Dufferin and Grey County Rail Trails - I was wrong, they are totally rideable.

I was wrong!! You can ride on the Dufferin County Rail Trail and the Grey County Rail Trail. To prove that I was wrong I went back and rode from Dundalk south. Most of the trail was excellent and where it was a little bit rougher, it was still completely rideable.

[@geoffreyhoney122]

Thanks so much for this super helpful video Andrew!! I had been wondering about the actual condition, especially the southern end and you cleared this up for me. Now I will ride it for sure! What a great adventure! Looks like my Kona Sutra Touring Bike with fenders and 44mm Rene Herse tires will be fine. Any good stealth camping spots? It doesn't look like it but I have been surprised on other trails. The Hastings Heritage Rail Trail in its northen end has so many 'Water Features' (think beaver overflow up to and beyond the bottom bracket) that its best avoided but this is doable! Stellar video again and thanks for the pre view recon ride!!!

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

The stretch I was n, nothing really jumped out as being a great stealth camping spot as it is all a bit open. But it could work if you are a little adventurous!!

[@chrisconnors7418]

I’m used to seeing the Grand River as it looks thru KW and Cambridge area. Pretty small where you were. Reminds me of seeing the Tiber River near the mountains where it was just a ditch you could jump across rather than the 100 m width it has in Rome.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Yeah it's pretty cool seeing where it all begins.

[@monteman59]

It ok , I rode trail many times when I lived in Orangeville,watch out for crazy ATV riders

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

I will do. I think I must have met only the considerate ones this time.

[@wesley_bikes]

Cool video! Its nice to see more local youtubers. I plan on a 2 day from niagara to owen sound. Im looking for trails and this looks very promising

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Yep, I think this would make up a large part of your route. Decent surface, so you should not have too many issues.

[@zedfret]

Since 2020 they have resurfaced 61 km of this trail from Berkeley, just north of Markdale, to the southern end of Shelburne. I don’t miss the fist sized stones through most of that section. Only 13.7 km remains to be resurfaced. The bone jarring ride before 2021 on relatively skinny 33mm cyclocross tires seems like a lifetime ago. Enjoy!

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Most of the surface that I rode on was exceptional.

[@zedfret]

@@cardiaccyclist7477 you’ll like the rest of the way & you won’t need a mtb. I plan my rides so that I’m going uphill & against the wind at the start whenever possible so that it’ll be a little easier towards the end. I enjoy your channel.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

@@zedfret That seems like a very smart plan!!

[@MrJx4000]

Oh that's good that you can ride that trail, but I worry about the ATVs, _et al_ up there.

[@stephensaines7100]

Would you prefer trucks and inattentive and speeding cars? You've got to put this in perspective. This trail, even though it pales compared to many vastly more interesting and lush ones (a number of which are close to this) almost ties together a web of possible trail routes that will allow circle routes without doubling back.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

That's right. It looks like a great option to tie trails together.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

To be honest, all of the ATV's I encountered were pretty considerate. Also there was plenty of space to pass.

[@marleyorange]

Thanks for good video. I plan on checking out this trail soon.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Awesome. Have a great time.

[@TAScottElstone]

As a fellow cardiac Cyclist, who has done the Oville to Shelbourne quite a few times, you turned around before the worst of that trail, the part directly connecting to Orangeville. Its awful right at town, and slowly improves as you go north, until finally you reach about the point where you turned around and its fine from there. I wont ride that trail out of Oville anymore on anything less than a Fat tire e-bike since my heart issue. Really, the 2km at town is two tire ruts with 1-3 inch rocks..

[@rjstewart]

The town has recently paved it from Blind Line to Veterans Way and from there Northbound it’s crushed gravel similar to Shelburne area until you get to the next line over (2nd Line). That’s where things go from ok to crap as seen at the start of this video. I was out for a run a few weeks ago and ran this section but turned around at the caution tape and went back to my car parked on Veterans Way.

[@Traditionalforestpr]

Good to know. Apology accepted😁 Was planning a ride to Markdale and that trail is a large part of it

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Yes it is. Will you be stopping for ice cream in Markdale?

[@stephensaines7100]

@@cardiaccyclist7477 Chapmans!

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

@@stephensaines7100 got it!!!

[@stevebarratt6912]

just this once you are forgiven !

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

Thank you Steve. That is very gracious of you!!!

[@stevebarratt6912]

I really enjoy your videos.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

@@stevebarratt6912 Oh thanks Steve, I really appreciate that.

[@stephensaines7100]

The map @9:22 / 11:31 is incomplete....thank God. There are already extant links between some main trails. Example: The Cottontail Trail, albeit much is on marked back roads. It connects the Elora-Cataract Trail to the G2G (Kissing Bridge section). The routes displayed at 9:22 coincide with the Ontario Bike Trails map, and it leaves me somewhat miffed as this Dufferin Trail is a very welcome addition to help tie things together. This is a real 'eureka moment' for me to see a way to get to many other trails. That entails using back-roads in many cases, I refuse to consider arterial roads and highways save for very short connections where walking on the shoulder is possible for half a kilometer. This is the real challenge, finding those 'off-official-trail' links. And finding bus/train connections to fill missing parts of a loop, such as the GOST bus from Guelph to Owen Sound. Take transit out, ride back, or ride out, transit back. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, Cardiac, not so much for the trail itself, frankly it appears a bit monotonous compared to many others, but how this trail opens up new possibilities connecting to others. Btw: Even the southernmost stretch south of Hwy 11 where coal dust and cinders is evident would still be fine for a road bike given the right tires. I've done many trails before their being improved years past with 23c tires, albeit kevlar reinforced ones. I now use 32C rear and 28c front Conti 4 Seasons on a classic Reynolds 531 frame (original builder unknown, it was renovated by Argos Racing in the Eighties) and I have no problems save for when coming across large gravel, a la railway ballast.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

You are right. They are very rideable.

[@robiam506]

I assume this is doable on a gravel bike? I have a mountain bike but riding 60km on it doesn’t sound like much fun.

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

I would have to say, it absolutely is doable on a gravel bike. If you made the trip from Orangeville to Dundalk it would be approximately 45 KM, so 90 KM round trip. There is (currently ) one short detour you would need to make, between 2nd line and Hwy 11, just outside of Orangeville.

[@robiam506]

Perfect! I’ll do it soon!

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

@@robiam506 Fantastic.

[@robiam506]

I did it today - despite the high temps. I agree that it looked like bikes weren’t allowed at that one gate but there wasn’t anything coming southbound so I’m sure it’s fine. I got caught in an absolute deluge on the way back but at least the temp dropped!

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

@@robiam506 Well done for getting out there.

[@hdkdanny]

My road tires are too skinny to ride rail trails, so when I do, its usually on the MTB. I agree doing 60-100km on a mountain bike is very different from a road bike. That being said, I often use those rides to train so that I am ready for 100+ on the road bike. The added benefit os that you feel extremely fast on the road bike

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

You are absolutely right, it is a very good workout.

[@philiprayner]

as soon as you passed that cow he said to himself ha sucker and then found a nice protected spot under some trees and sat down lol

[@cardiaccyclist7477]

HaHa, you are probably right!

[@stephensaines7100]

The Far Side, writ large.

[@jakobthiesen]

😂