Eastern Ontario Trail Blazers

This main part of this trail follows the hydro line from near California across Hwy 511 to Joe’s Lake. A short-cut entrance to this trail is a bit rocky and slippery with pine needles leading to a road. The road leads back to the hydro line. The hydro line road is well used by ATVs and other motorized vehicles.There are lots of opportunities for rock crawling. The trail crosses Hwy 511 and continues until it gets too tight for a truck.

OF4WD Rating: 2

This forest trail just outside Brockville, parallels the railway tracks and is used by many locals.

For more information about the old railway: http://www.railwaybob.com/BandW/BandWPage01.htm

OF4WD Rating: 3

This unmaintained road located just outside Kemptville was built for scotch settlers and abandoned do to the amount of mud and water. Full day of mud running and tugging and winching, good friends with recovery gear are necessities. Sometimes we couple this with a run back into Kemptville for ice-cream.

OF4WD Rating: 3

A few minutes west of Ottawa is the Carp trail – a rocky bumpy trail that is great place for local runs, night runs and for people wanting to try off-roading for the first time. This trail is suitable for stock vehicles and in some places modified vehicles can also be challenged. It can be quite overgrown. The main road allowance is used as an OFSC snowmobile trail. The side trail to the old Crazy Horse saloon was used by snowmobiles to stop for gas and beer but is used less frequently now that the restaurant is gone. Recent subdivision development brings backyards right up to the edge of the trail. Reduce noise and lights at night when near houses.

OF4WD Rating: 3

Located not far from Stittsville and within the City of Ottawa, the Dwyer Hill trail area has been used for many years by locals and off-road clubs, ATVs and snowmobiles. The trail entrance leads to a disused sand pit, crosses farmers’ fields under the hydro line and exits on to back roads. The area, especially around the sand pit is populated by lots of burned out cars and garbage. Bring recovery gear and long winch lines.

OF4WD Rating: 3

The Three Mountains trail is located about two hours west of Ottawa in the Griffith area. First discovered in 2007, the trail follows an ATV track that leads up to the top of one of the three mountains. A lot of exposed rock offers good traction and a few off-camber spots. There are still places to explore here. The top offers a nice view of the surrounding hills and is a great place to stop for lunch and chat. The trail continues across the mountain and exits down the back. This exit follows an old lumber road and can be tight and overgrown in places. On the back of the mountain, the trail splits and heads out to the road, heads north to Dugan Lake and splits off on an old overgrown trail to Waterfall Mountain. With travel from Ottawa, this trail takes a full day to reach and traverse. Fill up with gas at the Eagle’s Nest before hitting the trail head. Lots of blueberries along this trail when in season.

OF4WD Rating: 2+

The Rusty Bat trail follows the Madawaska River into Wabun Lake. The trail head is located about an hour and a half west of Ottawa. The trail criss-crosses the power line with a few rock climbing opportunities, all with go-arounds. Climbing a long rocky hill, the trail climbs to a peak under the hydro line which offers a scenic view of the lake and river. This is a nice place to stop for lunch before turning around.

OF4WD Rating: 2+

The Gorge trail is a stock-friendly hydro line trail located about an hour from Ottawa. The trail follows the hydro line access road making it ideal for new off-roaders and those who wish a gentle introduction to off-roading. There are many off-shoots and rock climbing opportunities that keep the trail interesting for novice and experienced drivers. All of the off-shoots return to the hydro line access road so drivers can try the obstacle or skip it without getting separated from the group. Some logging occurred in this area several years ago; it is rumoured that this area will be logged once the price of spruce recovers.

OF4WD Rating: 2

The thing I like about off-roading is the unpredictability.

You can open a new trail at fall camp and return 3 weeks later and raise the bar on minimum requirements and still spend all day slipping sliding and twisting on wet leaves and rocks and come out in the dark.

We ran 7 trucks in the back door of the Quinn and emerged out the front some 10 hours later.

Wow! what a great day on the Quinn. There were 7 of us and we were at the lake overlook by 2:30. The trail was dry, dry , dry so the traction was excellent. No winches or tow straps needed.

Well the weather report for Sunday looked bleak and Sunday morning confirmed it, "….so much rain no-one will want to go out today…."

My son Martin and I gassed up Carol's Jeep , as mine was on block's, and headed out hoping to get to Bells Corners as close to 9am as possible. The whole drive in from Brockville was rain, there goes my internal dialog again, " ..probably one or two Keeners will show up…" .

Well to my surprise we had over ten vehicles ready to roll with a grand total of 14 after meeting up with the ones at the trail head. The rain held off and the bugs weren't bad at all, we actually made it to the lunch spot for noon with time to play on the rocks.

Bon Echo this year was a little more low key than previous years. We managed to get some exploring in but it really didn't pan out into anything interesting. On Saturday we ran the Kilbourne trail, this was a trail we discovered last year. This trail is close to the park with enough interesting scenery and moderately challenging obstacles to keep us entertained.

With a nice sized group, we left camp with the intention of running the combination of Rusty Bat and Calabojee Line. We began with our routine air down at Wabun Lake where we had to take a few minutes to secure Marks sway bar before hitting the trail (can you say foreshadowing).

Rodney took the lead as we slowly made our way up the trail, playing on the various obstacles along the way. We deviated from the traditional path along the power in a few places to add a little variety to the trail. A few trucks even climbed one of the larger rocks just for the photo opportunity including some great shots of Jerry climbing it from the side.

The latest version of the EOTB Trail Maps has been released and is available for download in the Trail Leaders’ file section of the website along with the user’s guide.

The maps have been updated to reflect exploration that was done last year as well as some minor corrections.

The EOTB Trail Maps were created for use by EOTB Trail Leaders to help them host successful events that represent the values of the club. They are intended to foster responsible off-roading by ensuring the Trail Leaders can verify that they are adhering to the designated trails and avoiding sensitive areas or private land where access is prohibited. The EOTB Trail Maps were designed to work with Garmin mapping GPS devices as well as Garmin’s MapSource and BaseCamp software.

The maps are to be used as a guide and an aid to the trail leader and are not a substitute for trail knowledge.

We had a beautiful day offroading in Brockville today, but as always, we had a little drama :-)

Firstly, I apologize in advance, I am not good with remembering names. I arrived at the Loblaws in Bells Corners at about 0845hrs and was met by Dominic and his two friends in his beautiful black JK. Bit by bit more trucks arrived: New member Dave and his wife, with about 2,000km on their brand new mango-coloured JK Rubicon, followed by Ken in his new mango-coloured JK Rubicon. Another new JK Rubicon showed up, this time blue, with Rob and Melanie. The Ottawa group was rounded out by Vince (and daughter), Steve in the only other non-Jeep, and Evan with his three kids. Lucky Christine with a day alone. I gave a very quick and dirty explanation of geocaching, and a couple of programs on my laptop: MapSource and EasyGPS that help downloading maps, waypoints, and tracks onto the GPS receiver.

We left a little late, and the drive to Brockville started with a bang. On Hwy 416 at about Roger Stevens my front-left tire blew. It was certainly a bit of a shock, fortunately I had both hands on the wheel and made it safely to the shoulder. I'm sure it was a surprise for those behind me too.

We finally made it to the waterfront park in Brockville, which was unsurprisingly crowded on a beautiful summer day. We were met by ChrisP, Wiz and LJ, Pat, Cyndy and Paul, and John. Chris and I differed on whether or not the trail is stock friendly. I think I am right, with the by-passes, it is a stock friendly trail. Without taking the bypasses...

I love that trail, it isn't long, but offers a little of everything, some mud, some rocks and climbs, all within the city limits. We had a bit of a scare when we thought Paul may have hydrolocked his motor, but thanks to Pat's hard work, they got it all cleaned out. Steve gave Chris's winch a workout, and everything went well.

We found two geocaches along the trail, nice classic hides and made some trades and Evan dropped off a new EOTB travelbug.

Thanks to all who came along for the beautiful day in the woods, especially for your hard work and patience. I look forward to seeing some photos.

Cheers, Ross

Gorge pics are up!

Pictures from Lavant are up!

Executive summary

1. Weather - Hot
2. Mud - Thick
3. Ice Cream - Cold

Gory Details

Day One

We started off the day with a nice meal at Shooter’s Bar and Grill in Calabogie. When I pulled into the parking lot, Grant, Tom and Mike were already there, and shortly after we joined them Brian arrived. We ate, chatted and laughed before heading for the trail, stopping only briefly to air-down tires and disconnect sway bars. The weather was threatening rain, but so far, we had remained dry.

What happens at Weir, stays at Weir!

It was a dark and stormy wet night ...

The forecast for the day was clear and sunny, but it turned out to be a warm but overcast day. Being Mother’s Day it was questionable as to the potential turnout for the run. Lavant is a great trail with a little of everything to offer the off road enthusiast, but with very few bypasses. At the primary spot, I was met with a good turnout of eager participants, including a new guest to the club Stephen in his blue modified 2 door JK. With the vehicle count at 7 trail rigs, 1 tow rig and 4 dogs, we headed out to the secondary meeting spot in Hopetown. Peter in his Land Cruiser offset the Jeep sweep of vehicles.

We came … we saw… we conquered! Yup that trash never had a chance!

We had great weather for the cleanup and an awesome turnout, including a new guest, Nick from Renfrew who rolled into Munfords in his YJ. We completed the 2KM cleanup in record time finishing just before 1pm. That stretch of highway sure looks great! A big thanks to all those who participated.

After all the rain we have been having the forecast was calling for cloudy skies and a high of 13 C… it was exciting looking forward to Easter Sunday for our first official trail run of the year to get the off road season started. As most of you know we choose the Gorge trail as an opener for two reasons. One because we always get new folks wanting to try their hand at off-roading and Two because the Gorge is an “obstacles are optional” trail.

We had a total of 21 trucks, 14 members and 7 guests – not too bad of a turn out even considering it was Easter Sunday! We had folks from East Ottawa to as far west as Toronto driving both stock and modified trucks.

Well the Weatherman was wrong, it turned out to be nicer weather than I had anticipated. We had a few Board members up on Thursday so they could do a little exploring on Friday before the other members arrived. From what I've heard they found some trails that warrant further exploration. Most of the membership arrived on Friday night greeted by damp ground and a wicked wind.

Saturday morning we managed to get the groups rolling before 10:30…. am. Three groups were formed 1)-Six modified vehicles to tackle the Quinn trail, 2)- eleven mostly stock and near stock vehicles to drive the Crag Lake trail front door and 3)-Seven Modified vehicles into Crag Lake via the front door with a possible continuation out the back door. We had several day guests including Dan and crew from National out to rock test Dan's latest Buggy.

I traveled with the number 2) group as mid gunner , Pete tail gunned and Norm took lead. The greatest challenge was the Dodge Dakota driven by Ryan, with its huge wheelbase and no lift this involved plenty of rock stacking, winching, strapping, drivers skill and patience. Ryan was informed that this was not going to be an easy task and that he could park it at any time but stuck it out. This reminded me of some of those college/university pranks where they put a car in an impossible location, this time it was Crag Lake.

Group 1) was mostly Senior and Board members with our guest Dell from North Bay in his CJ. Sounds like they had a relaxing run with time to explore around the Quinn Lake area. They reported that Pinion Pass was rain slick and hard to ascend without aid.

What about Carnage you ask ?….. well of course there are always unavoidable and avoidable accidents, that is just part of our sport, but instead of dwelling on the negative I feel the positive experiences and attitudes of the participants greatly outweighed the negative. Norm, as trail leader was in great form and must have ran 6km on the 2km long trail, dashing back and forth spotting people through. Pete did a great job as tail gunner and was seen out and spotting participants even though he was suffering from a crummy cold.

In the end everyone made it off the trails just after 6pm as it started to lightly drizzle.

Once back at camp we were greeted with a great fire, plenty of "Chilli Con Carne el Presidente" and a Pot luck with enough to feed a small army. It's always a nice way to end a day on the trails with a full belly, stories and joking around the camp fire.

Sunday morning was damp and cold as people slowly started packing up to head home. Some of us met at Munford's at noon for our semi-annual Adopt a Road clean-up along the 508 (Calabogie Road). As we drove from the camp ground towards Calabogie it rained, so as stated in our Contract with Renfrew County we cannot pick up trash in inclement weather, rain, drizzle or wet roads we thought that we would be cancelling this event. Not so, a few km's before Calabogie it stopped raining and the road surfaces were dry. At Munford's we met Peter Z. who had driven out with his Son to participate in the clean-up. We snaffled back some left over desert squares that Evan had brought out for the potluck and with the added sugar boost started in the ditches. We managed to clear 1km of roadway on both sides when it started to rain so we packed up and headed to a small restaurant in Calabogie for a well-deserved lunch. As far as interesting finds Clint found a spare gas cap and a $5 bill, other items are to gross to mention but the catch for the day was the three foot Bass I found in the ditch. I remembered at the last clean-up a local gentleman that had made our group a pile of sticks with nails to aid us in our trash picking, he mentioned that his house was the one with the Bass shaped mailbox. I strolled up his driveway with this giant Bass under my arm and was greeted by a Lady that was ecstatic to see her Bass being returned. Apparently it had been stolen 3 weeks ago. As we heading into the restaurant for lunch Clint spotted an old 50's Mercury Pick-up truck parked where a grove of trees that had sprung up around it encasing it in a prison of trees. My guess by the size of the tree trunk growing out of the truck bed it had been parked for well over 30 years.

So ends another EOTB Fall Camp and I officially declare it to be a success. Thanks to all who made it happen.

Chris Palko

Well, my first Trail Report, I hope everyone enjoys, it is very lengthy for the shortness of the run.

With a good number of the veterans doing minor fix-ups and members unavailable this weekend, I accepted the offer to lead my first trail run with Chris as my tail-gunner. I’ve been working on getting to know the areas we explore a bit better as well as expanding my GPS abilities. I had complied quite a bit a track data from the last few years but never had the time to do anything with it.

So as I prepped the Jeep, I made sure I had both my trail and road GPS along with some maps as backup. I did not want to disappoint on my first time in the lead. I loaded the Jeep with a few extra extrication goodies I picked up over the last couple of weeks, hoping none would be needed. For good measure the neighbor had just returned my chain saw, so I thought add it to the inventory with a litre of mixed fuel.

It was an early start, in Limoges, Dave with his white Samurai along with his friends Ben and Trish driving a newly purchased 2010 Blue Jeep Islander stopped by my house and we were off. I did not want to be late so I coaxed them into arriving early at my place. After fuelling up I entered my next waypoint in the GPS to get us to Hopetown and I soon realized the touch screen features had stopped working and the unit would not respond to any functions except power on and off. Great, what a perfect time to fail. A closer diagnostic would have to wait.

We arrived at 9:00am at Bell’s Corner’s and were greeted by a large gathering of seagulls, basically the entire parking lot, and they were not leaving for a few trail blazers. I revived my GPS after quite a few resets and everything was still saved, “Looks like we just had our glitch for this mission.” (so I thought)

Well the Eastern Ontario Trail Blazers are living up to there name. We took a team of five vehicles and did some trail blazing north of Mazinaw Lake to see if we could find the same power line that has it's beginning at Mountain Chute Dam, the place were we air down before venturing into the Quinn or Crag Lake trails.

Grab a cup of coffee, this could take a while.

We should have known that the day would be unusual. By 10:00am, all the trucks were ready to roll except Chris. While attempting to quickly swap his CB antenna mount, he found it to be stripped and a 5 minute job took a little longer than expected. By 10:30am though, we were ready and headed to the trail. We had trucks inclung Chris, Martin in Carol’s TJ, Nick, myself, Mark, Rob, Bob in his Hummer and Craig. At the exit to the park, Tom squeezed into line with his JK and off we went.

The day started out with a coffee and some great weather, sunny and little clouds. The Bell Corners meeting spot had Mark W in his Discovery ( garbage bag window still installed, Brain G in his silver TJ (hooked), Paul D in his family machine JK (sporting the TJ's 33's as the TJ was down for TLC), with myself in a black TJ. Guests, Simon from ORA (Montreal) in his 35" Green JK, Jean-Louis (JL) in his 35" black JK and a F150 driven by Jeremy.

After getting to know everyone and collecting money and signing the forms we got on the road to meet up with the others that were meeting at Munfords from Kingston, Jordan in his Cherokee and Tom Miller in his stock JK.

The first and second mishaps we discovered and one dealt with and the other written up to highway driving....first we discovered that Paul had the miss fortune of being in the way of a stone on the highway going the wrong way and hit the edge of his windshield and gave it a crack on the drivers side. Paul shrugged it off and all was good. Second, after talking a bit we decided to get to the trail and as we all started to get into our truck and we hear that Jordan had misplaced his keys.... So we all start to look for them and then Jordan found them between his seats, so with all in hand we start out for the trail.

After a U turn because I wasn't paying enough attention to the GPS we were on the gravel road to the air down spot. Once all to the trail head we all aired down and opened windows and removed soft tops we were ready for the run.

With the forecast calling for a hot sunny day we pulled into the Parking lot at Bells Corners. It wasn't long before Ryan and family joined us followed by Brian and his family. This was the group that headed out for the second rendezvous in Merrickville. As we drove along 43 the CB crackled to life and started to pick up Steve and group chatting, a few minutes later and we had visual contact. The park at the locks already had a couple of trucks waiting and with the two new groups arrival we totaled 10 trucks. We had two guests for this outing, Tom returning for another trail and Christian in a black XJ.

With all the paper work signed and the trucks lined up along Main St we set off for the trail. It's a short hop to the trail head and with a quick stop to disconnect and rearrange to get Brian and his winch in the middle of the line we were finally on the trail.