Paul's Dirty 60 - Trailforks Trail of the Month

Canada currently has four IMBA EPIC designations! Not surprising, three are located in BC. The first being Comfortably Numb in Whistler, an IMBA EPIC Hall of Fame trail. The second being South Chilcotin Mountains Park which is an IMBA EPIC Ride location. The third, located in Rossland is the Seven Summits. The final IMBA EPIC Ride is Paul's Dirty 100 located in eastern Ontario's Ganaraska Forest. Included in this EPIC 100km route is 60km's of singletrack known as Paul's Dirty 60, this month's featured Trail of the Month.

Paul's Dirty 60 is a permanently signed singletrack loop, cutting its way through one of Ontario's largest managed forests. What makes this route so special, other than it being 60km's of prime singletrack and an IMBA EPIC? Over the entire 60km's of singletrack, you'll not find yourself on the same section of trail, except where you start and finish your ride! You can expect to climb over 1300 m and be in the saddle on average for four and half hours. If the many roots and rocks found along the way don't cause you to second guess your decision to follow the little pink directional signs. The final punchy climb found just after the 50km mark, Never Ending Hill will have you wanting to post your bike for sale and taking up knitting.

The 4500 hectare Ganaraska Forest is broken up into three sections, east, west and central. Paul's Dirty 60 is located in the central section, this is where you'll want to spend most of your time exploring until you're familiar with the trail system or have a guide. The east and west sections consist mainly of sandy ATV and dirt bike trails, but don't be afraid to explore these sections, decent singletrack can still be found. Make sure you stay alert and keep your head up at all times, dirt bikes and ATV's are abundant on the double track portion of the trails. You'll also want to look out for Poison Ivy, it's rampant throughout the forest.

Paul's Dirty 60 is part of Paul's Dirty Enduro, an annual event held each September to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention. This event has taken place in the Ganaraska Forest for the last 20 years and is dedicated to Paul Rush an avid mountain biker that loved to ride the trails of the Forest. Paul's has four different length routes to choose from, Paul's Dirty 100, 60, 30 and the family oriented Paul’s Dirty 15. No matter which length you choose you will be spending time on the 60 km section of singletrack that makes up Paul's Dirty 60.

Paul's Dirty Enduro would not be the great success it is today without the support and dedication of a hardworking group of volunteers that donate their time to this event. First and foremost KT Misener and Rick Willing of Bloomfield Bicycle Co and their friends at the Peterborough Cycling Club for buffing these trails throughout the season. The Canadian Mental Health Association of Peterborough, and of course, the Rush Family. To find out how you can support a great event as either a participate or a volunteer head to the Paul's Dirty Enduro website for more information

To experience this truly EPIC ride, load up Paul's Dirty 60 on the Trailforks App and head out to explore all the Ganaraska Forest has to offer! You won't leave disappointed!

If you like what you see then please support our friends at The Peterborough Cycling Club and Bloomfield Bicycle Club for their hard work and dedication in maintaining the trails within the Ganaraska Forest and earn some Trail Karma while you're at it.