Work this week brings me on a Northern Ontario loop. From GTA I typically like to include one of Hardwood Hills, Buckwallow, or Porcupine Ridge as I head north. Yesterday I skipped those spots to have enough time to try a new trail network a few minutes to the East of Sudbury.
Frankly, I’m glad I did. Walden Mountain Bike Club deserves a solid pat on the back for the work they did at Naughton Trails.
The first thing they did right (which many locations do) is provide a good map at the trailhead.
The they also provided free trailmaps to take with you. With phone GPS apps becoming more accessible, not as many locations offer hard copies but it’s still nice to have.
Somewhat ironically, that map isn’t needed, because what WMBC / Naughton Trails did exceptionally well was arrange colored loops to help visitors determine the type of ride they want, and then help them experience the best trails to fulfill that role.
I can’t begin to say how pleasant it is to actually focus on enjoying the ride rather than having to stop at every junction, pull out a damn map and deal with mosquitos and dripping sweat every few minutes, just to see/guess where I should go next.
It’s one thing to offer organised loops at the trail head but it’s much harder to ensure that there’s consistency (and frequency) of signs throughout the network. In this case all but one junction had clear signs. Bravo!!!
I rode the largest Red – ‘Kitchen Sink’ loop (12km, 234m) and added the Yellow ‘Second Lap’ loop (4km, 103m) for good measure.
Trails on the Eastern loop are more hardpacked and little elevation. As you work your way to the center & west of the network you’re introduced to more elevation and rock.
For comparatives, terrain in the harder locations is similar to Kanata Lakes / Camp Fortune / Mont Ste Marie but the Naughton’s exposed rock is a little more chipped up. Some of the exposed views had a bit of Kelso / Camp Fortune / Mont Ste Marie feel.
Climbing wasn’t too bad, there’s a couple of grunts like this up Logan’s Run.
The other nice thing is that the builders didn’t have any surprises. When a visitor experiences a trail network for the first time they have no idea of the quality of trails and if there’s any hidden 4′ drops around the next bend. WMBC did a great job of building credability/trust early on which meant I could feel comfortable letting the bike roll and really experience the trails.
Not sure if it’s pictured below, but my favorite trails were ‘Will Breaker’ and ‘Pacemaker’ when travelling clockwise (east -> west). Some super fun descents there.
I’m quite surprised at what was offered, for what I expect was relatively little resource. Naughton Trails are just off the Trans Canada Hwy, about 10 minutes east of Sudbury. It’s a perfect & convenient way to break up a long trip.
For accommodations I was at the Holiday Inn Express (1696 Regent St). It’s a little dated but clean. For eating, I was recommended to try ‘Ripe’ (1788 Regent St) which was just a short 100m or so from the hotel. It was a really good meal, with an excellent wood-fired pizza.
Apparently ‘Laughing Buddah’ (194 Elgin St) a little further in town is also very good.