[lukey]

There were a few recent threads asking for Waterdown, Red Hill Valley and Dundas trail maps. I did a small project which might help a little. So far, the map has about 300-350km of off-street routes, aka trails. It's still not complete, but I don't think there are any major errors. The area mapped covers Nemo, Waterdown, Kerncliffe, Borer's, Dundas Conservation Area, Beckett Woods, Iroquois Heights, King's Forest/Valley Park, Red Hill, Felker's/East Mountain and various other snippets of trail, along with some bike path and rail trail that form important connectors.

One simple glance at how fragmented the trail system is and you will have some insight into the area's riding. There's quite a lot, but it's really disconnected. Maps help!

There are three parts to this map:

• Part one is a GPX file for the whole trail network. On a windows computer, I would highly recommend TopoFusion software if you want to isolate chunks, manipulate data, print stuff or view the entire thing.
• Part two is a KML file that is the right format so you can load the whole map into Google Earth. This is perfect if you want to visualize the climbing in 3D or print off a section. Sample here.
• Part three is a custom basemap that works on Garmin units, and maybe some other GPS's. It's an IMG file that you can send right into your GPS unit. For the latest generation of Garmins, just copy the IMG file over to your unit's memory as-is. The map set contains only the trails which will automatically transparently overlay your unit's existing basemap...here's how that looks in use:
  
  
  (Red lines are the trails.)

Download the maps here.

Shoot me any specific feedback. I already know this map is currently missing the Hamilton -> Caledonia RailTrail, Christie Area and some small bits 'n pieces in western edge of Dundas and around King Road in Waterdown. I think most main trails should be shown.

On a side note, I think I have about 4000km of unique trails in other Ontario riding districts in my archives...should I map other areas? Any particular requests?

A point of inspiration is that the Hamilton Trail system blends seamlessly all the way into other systems. You can ride off-road to Guelph (140km), to St.Catharines (90km), to Milton (70km) and beyond. The borders on this map are pretty arbitrary...I didn't dig deep into my files or think too hard about where to cut things off...I just did it an automatic way which got things moving pretty quickly. The limits are not accurately given by this map. :thumbsup:

A current major weakness of this map is that the trails are not classified, and no directions are shown. There's everything from stone-chip rail trail to hike-a-bike single track and basically everything in between. I encourage you to think about this as a potential strength...please go explore, ride that bike and blame me later.

 

[aerius]

Awesome work, and thanks so much! :thumbsup:

I finally know why I was having so much trouble linking the Waterdown trail sections together, and also how to get it join with everything else. It's so much easier when I can see the entire view from up top rather than having to visualize everything in my head.

 

[lukey]

Awesome work, and thanks so much! :thumbsup:

I finally know why I was having so much trouble linking the Waterdown trail sections together, and also how to get it join with everything else. It's so much easier when I can see the entire view from up top rather than having to visualize everything in my head.

The white-blazed trail is a sure-fire route between the three sections, but some sections are not too enjoyable due to the grades you'll climb or push up. If you like flow and easier climbs and the occasional thrill, keep an eye peeled for orange-dot trails. Most of the stunts and other features are found on the many side loops.

The most difficult area to navigate is the Smoky Hollow area right next to Waterdown Rd. The terrain there is an incredibly steep bluff. The major/distinct white-blazed trails are impossible on bike. The elusive rideable connectors do exist, and I think they all have the orange-dot blazes, so really watch for those: I recommend exploring in from the Horning Rd, Flatt Rd, Snake Rd. or Hidden Valley trailheads, but in that section, the alternate trailheads are quite tricky to find without seeing the map first and the trails may look pretty abandoned and overgrown...it's easy to get lost in Waterdown.

 

[SuprGrovr]

Thanks for all your map work! Not just these ones but others you've posted as well.

Awesome! :thumbsup:

 

[ez5]

thanks for this, some serious work here.

 

[Nerdgirl]

This is fantastic. A sticky thread of Eastern Canada trail maps would be a most excellent addition to this forum. I know you're not alone in doing this! People post such things from time to time and they can be hard to find after a while.

 

[langford]

Great work lukey!!! Great idea Nerdgirl!!!

 

[spyne]

Thanks for the maps!

 

[ez5]

This is fantastic. A sticky thread of Eastern Canada trail maps would be a most excellent addition to this forum. I know you're not alone in doing this! People post such things from time to time and they can be hard to find after a while.

this would be a good idea.

 

[Enduramil]

Thanks.

 

[SparxFlyer]

Thanks so much for sharing!

Just completed a 37 km ride from my home in the North End and got as far as King Road. All but maybe 3 km were on trails (including the Waterfront Trail) I found a few sections of trail that I had previously never explored and that

The section off of Horning Road along the bluffs is awesome! Rinding a 1' wide trail with steep ups and downs on the side of the ravine does amazing things for one's focus! I didn't find the connecting trail down to Flatt Road but will look another day.

A GPS is on the wish list... It's neat to see what can be done with the tracks!

 

[the bob]

Good work man

 

[Cognoggin]

That's amazing! Great work.

This'll help my gang go beyond the usual trails we know. Thanks.

 

[ccaddy]

I cant get these to open :madman:

 

[langford]

Click on "sample here" on part 2 of Lukey's first post, then zoom into the Red Hill area.

 

[Nik_Gratton]

There were a few recent threads asking for Waterdown, Red Hill Valley and Dundas trail maps. I did a small project which might help a little. So far, the map has about 300-350km of off-street routes, aka trails. It's still not complete, but I don't think there are any major errors. The area mapped covers Nemo, Waterdown, Kerncliffe, Borer's, Dundas Conservation Area, Beckett Woods, Iroquois Heights, King's Forest/Valley Park, Red Hill, Felker's/East Mountain and various other snippets of trail, along with some bike path and rail trail that form important connectors.

One simple glance at how fragmented the trail system is and you will have some insight into the area's riding. There's quite a lot, but it's really disconnected. Maps help!

There are three parts to this map:

• Part one is a GPX file for the whole trail network. On a windows computer, I would highly recommend TopoFusion software if you want to isolate chunks, manipulate data, print stuff or view the entire thing.
• Part two is a KML file that is the right format so you can load the whole map into Google Earth. This is perfect if you want to visualize the climbing in 3D or print off a section. Sample here.
• Part three is a custom basemap that works on Garmin units, and maybe some other GPS's. It's an IMG file that you can send right into your GPS unit. For the latest generation of Garmins, just copy the IMG file over to your unit's memory as-is. The map set contains only the trails which will automatically transparently overlay your unit's existing basemap...here's how that looks in use:
  
  
  (Red lines are the trails.)

Download the maps here.

Shoot me any specific feedback. I already know this map is currently missing the Hamilton -> Caledonia RailTrail, Christie Area and some small bits 'n pieces in western edge of Dundas and around King Road in Waterdown. I think most main trails should be shown.

On a side note, I think I have about 4000km of unique trails in other Ontario riding districts in my archives...should I map other areas? Any particular requests?

A point of inspiration is that the Hamilton Trail system blends seamlessly all the way into other systems. You can ride off-road to Guelph (140km), to St.Catharines (90km), to Milton (70km) and beyond. The borders on this map are pretty arbitrary...I didn't dig deep into my files or think too hard about where to cut things off...I just did it an automatic way which got things moving pretty quickly. The limits are not accurately given by this map. :thumbsup:

A current major weakness of this map is that the trails are not classified, and no directions are shown. There's everything from stone-chip rail trail to hike-a-bike single track and basically everything in between. I encourage you to think about this as a potential strength...please go explore, ride that bike and blame me later.

Hey, Hopefully you still check this and will respond! Im just starting to mountain bike once again and I was wondering If it wouldnt be to hard for you to make a trail map for me from Hamilton (Beach Boulevard to Milton (Aprox Derry and Tremaine)... If thats to much work, can you make a plain Hamilton to Milton trail.. I love biking at Kelso!

Thanks in Advance!

 

[noonievut]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have a question about this area.

The only time I've ridden in (part of) this area is in Paris 2 Ancaster. Up to recently I only had road/cross bikes. I now have a mountain bike. If I was to plan a day riding in the Dundas Valley area, including some of the gravel roads and rail trails used in P2A, would a cross bike be ok (it is for P2A), or are the trails (non-P2A) more suitable for a mountain bike? I would park at the Ancaster community centre, ride around for 3-4 hours, stop in Dundas for a coffee, etc...

 

[CptSydor]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have a question about this area.

The only time I've ridden in (part of) this area is in Paris 2 Ancaster. Up to recently I only had road/cross bikes. I now have a mountain bike. If I was to plan a day riding in the Dundas Valley area, including some of the gravel roads and rail trails used in P2A, would a cross bike be ok (it is for P2A), or are the trails (non-P2A) more suitable for a mountain bike? I would park at the Ancaster community centre, ride around for 3-4 hours, stop in Dundas for a coffee, etc...

Lukey's map is an great resource and has virtually every inch of 'off-road' path/trail/singletrack in the area. Unfortunately, finding the proper mountain bike singletrack can be challenging if you don't have some veteran eyes spotting the entrance for you. (And there isn't huge volumes compared to the rail trail, double track and gravel).

I ride my CX around almost all of the trails, including a bunch of singletrack. It's doable, depending on your confidence level (I organized a CX hell ride a couple weeks back and shocked some experienced cyclists with where I would take my CX bikes, so your mileage may vary).

However, anything easily navigated starting at and or in the general vicinity of the Ancaster Community Center is very CX friendly.I 'd say it's the best bike choice. If you want some more info, PM (or if you are on strava, let me know can add you and you can check out some of CX rides that go through there)

 

[SparxFlyer]

At one point I had Lurkey's maps on my system, but a couple hard drives later I can't find them. Unfortunately the links for his files are no longer working. Does anyone have the files? If so I am happy to host them on my DropBox and make them available to MTBR.

PM me or message me here.

Thanks!

 

[Rocket_Rob]

Hey,
I really appreciate all the work you did in making these. The link appears to no longer be active. Could you possibly repost with a fresh link? I'd appreciate it a lot!

Thanks,

Rob