Located in Halton region, a travel distance of less than an hour (by car) from GTA and Downtown Toronto, Kelso summit is one of the finest places for mountain biking. With a large selection of around 30 km quality trails of all difficulty levels, you can take your pick based on how much thrill you can handle. Whether you’re a beginner or a highly skilled biker, there is an equal opportunity for you to enjoy riding these fine trails.
The entire escarpment area has spectacular views with abundance of maple trees all around acts as a catalyst to spark your motivation further as you proceed to the final destination of Summit Entrance at 5301 Steeles Ave W, Milton, ON L9T 7L3 . September/October time-frame offers even more colorful views with all kinds of autumn colors.
There is a small entry fee for non-member visitors if you want to try it out as one off, however if you plan to visit it more frequently, I’d recommend going for a season pass that is good for the entire year, and also gives you access to 6 additional parks in the area which is very economical. Alright, let’s not get carried away by the park deals, but just wanted to give you an idea about the entry fees based on year 2020 to avoid any surprises.
Now let’s give you an insight of the trails Kelso Summit offers, so you can pick one based on your skill level ahead of time when you plan your visit. For reference, you can also click on Trail Map to download the latest trail map you can print out and make some notes. Usually they provide you with a paper copy at the entrance as well. As you can see in the map, sky is the limit when it comes to mix and match your tracks at connection points, so you can get really creative there, but here I’d like to go over 4 trails here that are decent length loops you can enjoy, of course you are not restricted to them, so no pressure…but hopefully it gives you a good overview as I cover some of them below.
Turkey-Shoot Trail (Blue Run)
Turkey-shoot trail is a blue level difficulty that is not very hard to bike on, in fact is very enjoyable ride with some challenge it throws at you due to the very curvy nature of this trail. Majority of the track is dirt, but do watch out for those sticky branches as you get through them.
At the end of your track, you have two choices, one you can continue on to merge into “Old Farm Lane” for a very small patch which further connects into “Bell School Line” you can take all the way back to your start point leading to the entry gate/parking.
“Bell School Line” gravel/dirt patch is quite wide and flat and easier to ride helps you restore your energy a bit.
Distance of this trail is about 2.2 km with a climb of around 67~68 meters.
A friend of mine took me on this trail and ever since, it’s one of my favorites on any nice weather day. You can also prolong this track further by going east on “Old Farm Lane” and riding the “Old Dump Trail” loop and get back on to the “Old Farm Lane” and head back. As you can see in the map, it opens up the route quite a bit for you to mix and match connecting trails, just make sure you pay attention to the difficulty levels of them before heading on that path.
X-Treem Trail (Black Run)
As the name tells, if you’ve got the skill and up for more thrilling experience of a black diamond, here is an X-Treem trail for you to enjoy.
Spans about 2 km, this trail is packed full of adventurous rock drops, climbs, ladder bridges and sharp turns to get your enthusiasm intact. At the last point, you can head back on a much flatter patch of “Old Farm Lane” merging into “Bell School Line” heading back to the starting point in a bit easy mode to treat yourself because both of them are green rating wider trails. On this path just after merging into “Bell School Line”, there is a very nice look out point with a bench to stop by, have some water and snacks while looking over an amazingly blue/green reservoir to relax for a while and head back.
The climb difficulty is somewhere between a green and blue ratings which is not that difficult but keep in mind the continuity of the steep climb can be tiring to do in one stretch so you may want to consider breaking it down by taking a few stops . Please do take extra precautions on the technical sections of the trail as some of the rock drops could be quite challenging and put your skill to the test. Nonetheless it’s a great thrilling loop to ride on.
