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Numbskulls and Blockheads

Vancouver Island

A fantastic single black leads into a more challenging double black trail.

Mountain Biking Extreme

Distance
14 km
Ascent
512 m
Descent
512 m
Duration
1-2 hrs
Low Point
149 m
High Point
599 m
Gradient
10˚
Numbskulls and Blockheads Map

This top-to-bottom tech run is anchored by the Blockhead and Numbskull trails, but it also incorporates Lost Wood, Gravity, and the bottom half of DCDH.

Description

After climbing to the top and getting warmed up on Lost Wood, Blockhead is a challenging single black diamond trail that begins fairly moderate with some berms, launches, and drops. But in the middle, the gnar ramps up, with some rock moves leading up to a substantial rock roll down a dirty, rippled slab. Below the rock roll, the chunder continues to the bottom.

After pedaling through a few connector trails, you'll pick up Numbskull to continue the double black diamond descent. Numbskull begins with some rock features but then funnels into a series of fairly flowy berms, in between which you'll find some gnarly features, some more rock, and quite a few mandatory log drops. All of the log drops are fairly small—in the 2-3 foot range (potentially bigger if you're rolling fast)—but many of these features are unavoidable with no ride arounds. When the big gap jumps do crop up, they do include ride arounds, but be prepared to huck a lot of log drops into steep landings with catch berms at the bottom.

The Gravity trail changes the ride style substantially, incorporating a fantastic series of rippled rock slabs, ledge drops, and a few more catch berms into the mix. Gravity is one of the rockiest, slabbiest trails in Cumberland Forest, making for a fun, unique ride style.

Finally, this technical challenge wraps up on the lower half of DCDH, which is designed as a true downhill race track. This wide track features multiple lines through all the features, and advanced riders can manage to pick a rollable line through all of it. However, expert riders will find plenty of drops and gaps to link—there are some big features and challenging lines to be found on DCDH.

Difficulty

Extreme

Very steep, difficult, narrow singletrack with widely variable and unpredictable trail conditions. Unavoidable obstacles could be 15in/38cm tall or greater, and unavoidable obstacles with serious consequences are likely to be present. Obstacles could include big rocks, difficult root sections, drops, jumps, sharp switchbacks, and more. Ideal for expert-level riders.

Medium Exposure

2 out of 4

The trail contains some obstacles such as outcroppings and rock which could cause injury.

Remoteness

2 out of 4

Away from help but easily accessed.

Best time to visit

between May and November

Features

  • Technical
  • Singletrack
  • In the forest
  • Drops
  • Jumps
  • Roots
  • Gap Jumps
  • Rock Rolls
  • Rock Slabs
  • Rock Gardens
  • Wooden Feature

Similar routes nearby

Guidebooks in this area