Event: Just out riding somewhere new
Place: "West Rocks" Owen Sound, ON (Canada)
Ridden: August 2014
Click on video to watch.
This week we give an international experience to mountain biking by showcasing the Grey County Managed trail system, know locally as West Rocks, located in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. The trail system is located on the Niagra Eescarpment This geological feature is a long cliff, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs east/west from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls. The section we rode overlooks Owen Sound and the Georgian Bay.
The escarpment formed over millions of years through a process of differential erosion of rocks of different hardnesses. The top layer of the escarpment is limestone, beneath that softer shale. The gradual removal of the soft rocks undercuts the resistant caprock, leaving a cliff or escarpment.
The trails at West Rock are open to cyclists and hikers, some are snowmobile trails that are used for foot and bike traffic in the summer. The Bruce Trail, a 550 mile hiking trail, crosses through the area. Access is easy, the trails start just on the edge of town, we were able to ride to the trail head directly from where we were staying. There is a wide variety of terrain varying from hard packed wide open logging roads to tight, grown in rocky single track. There are sections of rock that resemble a "moon scape", they are rough and pitted.
One very interesting (and quite scary feature) is the huge cracks in the rock base of the escarpment. These cracks range from just a few inches to almost two feet wide and can appear bottomless. They are quite frightening to cross over, I had vivid images of falling into them and never returning. We later heard a story from a local about a dog that fell into one of these crevaces; the owner found their pooch the next day and luckily the dog was relatively unharmed. I think Cliff sensed the
danger, he stayed closer to us than usual the entire ride.
Riding there was fun and different. A mix of trails that offer something for every skill level. The trails are maintained well and offer great views of the surrounding areas. A big thank you goes out to Doug at Bike Face, the owner of the local bike shop. He told us about these trails; without his advice we would not have found them and had such a great ride.
- video by Joël
- words by Jess