be riding a dirt road. Straight as an arrow and dusty as all hell.

The Rail Trail in the Nordegg area is something else though. Yes, it's straight, but it's in the mountains and along the NSR. MUCH better riding than the IHT, and closer to you as well.

For sure the Iron Horse can get dusty when your riding more than 2 atv's. Those in the back will never get out of the cloud unless its windy.


West of St Paul is mostly farm land scenery. East has more hills, bush, curves and better scenery. Its a nice trail ride for what your after.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

Mighta been Heinsberg I was thinking of where it seemed to end. Thought it picked up again now, so you could practically cross the country!

All this talk about it kinda makes me want to go on the nice mellow cruise.

Lots of trail here, but so much of it just comes to an end due to ponds, creeks, or machine swallowing 'skeg. Presently looking for bigger, "muddier" tires for that purpose.

No kidding. The Golden Triangle would be a fun loop if they could make it passable in the summer. Too many creeks with no bridges and the miles of muskeg.

[urban rednek]

Have you been on the trails on the Ghost PLUZ? I can't speak for the quad trails, but the Jeep trails have been re-routed to mostly avoid the wet stuff. I believe the worst sections of the quad trails were lined with muskeg matting a few years ago to prevent digging and erosion.
Here is a link to the alberta.ca site where you can download the current 2024 Ghost PLUZ map in .pdf format:

https://open.alberta.ca/publications...ails-and-roads

South Ghost PRA (45) up Lost Knife Trail to Waiparous Valley Road then west to Margaret Lake (140) was a nice drive.

[Drewski Canuck]

Funny no one has mentioned the Peace River Trail section that starts north of Athabasca, and runs to Fawcett Lake and further I am told.

Go north on 813 to Sawdy Road, turn left, follow the signs to the staging area. Lots of terrain, good bridges, some picnic sites with out houses, and it follows along the Athabasca River.

There are some good grades along the benches of the Athabasca, and some great lookouts. Bring gas and water as you are in Crown land and a long long run without cell good coverage.

Not much mud as alot of gravel has been laid down to make this a multi use trail and this is a northern leg of the Trans Canada Trail system.

From the trail itself there are a good number of cut lines shooting off to explore as well.

Drewski

[Duramaximos]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Seems like all the good stuff is a little further away but worth it.

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