Trail Tunes Bike Trip, Simcoe County (2 Days / 100km)

The singular cycling adventure of the year.

The Cover:

My favourite shots that are 'cover-worthy' for this little story.

I may or may not have included shots from before this trip really started...

Rating:

I Want to Live Here Rating: 4/5

People-Meter: 1/5

Anxiety Scale: 1/5

Pain Train: 3/5

10/10 Recommend: 3/5

The Prologue:

Simcoe County is one of my absolute favourite places to explore. Home to many - many opportunities for outdoor adventure in Southern Ontario. Hiking, skiing, swimming, biking - the total package deal. I may also be a touch biased. I've spent a lot of time in this magical place!

What better way to kick off our summer adventures with a cycling trip in this area?

Every year Clearview Township, Collingwood, and Wasaga Beach team up to establish a regional event that celebrates both music and cycling called ' Trail Tunes'. With twelve concerts at three trail-head locations - why not try and connect all of them together through the power of biking?

Here's our trip report!

The Story:

Day One:

Stayner to Craigleith Provincial Park

We were fortunate enough to have family that allowed us to park approximately 15km from Centennial Park in Stayner - our first stop on our Trail Tunes tour. We probably could have found somewhere in town to park, but we wanted our trip to be longer (no surprises there, lol).

It took us a hot second to prepare all of our gear. I snagged a new go-pro and mount, both of which were kind of giving me trouble (they were NOT cooperating, let me tell you). When we finally did set off down Klondike Park Road, I realized that I forgot my camera batteries, so at the two kilometre mark, we had to turn around. Obviously not the best way to start a trip, but hey, could have been worse. Imagine if we had biked much, much further and then realized that my batteries were no where to be found!

We set off again slightly grumpier, which was only made worse by the cycling experience to Stayner. Unfortunately, it was very unpleasant. Folks in this area aren't used to cyclists, so the concept of sharing the road is a new one. We both got honked at, and a significant number of drivers zipped by us without any consideration for the fact that there was no shoulder to bike on. Kind of scary at some points, honestly. Lots of teeth grinding and white-knuckling until we made it to our first rail trail.

Not paved, of course, but the trail - exclusively gravel - was well worn and used. We had no issues at all, and zipped along through forests and past fields without any cares in the world. It took us around 35 minutes to reach our first destination? The live music on-site was GREAT! Some super talented singers were on stage (my favourite was Kendall Lilly). It also wasn't very busy - just a light smattering of folks. We took a seat and started preparing lunch after checking out a couple of the vendors situated in the park (there were some free snacks, my favourite being a rather refreshing smoothie). All was well until BAM - a random dog decided to be our friend.

He was the cutest little floof, although seriously tempted by our food with no owners in sight. We walked about, asking festival goers if they knew who the owners were (and where they were located), but no luck. We kept an eye on the little fella while several event organizers make sure he would make it to a shelter overnight. Fortunately, while munching away on our lunch, the owner did come along! A boatload of stress lifted off all of our shoulders. Sad to say goodbye to our little friend, but happy that he would make it safely home.

We were quickly distracted, however; my Dad and brother met up with us shortly after the dog chaos came to an end. We had a good visit, listened to more music, and returned to the rail trail, headed out to our next musical destination of the day - Wasaga Beach.

Despite our best efforts, we had to return to the road, rather than stay on the rail trail. Single file only while sharing our route with cars! Overall, a much better ride. Not sure why - perhaps drivers are more familiar with cyclists this direction? Hard to say, but we were in pretty good spirits once we rolled into our next concert. We were welcomed with some classic hits by Alanis Morissette. Combined with gummy bears and other tasty snacks, it made for a well deserved break.

All good things must come to an end, though. As the set came to a conclusion we packed up our gear, bid farewell to my family, and hit the road, heading towards our final musical destination for the evening - Collingwood.

Again, back on the road with all of the cars. What beats a bunch of traffic, though? A terrible, awful head-wind. As a result, this was my least favourite ride of the day. I hate battling the wind. Makes for a brutal and soul-sucking ride for the weak (aka., me). I was pretty happy once we made it into town. Yes, the wind was still trash, but you want to know what is in town?

Food.

We found a nice fry place in Sunset Point Park. Now the fries were in need of ketchup (and there are absolutely no problems with that), but overall, a solid snack that made up for the cursed wind. Ah, somewhat made up for the wind.

You want to know what will 100% make up for it? Ice cream, of course! We could have picked some up at the fry spot we found, but we're always in search of a deal. Off to a local grocery store we went! We picked up a Haagen Dazs Chocolate Raspberry flavour, that was actually plant-based. Honestly, we were kind of impressed? At first we didn't even notice that the ice cream was dairy free, so I'd say that's a win.

Fully fuelled and replenished, we found our way back to the rail trail and started the twelve kilometre trek to Craigleith Provincial Park, our home for the night. This was my favourite section of cycling by far. Parts of the trail run alongside Highway 26 (so you definitely hear the road), but you do get views of Georgian Bay, in addition to some swamps and forest. You feel a bit more disconnected from the hustle and bustle of Southern Ontario, which is nice.

It took us 45 minutes to reach our campsite after picking up a permit (and we forgot to pick up a parks sticker, which was sad). For those who are not aware, this is quite a small Provincial Park. It features fractured plates of shale that contain fossils that are 450 million years old! Perfect for a quick visit, beach walk, leisurely paddle, or in our case, a resting place after 62 kilometres of biking. All of the sites are exclusively front country. If you are expecting privacy, prepare to be disappointed - this is not a park with huge, spacious sites. You will see other people. You will be blessed with noise, both people and traffic based (the park is nestled on the shoreline right beside Highway 26). If you can overlook these things, this is a really nice, accessible, and excellent family-friendly spot for a weekend away from home.

Camp set-up was a breeze and after a long day of biking, we were both looking forward to our favourite camping meal of all time. The magical and amazing, taco mac (it was truly delicious). With bellies full, we took a tour of the park, walking around both the campground itself, and the beach. The light outside was super, super weird. The forest fire season this spring was more than a little crazy, so the sun was obscured behind a thick veil of smoke. Everything was cast in an odd, muted orange glow. As the sun sunk lower and lower on the horizon (basically a giant red orb looming in the sky) the scenery just became flat and lifeless. It kind of felt like we were in some type of post-apocalyptic world? Even the lilac bushes lining the shore looked sad.

We finished the night by munching on some chocolate, reading, and writing in our journals. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was off to sleep, hoping that the wildfire smoke would blow away.

Day Two:

Craigleith Provincial Park to Stayner

Isaac was kind enough to let me sleep in until after 8AM (what a kind, kind little bean). I had the best sleep ever, omg. Slept like an absolute rock. I didn't wake up until Isaac touched my shoulder!

Once awake, I packed up my pillow, sleeping pad, and bag. I also sorted out all of my clothes so they were ready to be packed away after breakfast. We used our two-person tent for this trip, so you can only imagine the absolute chaos once everything is unpacked. It's kind of crazy, actually. You become one with both your sleeping bag and clothes (maybe your headlamp, journal, rain gear, camera, batteries, and literally everything else, too).

Coffee and granola were the name of the game this morning. I made sure to eat every single bit. On big trips like this, it's so important to fuel your body correctly and take every opportunity to inhale some quality calories. Sometimes I feel a bit queasy in the mornings and choose to eat something lighter, but that's just a bad idea on trips like this.

Still munching away on breakfast, we briefly stopped to check out the beach yet again (I was really hoping to take some photos with better contrast). Sadly, the sun was still weird from all of the forest fire smoke, so we didn't hang around for very long (and a decided that I was done with photos here). Yet again we packed up our gear and hit the trail back to Collingwood.

The trail was quiet. We bumped into the odd dog walker here and there, but generally had the trail to ourselves until we reached the Collingwood Harbour. Took about 45 minutes? We stopped for a little micro-break (code for a pit stop to inhale some water and gummy bears) to check out one of the many parks along the waterfront. In the process we made friends with another dog! Another puppy named Jelly. He was SO cute, omg. The little dude still had his baby fur! It was like petting a living and breathing cloud!

You think that the animal adventures end there? Think again! Once we returned to to our bikes and ventured a little further down the trail, stopping again to snap photos of some local swans (and a billion other types of waterfowl, including Canada Geese, the water demons of Georgian Bay). We met a nice couple who knew all of the ducks by name. Apparently they have been feeding the swans, geese, herons, and various birds for years. Pretty crazy, eh? That's dedication!

I tried and failed to take a picture of a egret? Just as I got into prime position, it flew away, startled by my presence. I decided that was our sign to continue on our merry way. Clearly I wasn't having much luck with photos by the water.

The remainder of our morning was simply just biking. Again, the rail trail was pretty quiet. There were a few other cyclists, but not enough to make things busy at all. A nicer ride compared to yesterday as well. Still fighting a headwind, but generally we were blessed with more trails instead of road.

All in all, glad when it finally came to an end. We returned to our vehicle at 1:30PM, happy with our 36km ride and little lakeside adventure.

The Appendix: