Headwaters of the Oldman River
DescriptionA spectacular ride down a scenic valley on a quad track. This track has a gentle up and down slope to it and you can go as far as you want to - although there is a point where it slopes down to the adjoining valley to the north. The ride back doesn't take as long. This was one of my all time favourite mountain bike trips.
LevelBeginner - Intermediate
There is a relatively gentle up and down to the road - every so often there is a technical washout that provides a challenge. There are hills where you do feel the climb but rarely did we have to dismount. DistanceVariable; you decide the distance.
Duration:This trip can be as long as you want it to be - we biked from 6:30 - 10 :30 AM round trip.
Land AgencyForest Reserve
You are in the Forest Reserve for the entire ride. No need for permission. DirectionsGo north on the Forest Trunk Road (gravel road) from either the Crowsnest pass or through the Gap at Maycroft where the Oldman River flows out of the mountains. Continue north on The Trunk Road past the Dutch Creek turn off. Then take the next major gravel road going west. There is no signage.
If coming south on the Trunk Road from High 532 that goes through the Kananaskis, turn South on the Trunk Road and go for quit a ways, you the valley will open up and you will pass through some large grass covered clearings - these are large areas. Continue until you come to the first major gravel road going west (there maybe old logging roads going west make sure it is a good maintained gravel road- that should be the Oldman turnoff. However once on the road west it will not be long (about 1Km) till you will pass the OldMan Recreation Area that does have signage (just to confirm you are on the right road). Continue on this road generally going west, it will slowly turn into a dirt road. Whenl you can't go any further with your vehicle disembark, saddle up and take off. We had a 4x4 so we went quite a ways - in fact the last time I was there, a big metal gate was locked but this time it was open and stayed open - so not sure about that but if you get that far with your vehicle that is a good spot to stop. That is where we stopped. You just continue biking on this quad trail till you are satisfied. |
Garmin WayPointsNA
MapsNotesCaution, this is Grizzly country. We saw a sow Grizzly and a juvenile across the valley. You will want to make some noise because we did see fairly fresh scat on the road.
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