Places to ride DS | GTAMotorcycle.com

Places to ride DS

bigpoppa

Well-known member
When i was young and naive i thought any patch o dirt was a potential play ground for dirtbike/dual sport guys..

turns out just because its huge, empty and in the middle of nowhere, doesn't mean someone doesn't own it


my question is how much opportunity do you REALLY have in ontario if you own a dual sport? I know there are certain 'designated areas' and forests you can go to where if you have membership etc, you can ride trails or explore but that seems kind of limited and restrictive

Are there plentiful places where the land isn't owned by a person and you can just go explore?(govt land perhaps?)

Or is it fairly restrictive in Ontario? And there are only a few forests that you can go to, in designated areas? And if so, do you ever get bored/run out of places to explore?

In my limited experience, i've learned I LOVE exploring dirt/remote/secluded areas...fire/dirt/gravel roads


I ask as a newbie curious about the dirt world...potentially eyeing a Dual sport
 
My understanding is you can generally ride on any Crown Land with some possible exceptions.

[h=1]How to Legally Ride Off-Road in Canada https://fortnine.ca/en/how-to-legally-ride-off-road-in-canada/[/h]
[h=1][/h]




https://www.ontario.ca/faq/can-i-use-my-atv-or-off-road-vehicle-crown-land

Using Crown land

You can use your ATV or off-road vehicle on Crown land (excluding provincial parks and conservation reserves) if:

  • the land is not restricted (e.g. through planning or placement of a sign)
  • you follow any applicable municipal bylaws and legislation (e.g. Off Road Vehicles Act, Motorized Snow Vehicles Act)
As a best practice, to preserve the integrity of trails, some off-road vehicle organizations recommend not using trails until after May 1st to avoid damage to trails and the environment. During the spring, when trail surfaces are water logged, they can be more susceptible to erosion.
 
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Moab Utah <- that place is amazingly dirt bike friendly!
Ontario dirt bike friendly ended about 35 years ago, back then nobody noticed or even cared.
Motorcycles barely erode the terrain at all compared to horses and quads but that doesn't gain us any respect with the general public or the law, people who don't ride motorcycles are generally offended by motorcycles being around. Fact is it takes a lot of work just to keep motorcycle trails through the woods even visible. Being involved in organized amateur motorcycle competition is by far the best way to find interesting places to ride and people to ride with. Most of the really good riding areas are on or accessible via private land only and if you are seen riding on posted public land somebody will take offence to it and complain to the authorities just on general principal.
 
I keep watching videos of everide in Colorado or Utah, he never really mentions ever needing permission or membership. Just sees interesting hill/valley/jungle and decides to go for it
 
By far the most straightforward way is to buy a trail pass for either Ganaraska or Simcoe County (SCORRA), which clearly delineate the areas and conditions under which you can ride legally. You'll probably want a street-legal bike to link the trail sections in Simcoe, but you can get away with a pure dirt bike in Ganaraska since you never really need to pop out onto a real road.

Beyond that, you're looking at Crown land or private land (with permission from the owner). A combination of the Backroads Mapbook products and the Ontario Crown Land Use Atlas can help, but getting right down to knowing if a particular trail crosses private property can still be difficult. Note that many trails cross over both Crown land and private property. The use of that private property is typically granted by the owners to the members of snowmobile or ATV clubs, not to the general public. And the ATV clubs do not seem particularly interested in giving memberships to motorcyclists.

To avoid all of that, I've been doing some of the RallyConnex events each year. These events are good GPS-guided organized trail rides, and they negotiate access to private trail sections where necessary, so you're never guessing if you're trespassing or not.

But if you just want to get out and explore, the ODSC forum would be a good place to hang out. Hook up with some of their trail rides and let the locals show you the way
 
By far the most straightforward way is to buy a trail pass for either Ganaraska or Simcoe County (SCORRA), which clearly delineate the areas and conditions under which you can ride legally. You'll probably want a street-legal bike to link the trail sections in Simcoe, but you can get away with a pure dirt bike in Ganaraska since you never really need to pop out onto a real road.

Beyond that, you're looking at Crown land or private land (with permission from the owner). A combination of the Backroads Mapbook products and the Ontario Crown Land Use Atlas can help, but getting right down to knowing if a particular trail crosses private property can still be difficult. Note that many trails cross over both Crown land and private property. The use of that private property is typically granted by the owners to the members of snowmobile or ATV clubs, not to the general public. And the ATV clubs do not seem particularly interested in giving memberships to motorcyclists.

To avoid all of that, I've been doing some of the RallyConnex events each year. These events are good GPS-guided organized trail rides, and they negotiate access to private trail sections where necessary, so you're never guessing if you're trespassing or not.

But if you just want to get out and explore, the ODSC forum would be a good place to hang out. Hook up with some of their trail rides and let the locals show you the way

All of the above is good information. The organized trail rides are excellent, both for the terrain and the socializing.

While the Ganaraska is great for off road riding and worth the price of membership, with a dual sport you can explore the numerous dirt and lightly travelled roads in and around Northumberland county as well as unopened road allowances and abandoned railway right-of-ways.

I live out here so I can leave the house, go for a ride in the forest and continue on to Bewdley for lunch. Afterwards I'll go plonking around the back roads, eventually stopping someplace like Warkworth for a coffee before heading home.

Dual sports are a ton of fun and open up a lot of opportunity for great riding that most of us wouldn't do on street bikes.
 
By far the best way to experience tons of riding is to follow the oftr trail ride series. One and two day rides all over Ontario. Pre planned, maximum ride time, never get lost. It is so much fun.

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I keep watching videos of everide in Colorado or Utah, he never really mentions ever needing permission or membership. Just sees interesting hill/valley/jungle and decides to go for it
You pay a reasonable permit fee and ride the designated trails that were mostly laid out for mountain bikes and 4x4's
 
Good info - I'll just add that as someone who rides a lot of crown land, there isn't any closer to GTA than Simcoe or Ganaraska... to ride decent crown land you're looking at least 2 hours from GTA. So if you're looking for close to GTA, don't hold your breath (but if you find some PM me pls :p )
 
By far the best way to experience tons of riding is to follow the oftr trail ride series. One and two day rides all over Ontario. Pre planned, maximum ride time, never get lost. It is so much fun.

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Yes, I’d recommend joining OFTR - with either SCORRA or maybe ODSC in your case. The ODSC Bethany ride is awesome and the route includes a lot of township roads that are dual-sport worthy. I’m also planning for the SCORRA Midhurst ride in May and ODSC Grand River ride in June...
 
The best roads are found by trial and error and attending and then carefully mapping the routes from other rides and events. Yes, if you want to find a forrest, or an extensive patch of continuous 'any idiot can get lost in' trails, Ganny is the closest, but there are many opportunities between Ganny and GTA. Oak Ridges is an good example... Most (including the Bethany ride just bomb through/down the main trail and township road, but if you take the time you can discover an incredible amount of side and adjacent trails all around that area... I keep my gps on recording on every ride and then log the track into a master file that every month is converted to an IMG file which is then overlayed on my GPX.. It's a bit of work, but it allows you to see all nearby trails, road allowances or small 'play' spots that can be connected for a fun ride anywhere... Really its no different than when we'd link up every individual twisty corner in the GTA for a helluva twisty ride (vs others that just pointlessly complained that you had to go to the US to find good roads :) )
 
The best roads are found by trial and error and attending and then carefully mapping the routes from other rides and events. Yes, if you want to find a forrest, or an extensive patch of continuous 'any idiot can get lost in' trails, Ganny is the closest, but there are many opportunities between Ganny and GTA. Oak Ridges is an good example... Most (including the Bethany ride just bomb through/down the main trail and township road, but if you take the time you can discover an incredible amount of side and adjacent trails all around that area... I keep my gps on recording on every ride and then log the track into a master file that every month is converted to an IMG file which is then overlayed on my GPX.. It's a bit of work, but it allows you to see all nearby trails, road allowances or small 'play' spots that can be connected for a fun ride anywhere... Really its no different than when we'd link up every individual twisty corner in the GTA for a helluva twisty ride (vs others that just pointlessly complained that you had to go to the US to find good roads :) )
Agreed 100%. That's why blue plated bikes are so popular, allows you to explore and opens up many options.

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While we are on the topic of ds riding
What are some other good ds bikes that can do commuting and hwy travel though the week as well as trails on the weekend
I had a wr250 but very uncomfortable on the hwy
Don't have truck or trailer

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Best Dual Sport ever is a cheap little 2 wheel drive mini pickup with a full on dirt bike in back of it
1999_mazda_b-series-pickup_extended-cab-pickup_b4000-tl_rq_oem_1_500.jpg

very comfortable for year round commuting, cheap to run and insure and you always have your bike handy and ready to ride when you see a place.
 
Best Dual Sport ever is a cheap little 2 wheel drive mini pickup with a full on dirt bike in back of it
1999_mazda_b-series-pickup_extended-cab-pickup_b4000-tl_rq_oem_1_500.jpg

very comfortable for year round commuting, cheap to run and insure and you always have your bike handy and ready to ride when you see a place.

Is that the Ford Ranger? Only people I know who own these models here are females. All the guys with trucks seemed to get the Monster sized quad cab etc etc models! lol. The "Utes" we have downunder are more akin to this smaller truck size. Izuzu and Toyota being the popular brands.
 
Is that the Ford Ranger? Only people I know who own these models here are females. All the guys with trucks seemed to get the Monster sized quad cab etc etc models! lol. The "Utes" we have downunder are more akin to this smaller truck size. Izuzu and Toyota being the popular brands.

lol - the Mazda logo on the back makes me think it's not a Ford ;) Then again, Mazda has a partnership with Ford so who knows...
 
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It's a Mazda B2200, so yes it is essentially a Ford Ranger.

Is that the Ford Ranger? Only people I know who own these models here are females. All the guys with trucks seemed to get the Monster sized quad cab etc etc models! lol. The "Utes" we have downunder are more akin to this smaller truck size. Izuzu and Toyota being the popular brands.
 
Is that the Ford Ranger? Only people I know who own these models here are females. All the guys with trucks seemed to get the Monster sized quad cab etc etc models! lol. The "Utes" we have downunder are more akin to this smaller truck size. Izuzu and Toyota being the popular brands.
Ford's rebrand is the Mazda and it was sold as the Courier, I had an early one all tricked out and loved it. Toyota was more money but with the addition of the oversize cab and 4X4 that made for a really nice year round utility vehicle! :D when there is a motorcycle in the back of it!
 
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