Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and return bikepacking

Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe
and return, bikepacking

Registration is open.
No payment required when registering.
Cost $115 per person (double occupancy with free breakfast) is payable day before event by e-transfer to greg.andrebarrett@gmail.com. 

Any questions please contact the tour leader Greg Andre-Barrett at weekendtrips@tbn.ca.

Summary:

To see if this trip is for you, I recommend you read Michael Nyby's article about his route and his trip along it with photographs on Bikepacking Ontario at the link below. Base on his article I advise that you should use a mountain bike (min 2" tires) or gravel bike (min 43mm tires), and like riding unpaved trails, and at least 125kms in a day. You can and should pack light as we will be staying at a hotel and there are places to eat and drink along the route. 

• https://www.bikepackingontario.com/lake-to-lake.html

Easily accessible via public transit from Toronto, this overnight loop is a great way for riders in the GTA to get away for the weekend…if they like riding gravel and trails. Utilizing the extensive trail networks through the York and Durham regions, the course winds its way through 240 kilometres of Ontario countryside. You'll ride a variety of hiking trail, horse trail, rail trail, mountain bike singletrack, and a variety of back roads. Each day is technically challenging with a number of steep off-road sections, so about two-inch (50mm) width tires are recommended. 

Itinerary:
Day 1 Pickering Lake Ontario to Jackson’s Point Lake Simcoe:

• https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49479901 

• Distance 125 km. Elevation 768 m. Unpaved 69%.

• 7:30am The ride starts at the Pickering GO Station, so riders can easily take transit from Toronto to the start (and end) of the trip.  

• Day one front loads all of the technical trail sections, as you'll link up the Duffins Trail, Greenwood Conservation Area, Claremont Nature Centre, and Durham Forest with just a few kilometres of road in between. 

• 65.7 km: Uxbridge: Lunch at The Bar Cafe. 

• The second half of the day consists of about 30 kilometres of continuous rail trail and 25 km on a mix of gravel and paved country roads as you make your way to Sibbald Point.

• 125 km: Ramada by Wyndham Jackson's Point, 49 Lorne St, Jacksons Point, ON L0E 1N0

Cancellation cost until April 24, 2025 11:59 PM: CAD 0

Day 2 Jackson’s Point Lake Simcoe to Pickering Lake Ontario:

• https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49479996 

• Distance 112 km. Elevation 658 m. Unpaved 51%. 

• Free Breakfast at Ramada.

• Day two starts with a leisurely spin along the shores of Lake Simcoe followed by a rip through some of Sutton's ATV trails. These trails turn into a literal swamp if it's been wet, so we only recommend riding through this section if you're going in the late summer. About 10 kms into the Zephyr-Sutton Rail Trail, riders have the option of taking a right on Ravenshoe Road to explore the trails of the Brown Hill Tract, or continue straight down the Rail Trail to its terminus just north of the lunch stop in Mount Albert. 

• 35.5 km: Mount Albert: Morning snack at Lighthouse Cafe.

• After Mount Albert the route links up a number of tracts in the York Regional Forest system. Trails through here range from smooth crushed-gravel dualtrack to sandy horse trails to rutted out technical mountain-bike oriented singletrack. There are plenty of optional loops to explore, 

• 63 km: Ballantrae. Lunch at Nonno Crupi's Pizza. 

• Save your energy because you'll still have to tackle some tough climbs through the meadows around Musselman Lake and the route ends with a rip down the challenging but extremely rewarding Seaton Hiking Trail.

• 75 km: Shoppers Drug Mart; Pizza Hut.  

• 112 km: Trains from Pickering GO back into Toronto run every half hour so you might even make it home for dinner.