Honey Trail - South West Ridge
DescriptionA great single track ride with a spectacular view of the eastern slopes. This is a nice afternoon or morning ride. You could make it a loop by having a vehicle at the bottom of East Trout Creek - then drop down into the King Bolt Creek valley from the end of the trail instead of returning on the same trail (I suspect it would be a great downhill descent but I have not tried it yet).
LevelIntermediate
Quite a bit of up and down but nothing too technical or overly steep. Lots of roots and debris on the trail. Full-suspension highly recommended. Only one spot where you need to be careful on a descent - sudden drop after crossing a root on a steep technical down hilll section but if you take it at speed you would be fine - I ended up on my face. Distance5.5 Km (one way)
Duration:1 hour (one way) - for slow pokes like me
There are probably some options for extending the trip by either going further north along the ridge (although it appears to drop down fairly steeply from the end point or you could go back to King Bolt valley and go to the bottom and then west at the bottom and explore up the Honey Trail to the west before coming back down the valley to E. Trout Creek. You could have another vehicle down at the bottom or grind up the gravel road at the bottom back up to the start location. Land AgencyForest Reserve
DirectionsGoing West from Claresholm, on gravel road 520 that goes up and over the Porcupine hills. Once you get to the top there is an intersection take the right hand turn on the road going north - East Trout Creek Rd. (south goes to the Skyline Rd). If you are coming from highway 22 going east on 520 that goes over the porcupine hills, go to the top then take the left at that intersection on East Trout Creek Rd. At this point it will help to use your GPS to find the starting point but look for a turn off on the right hand side to a dirt road going east and on the opposite side of the road you will see a barbwire gate. You start by parking on the east side of E. Trout Creek Rd. then take your bikes and go back cross the gravel road and go over the barbwire gate on the west side of the gravel road. There is an old logging road heading south west (left immediately after the gate), follow that to the top the ridge and you want to stay next to the fence line the entire way. Almost at the top the road veers off to the right you will see a faint single track staying with the fence line, take that single track and just stay on the north side of the fence. Then once you are over top of the ridge the fence goes north along the top of the ridge. Stick on the east side of the fence the entire way along the top of the ridge. Once you get to a steep hill the rocky road on the other side of the fence is the better option. Almost at the end, you will see a dirt road going off to the east don't take that unless you want to end up down in the King Bolt Creek valley. Stick to the top of the ridge. Go a bit further north on the ridge - you might be able go even further along the ridge but I have not explored that far. You can eat your lunch on a rocky outcrop which gives you a spectacular panoramic vista of the eastern slopes.
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