Between award-winning hiking festivals, adventure outfitters, annual art studio tours, and unique accommodations, there is always a reason to visit the Haliburton Highlands in every season. So it’s no surprise visitors come back time and time again to experience the rolling hills of the Canadian Shield, scenic vistas, and abundant lakes and wetlands — all accessible through a myriad of different trails, with cycling being an especially popular option in the spring.
“We pride ourselves on our year-round recreational trails,” says Thom Lambert, content creator for the Haliburton Highlands Economic Development and Tourism Department. “If we total up all of our trails in Haliburton County, we’re looking at over well over 1,000 kilometres of recreational trails, whether that’s for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, or horseback riding.”
With World Bicycle Day coming up on Monday, June 3rd, it’s a great opportunity to explore the nearly 40 curated cycling routes — including mountain, gravel, and on-road trails — throughout the Haliburton Highlands.
From routes on quiet and flat roads passing local businesses (like the Northshore Road out-and-back trail) to more advanced and challenging gravel routes (like the elevated 285-kilometre Haliburton Highlands Big Loop), and everything in-between, there are cycling routes available to riders of all skill and fitness levels.
All the trails can be accessed through Ride with GPS, a website and mobile app that helps people discover and plan cycling routes. Because the Haliburton Highlands Economic Development and Tourism Department has a tourism account with the app, local route maps are completely free for users to download to their smartphone and mount to their bike to track their journey. The app also lets users save routes, post photos and comments, and share plans with friends.
“They can download a route to be usable when offline, which up here is a real big benefit,” says Lambert. “In the northern part of the county, you can be out of cell service for hours on some of these rides.”
While the trails are accessible year-round, Lambert notes that spring is one of the most interesting times to explore the Haliburton Highlands by bike.
“We quite often say that early spring is one of the best times for any kind of outdoor pursuit here, because there’s fewer crowds and it’s before the bugs come out,” says Lambert. “And we believe that some of the best cycling goes right until right until late fall, until the snow hits the ground.”
Fewer crowds also means better opportunities to spot birds and wildlife, which are abundant in the Haliburton Highlands. Connecting Haliburton to Kinmount, the Haliburton County Rail Trail is a 32-kilometre flat route following provincially significant wetlands that are home to many species and, according to Lambert, some of the best birding.
“The possibility of seeing or hearing 40 or 50 species of birds while you’re there is very high at this time of year,” Lambert says. “It goes past lots of wetlands, and this is a great time of year to see the turtles come out as they love using the Rail Trail as a nesting area. You’re going to pass places where you could see deer, moose, beaver, geese, muskrats, or even bears.”
Lambert adds that on some trails, spring provides clearer openings for the scenic views and lookouts because of the lack of foliage, which in the summer can create a “green tunnel” while riding.
“The landscape feels really different this time of year,” he says. “It’s also neat because every ride you go on is going to look different, with hillsides full of stunning spring wildflowers just starting to come out — the landscape is literally changing weekly this time of year.”
As e-bikes have gained popularity over the past few years, Lambert has seen more and more riders using the bikes to make hills and rockier routes much easier to navigate.
“A lot of times they are adults who are rediscovering cycling,” he says, noting that many riders in their 50s, 60s, and 70s are trying out e-bikes. “E-bikes really open up the opportunity to be able to ride at the same pace or the same distance as younger cyclists. We’re seeing entire groups of people that have rediscovered cycling because of e-bikes.”
Those looking to turn their cycling into a social experience are encouraged to join group rides with the Haliburton Real Easy Ryders Cycling Club. For more than 25 years, the non-profit group has scheduled regular rides with fun and fitness at the forefront over competition. For more information, visit haliburtonrealeasyryders.com.
“They do three rides a week and, even if you’re from out of town, you’re more than welcome to join them,” says Lambert. “Every ride has multiple distances and there’s always going to be someone at your pace. They schedule rides all over the county, so if you want to go cycle in the Dorset area, they’ve already selected that route for you. They know the roads really well and you can ride with the group, so that you feel a little bit safer exploring a new place and you’re not on your own.”
Those who are new to biking or just visiting the region for the day can explore the region with the Bike Share Program courtesy of the Haliburton Rotary and sponsored by Algonquin Outfitters. Located at the historic caboose in Head Lake Park, the program lets cyclists borrow a bike for up to three hours completely free of charge. Users can unlock the bike by downloading an app and adding their credit card number for security purposes.
“One of my absolute favourite destinations on the Rail Trail is this beautiful stone bench that overlooks a stunning wetland, and the trail head is near the bike share,” Lambert notes. “It makes for a great afternoon to go to the bakery, grab a takeout lunch, get a share bike, and ride out to the stone bench. It’s a really neat way to experience the area without having to cart your own bicycle around.”
The bike share is available now through the summer until the Thanksgiving weekend.
Between bike shares, group rides, e-bikes, and self-guided adventures, there are many ways to spend World Bicycle Day on what Lambert would tell you is the best mode of transportation for exploring the Haliburton Highlands.
“I’ve always felt that cycling is the perfect speed for a human being to be moving,” he reflects. “It allows you to cover some ground, but you’re not moving so fast that you miss the scenery or that moose in the woods.”
For a full list of gravel, on-road, and mountain biking routes in the Haliburton Highlands, and to explore options for accommodations, restaurants, and bike rentals in Haliburton County, visit the My Haliburton Highlands website at myhaliburtonhighlands.com/summer/biking-cycling/.
This branded editorial was created in partnership with Haliburton Highlands Economic Development & Tourism. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
