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Hinton, Alberta
Hinton Mountain Bike Association. Our goal is to develop, maintain and promote the best possible mountain biking opportunities around the Hinton area, while ensuring responsible and safe practices in environmental conservation, trail construction, trail maintenance and riding.
Filtering by Category: Trails
HMBA obtained permission for a short reroute between Halloween and Cleo's for ease of navigation between the two trails. The link is now more direct to help save confusion for riders who are new to the area. Thanks to Matt MacKay, Mike Langford and Brayden Langford!
The re-route provides a better connection between "Halloween Connector" and "Cleo's"
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Several sections of boardwalk on the East side of Happy Creek are in poor condition. The longer boardwalk sections have been signed with Caution. The smaller section closer to the Town of Hinton Beaver Boardwalk is not signed. Work has taken place to improve drainage however the structures are soft and boards are missing or loose. Work will take place this week to replace the shorter section near town. See full Happy Creek reporting on Trailforks.
Lots of great trail work happening out there, trail fairies abound. Corduroy and bridge decking on slow cooker, countless trees (bighorn, slow cooker, bubbas, gassifier etc.) and debris removal on just get there/the J. Thanks for the hard work HMBA members! FYI please note the status of Happy Creek East. Maintenance day to be announced for this week.
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singletracks.com
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We ran into some "garbage angels" on the biking trails today. Thanks for taking the initiative to keep our town and trails clean and enjoyable. #hintonproud
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With the good weather and recent winds the Bike Park is drying up fast. There are still some critical wet areas and subsequent rutting from riders who are too impatient to wait it out. The ground is still frozen and spring showers are sure to come.
The strong winds also present a hazard with unstable trees in many areas of the areas of the Park. Several of these trees will have to be professionally removed and this may take time.
If favorable conditions hold throughout the week, there will be a basic maintenance day on Saturday April 18th. This will include garbage cleanup, removing debris from the trails, raking leaves and debris from drainages and raking out the unfortunate new ruts.
Stayed tuned on our website calendar for upcoming maintenance dates!
When conditions are poor, you will see signs like these at the Hinton Bike Park.
The Happy Creek trail system has seen high use in the last couple of weeks with favorable temperatures and rapidly melted snow pack.
There are still a few areas with snow/ice and lots of wet problem areas throughout, especially Happy Creek East and Just Giver. All other trails are in awesome early season shape.
Downed trees on Slowcooker were cleared this weekend.
Report from Jack's Trails of downed trees and wet areas in the obvious spots.
As always, please let us know your trail feedback. Keep us informed on trail conditions and maintenance so we can pass it on to others.
See you at the AGM!
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Please stay out of the bike park during these early spring conditions. The weather is great and we are all itching to get out, but please have some patience. It takes a lot of time and effort to fix ruts created when trails and features are muddy. Time that would be better used making the park radder for all of us!
Thank you!!
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Two of our local fat bike riding enthusiasts, Mike Mahoney and Mike Langford, have teamed up on this recent Winter Trail Pilot Project. With the support of the Hinton Mountain Bike Association and the Town of Hinton, this project will allow the grooming of some of our favorite established backyard trails!
The grooming will be done with a small snowmobile which is handy for mobility and keeping our trails narrow. Absolutely no trail work needs to be done in order to accommodate the grooming, nor will there be any erosion or damage to the existing trails.
The groomer is towed behind the snowmobile and it is exactly the same type of groomer that is used by nordic centres to groom for cross country skiing. The only difference is in the width of the groomer - only 30 inches (76 cm) wide, the ideal width for non-motorized winter activities such as cross country skiing, snowshoeing, bicycling, hiking, dog walking and trail running.
Grooming is a slow process, the snowmobile runs approximately 5 kms/hr towing the groomer as it rolls and packs the trail down. Once groomed, it takes a few hours to "set up" or harden, then it is ready for use. Grooming will be done mostly at night when there is less usage, and a better chance for the snow to set-up.
There will be no cost to the town as Mike Mahoney has volunteered his time and money for this project. The HMBA has agreed to review progress in one years time, and if the project is a success, the association will become financially active with the project.
A groomed winter trail will further promote healthy, "green", carbon neutral activities within our community.
There is a potential to draw more tourist dollars to our town.
The HMBA and the town of Hinton are pushing for Hinton to be a "Alberta's Mountain Bike Mecca". What better way then to make mountain biking a year-round sport?
Dead-fall will be removed throughout the winter thereby reducing the spring workload for the trail crews.
The area that would be groomed include a connection of several small trails in the Happy Creek zone. Trails that will be part of the groomed loop:
The J
Ranger
GS connector
GS
Halloween
Phil's Thriller
Bubba's
Bighorn
Happy Trails!!
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HMBA has submitted a proposal for Hinton's Participatory Budget. If you are a Hinton or Yellowhead County (west of Obed) resident and over the age of 14 - show your support by selecting our project on your vote!
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If you haven't been out riding or hiking these past few days - make sure you include it in your long weekend activities! Even a simple jaunt around our extensive town trails in this fine Autumn weather is sure to be enjoyed by all!
(click on photos to enlarge)
Halloween Trail
Cleo's
Happy Creek Trail
"Wellsite" between The J and Halloween Connector
The J
EZ Lookout
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This week's gem has been a popular riding choice to many for the past few weeks. I have had the opportunity to have a good chat with HMBA's Trail Coordinator, Kevin Myles, and hope it will be a testament to just how much goes into adding trails to our amazing trail systems.
Location: Happy Creek Trail System, connects EZ Lookout and GS.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Type: Singletrack
Description: Like a Ranger patrolling the bush, scouting trails, scanning for wildlife, and keeping quads off protected areas, so too can you experience HMBA newest singletrack!
A pedally 2.4 kilometer trail that connects the EZ viewpoint with the GS trail in the greater Happy Creek trail system. Ranger has a different challenge depending on which direction you ride it with something new around every corner. As the trail is still new, your keen tracking skills will be useful for navigation and looking for flags on important corners.
Built with the help of the Alberta Junior Forest Rangers in the summer of 2014, Ranger is a fitting tribute. Also, if you’re into geo-caching, look for the cache that the JFR’s created near the EZ viewpoint.
Directions: There are two main ways to access this trail. The northern trailhead is found off the spur trail for the EZ Lookout, a favorite lookout spot after going up The J. The second connects from Halloween and a fun downhill extension with the GS trail.
HMBA: How did you decide to build where you did?
Kevin: In talking with Tim Trahan, the previous HMBA Trail Coordinator, during our master trail plan meeting about the potential GS connector and how the EZ Viewpoint is such a good spot. Normally you climb to the EZ viewpoint, take the Halloween connector and then rely on the pipeline/cutlines to link together with the other trails. It made sense to consider a new trail using the interesting terrain below to connect a longer perimeter style trail with the other dead-ends. The next step was to get TFA (basically permission to build) from AESRD. Tim guided me through the proposal and I gathered a rough trail location using map imagery, submitted the legal land coordinates and a description of the trail type, features and purpose and it was ultimately approved.
HMBA: How did you pick the route?
Kevin: Just started walking in the bush, looking at terrain, drainages, forest types, existing game trails, etc. Walked different sections and flagged what made sense. Tried to use side hills and elevated areas to maximize the terrain and stay out of wet/low areas. Linking tricky sections together, usually the hardest part, especially when there is no obvious route. Trying to minimize disturbance, avoiding cutting green trees, sensitive areas etc. Using natural terrain features and grade reversals for good water drainage and staying within the IMBA guidelines as much as possible.
HMBA: Did you do a lot of re-routes?
Kevin: Not really, there’s still a lot of cool terrain to work with though. I want to link to a new viewpoint and fix a few T corners. Tim provided good feedback, like avoiding high-traffic game trails, hiding sightlines etc.
HMBA: What were the biggest challenges?
Kevin: Running out of time with the end of the season looming and without volunteer support to dig the trail down to mineral soil. Having to rely on people riding it –which is great in the short term but may lead to more maintenance later as roots expose and corners and hill challenges get beat up. More chainsaw work was needed to remove potential deadfall to lessen potential future maintenance.
HMBA: What was the best part of building this trail?
Kevin: The best part is yet to come! More speed as it hardens up and we get familiar with the route.
HMBA: Tell me about the volunteer support
Kevin: The unsung hero is Gabby Lyons: she gets dragged out to work on every on-going HMBA project (sometimes willingly haha) and a normal ride will mysteriously turn into trail maintenance. Like after building Vigilante last year and having to hike out as many tools that we could pack or carry out in the snow. Also had a few organized trail days attended by HMBA members and the odd trail fairy clear a section of trail. Then of course the involvement of the Junior Forest Rangers -more later. So much more happens than what appears on Facebook.
HMBA: Which way should we ride it?
Kevin: Both ways. From Halloween and down GS, it continues the downward grade to the pipeline. Then steady mixed terrain and gradual climb to the viewpoint. The ride from the EZ out to GS is a bit more of a grunt on the last section. The goal was to have this trail link together with other trails back there and utilize more terrain and avoid using cutlines and pipelines. It makes for better loops, tying into Vigilante or longer rides along the perimeter.
HMBA: How were the Junior Forest Rangers (JFR’s) involved?
Kevin: The JFR’s were the big motivation for the trail. They have approached HMBA for several consecutive years now requesting projects where the JFR leaders can work and learn. So the building of the GS extension was the perfect fit and we organized 3 days of work on the extension (and one day on Jack’s). The JFR’s used this project to learn how to use GPS’s and maps to navigate to the site. They hiked from the beaver boardwalk in full nomex coveralls with tools and packs. They learned about the history of HMBA, our partnerships with land managers and the importance of outdoor recreation and tourism to the area. They Learned trail building techniques and got hands-on experience with tools such as polaski’s and mcleod’s. In total the JFR crews put in approximately 300 hours on this trail this summer on the first 0.5 kilometer of the trail. In total, over 400 hours was spent building Ranger!
HMBA: Why "Ranger"?
Kevin: After many hours of discussion over trail names with Julie, HMBA's VP, and whittling down some of my crazier suggestions, "Ranger" seems to be the most appropriate. A bit ordinary maybe, but there needed to be a tie-in with the Junior Forest Rangers. They contributed hundreds of man hours so I think it's a decent connection to their contribution (and hopefully on-going partnership).
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HMBA has submitted a proposal for the 'Participatory Budget'. Hinton's amazing signature trail, Happy Creek, is going to need some major work done on all the bridges and wood features. We will keep you all in the loop with reminders to come down and vote when the time comes! This is not just a project that will benefit the mountain bikers, but it will benefit runners, walkers, hikers, and visitors who enjoy using this great trail!
Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process where community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It is taxpayers working with local government to make budget decisions that affect their lives. It is a different way to manage public money that engages people and government. Click HERE for more information on this process!
Citizens of Hinton and Yellowhead County (west of Obed) over the age of 14 may vote on one of two days (a Wednesday and Saturday) by paper ballot.
Only ONE vote per person!
On Monday, September 29th, a group of trail users describe the state of the boardwalks found on Happy Creek:
“Howdy, had a man down while hiking on the Happy Creek Trail tonight. Several boards rotted through, one tipped up under foot weight. Didn’t have any tools with us and wasn’t sure how to leave this. Put rotted boards to the side, hoping the gap would be obvious to riders”
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This week's gem is not necessarily hidden (it can be found on current maps and signs), but may yet to be explored by those still unfamiliar with the park's network of trails. A favorite to many, this twisty trail is a definite must when playing in the park!
Location: Hinton Bike Park
Difficulty: Beginner
Type: Singletrack
Description: This 1km flow trail keeps you guessing as it weaves and loops in all directions through the Park but don’t worry, it’s safe to leave your compass at home. Return to ride the opposite way or take “Okey Spokey” back to the start. Explore the other options such as “Gully Trail” or the new “Stinger” flow trail - another gem!
Directions: Two-way. Follow “Mid Access trail and look for the first trail on the right before the pump track to ride clockwise. Follow “Jodoin’s Journey” to the “Gully Trail” to ride counter clockwise. Are you lost yet?
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Location: Happy Creek Trail System
Difficulty: Intermediate
Type: Singletrack
Description: Welcome to the backwoods. Pack your saw, bear spray and banjo as Bubba's is a root'n toot'n good ole remote wilderness singletrack along the outer limits of the HMBA maintained trails. Roughly 2.2 kms of mixed terrain with some navigation required on 4x4 trails and a mud bog crossing that will make your brakes squeal like a pig. Bubba's is a great extension to Phil's Thriller or Slowcooker, so grab yourself a 2014 HMBA map and go find your inner hill billy!
Wednesday Group Ride on Bubba's, Summer 2014
Direction: Bubba's can be found partway through on Phil's Thriller or across the southern entrance/exit to Slowcooker. The suggested direction for a nice flow is starting from the Phil's Thriller intersection.
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Location: Happy Creek Trail System
Difficulty: Intermediate
Type: Singletrack, Dowhhill
Description: Take the law into your own hands with this rowdy sub kilometer, downhill-grade, singletrack version of a high speed car chase. Tight and twisty, off camber and quick pedal sections make you earn your turns even more than the ride up. Access this from the climb up “Cleo’s”, “Halloween” or “GS” and look for the antler shed “Vigilante” sign. This trail was dedicated to founding HMBA super couple Stephen Hanus and Debbie Mucha.
Direction: Vigilante can be reached by climbing up Cleo's or Halloween Trails. The quickest route is to follow Happy Creek West onto Halloween. Follow Halloween past it's switchback climb. Start on Cleo's with a quick right onto Vigilante.
Trail Background: Vigilante was built in 2013 by the Hinton Mountain Bike Association with the help of Junior Forest Ranger Leaders. The name Vigilante is in recognition of a past president, Stephen Hanus, who's known to call his old truck "Vigilante".
Monday Ladies on Vigilante
Testing out a section built by the Junior Forest Rangers.
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Update on the "GS Extension" trail. A small crew has been hard at work and the first section is rideable! Please watch for flags on corners and use caution as this is still in a early state until it gets more traffic. Refer to the 2014 HMBA map "proposed trail" and note the route in green below. Connect back from the cutline to GS, Halloween / Cleo's. Trail work will continue this week (snow pending?!?). Feel free to contact Kevin, hmba.trailsATgmail.com, if you would like to help. Thanks!
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Difficulty: Intermediate, Advanced
Type: Downhill Trail
Getting ready to rip down Gasifier!
Description: A classic fall line downhill trail, nothing fancy here, leave your berms and jumps at home. Just get yourself to the bottom in one piece without gassing. Harder than it sounds, this trail is the venue for the annual AFD Gravity Cup downhill race where local rippers challenge pro and amateur racers from afar.
Direction: Shuttle access only. Travel South from the Bike Park on Robb Road (gravel road). Drop a shuttle vehicle at the Hardisty Creek Crossing Interpretive area. Continue and turn left onto McPherson Road until the second left. Follow the remote access road until the wellsite and find the trailhead on the NW corner. Caution: 4x4 vehicles may be required along gravel and access roads. Please use caution when embarking and crossing the haul roads!
Trail Background: Gasifier was built in 2012 by Nathan Friesen and many volunteers, including enthusiastic youth! This downhill trail was built in preparation for the 1st AFD Gravity Cup in Hinton back in 2012. This event is happening for it's 3rd year on September 13th and 14th! Check out AFDracing.ca for more info.
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The Hinton Mountain Bike Association continually strives to promote mountain bike culture in Hinton. The 2014 Trail Maps have been updated and released this summer, but all our trail signage updates are still on our to-do list - which we hope we can tackle in the near future. We could always use your help! (hint hint!)
Unfortunately, some of our trails and features have not been fully explored by visitors and locals alike because they don't know it's there! To help with this, we'll put out some posts about our 'Hidden Gems' to help all riders better explore and enjoy our great trails!
Location: Hinton Bike Park
Difficulty: Intermediate, Advanced
Type: Flow Trail - Loop
Description: Get your buzz on the Park’s newest flow trail featuring berms, bumps and quick direction changes. Swarm around the nest above, traversing the cut-banks in a 360 to where you started. Enter and exit the hive as you wish, with a return lap option at the bottom. Treat this as a mini-enduro, climbing your way to each new fastest descent. How many stages can you complete before you’re stung?
Direction: Ride from the parking lot through “Jodoin’s Journey” to the “Gully Trail”. The popular option continues right to the bottom of the rooty “Gully Trail”, with left at the wooden bridge.
Trail Background: Stinger was built in 2013 by Hoots Inc. and many volunteers. The project was funded in part by Quality of Life grant, Hoots Inc. and HMBA. Materials (wood) were donated by Hinton Home Hardware. Food for volunteers was provided by Boston Pizza and Subway.
For other great trail descriptions in the bike park, visit our Bike Park Info webpage.
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The latest map edition (2014) to Hinton's Mountain Bike Trails is hot of the press this week! Maps will be freely available at the Hinton Visitor Information Centre and local bike shops!
Click on the image above to open the full map pdf (11 Mb). Hinton Bike Park trails included. See below for low resolution images.
A big THANK YOU to our sponsors that helped support the creation of this map!
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When: Saturday July 26, 2014 at 12:30 (weather pending)
Where: Meet at the seacan at the Bike Park, pack tools (provided) and ride out!
Please bring water/snacks, appropriate clothing and safety equipment (gloves/glasses etc.)
PS. did you know that trail volunteers are entered into a sweet year-end prize draw?
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The "Ellen's Bridge" ( Ellen Aust ) redux is now complete! The second bridge on Slow Cooker has been redone thanks to Tim Trahan, Marie-Soleil Pinet and Jan Vassbotn . Good times had by all, including the Mosquitos!
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