On Sunday August 9th, I left the TCT in Guelph and headed to do a section of the trail in Cambridge, in a somewhat round about way home. I was a bit tired from the night before, celebrating my friends wedding in Guelph, but had figured since I was already there, why not do some of the Trans Canada Trails out this way? I mapped out a route to do the trail in Guelph, then found what looked like a nice section to do in Cambridge. I would start at the Grand Trunk Trail, part of the TCT here and bike along the river and do some exploring.
When I arrived at the trail, finding it fairly easily, the parking lot was full. I found the closest side street called Fallbrook Lane, parked my car and got my bike and backpack out to start a new adventure. I headed to what I thought was the trailhead and took a photo.
Right near this signpost you are at the overlook of the Grand River. The first thing you see is a plaque with some information on it and a fenced lookout with a nice view. The plaque was somewhat worn and hard to read but I did my best to get a picture of it.
The lookout is very pretty and you can see the river in both directions for a good distance. The river is very shallow and you can see the bottom easily.
Standing facing the Grand River, I went to my left, heading towards Fountain Street and Conestoga College. The trail here is woodsy and multi levelled for a small section. I enjoyed it very much and was excited to see what would be coming up next.
There were openings in the trees in many spots where you could see beautiful views of the river you were riding beside.
I loved the views and it was a gorgeous day to be here. There were many people on the water kayaking and I thought this would also be a beautiful place to bring my kayak and get some paddling in. At this point the trail went to the left and up a bit towards the road.
There were lots of Trans Canada Trail signs to show where to go next. I headed across the street, through the roundabout I’d driven through to get to where I’d parked and I came out at what I now believe is one of the trailheads at Fountain Street and Morningside Drive. There were lots of signs to advise where you were, explain some of the history of the trails and the flora and fauna in the area.
After reading most of the signs and taking lots of photos to share, I headed through a parking lot and up a steep paved trail off of Morningside Drive. It was a tough uphill battle for my tired legs but I made it to the top! I even took a photo during the climb which was a bit challenging, but who doesn’t love a challenge?
From the map I’d just seen I knew I was at the back of Conestoga College. It was very scenic here, the terrain was wide open, flat land and full of fields of wildflowers and tall grasses. As much as I loved the view, I had intended to ride beside the river today, so after I checked things out, I turned my bike around, rode back down the hill and back towards Blair Road and my starting point to check out what was in the other direction.
From the signpost above, the trail runs right beside Blair Road for a bit. I rode alongside the traffic and was very happy when I arrived back into a more closed in, forested type of area. The first thing I came across was the sign below.
This part of the trail was really nice and I enjoyed it greatly. It was mostly gravel and surrounded by nature.
Along the left side of the trail every so often were side trails that you could take. Here is the information for the first one I came across. It looked enticing and being an explorer, I wanted to check it out, so I went in.
It was a mountain bike trail, and I had a street bike. I rode for about ten minutes and had a fun adventure in there, but decided shortly after that it wasn’t the trail for me. My peddles kept hitting rocks and tree roots and my tires were having a hard time on the terrain. When I came up to a spot where I could go one of three ways, I decided it was best to turn back and return to the trail I was meant to be on.
I really liked this trail and felt like I was out in the forest riding on the section above. I was having a great time looking for wildlife, snapping photos and enjoying the views when I hit the brakes hard!!!!
Someone decided this tree was a great place for their empty coffee cup! 🙁 So sad to see, but I remedied the situation, putting the cup in my backpack to take out of the trail with me! Another pic for #CleanUpOurParks
After the foresty area the trail opened up a bit to what you see below with a large open field on the right side of it. It was really pretty and had wild flowers throughout the field. Shortly after that I came to the George Street parking lot and another sign.
After the parking lot the trail continues along the river with lots of trees and greenery on either side.
I rode for a bit and came up to Devils Creek Trail and stopped to take a few photos as it was a really lovely area with a nice lookout of the river. Across from where I was, I could see what looked like a golf course. It was a lovely spot to put one, that’s for sure!
There was a underpass created to go towards Devlis Creek Trail and I went through to check it out.
The trail looked like it went up some stairs after going over a small bridge. At this point my legs were really tired and so was I. I decided it was time to head home, I still had about an hour’s drive and it was dinner time as well. I was hungry and needed to refuel. I headed back down the path the way I’d come and rode all out using up the last big of energy I had left and got back to the car. Another great section of the Trans Canada Trail completed and I couldn’t be happier to have picked this area!
If you are looking to do your own section of the Trans Canada Trail, or are looking for information on how you can help them reach their amazing goal of connecting Canada by Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, please visit http://tctrail.ca/explore-the-trail/ . I think the mission they are on is one that will benefit all Canadians, and everyone should do what they can to help out!
Thanks so much for reading and checking out my blog! As always, if you have any questions, comments, advice, etc, etc, I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment and I will get back to you asap!
Happy biking!
Camper Christina
hi Christina, I’ve been following your blog for a while but this is the first time I post 🙂 …btw, this is a really nice blog, well documented and with awesome pictures; just curious about this ride because I was planning to do it but going south, my planned route was Conestoga college all the way down south to Paris; interestingly enough, I see you took they TCT going north and then somehow made it to Devil’s creek or….I might be wrong :(… I had decided not to go that direction because according to the google maps, the trail gets interrupted around King and Riverbank dr and I feel it like a short trip, however, judging by your pics, it looks way more interesting than going south; how many Km was your ride?
thanks for your feedback
Hi Eric! First off, thanks so much for following my blog. I appreciate it very much and am happy to hear you are enjoying it!
I started out going in one direction towards the college but as I wanted to ride along the water, I turned around and went back towards devils creek. The ride was very nice but I did not ride very far at all. I had a very long day the day before and I only think I did about 10 km’s in total going both ways and back!!! I stop often to take photos and document information so I’m not extremely speedy when I ride. lol. I enjoy doddling, looking around for wildlife, finding cool shots I can take, etc.
I have found with the TCT that you could be riding/walking along and love a portion and in minutes, you could be in another section you might not like as much & vice versa again. I’m sure whatever route you take, you will enjoy and find interesting in some spots or others.
I actually did the Paris trail about 15 years ago and liked it very much but I don’t have any of it documented and have few photographs which are all in a photo album! HAHAHA!
Will you post on it after the ride? Do you have a blog as well I can follow? I’d love to hear about it, regardless, so please keep me posted. I wish I had some more information for you.
There is a phone number to contact TCT on their website, i’m sure they could give you some more information. Hope that helps?
Have a great ride and hope to hear back from you!