We use essential cookies to make our website work. We also set additional cookies that help us improve your experience, help keep you safe, perform analytics, and serve relevant ads. These additional cookies will be set only if you click ‘Accept’ below. For more information about the cookies we use, or to change your preferences, please visit our Cookies Policy.
route-highlight
Past Two Weeks
route-highlight
route-highlight
route-highlight
route-highlight
route-highlight
+ 35

Top 5 Cumberland Trails in 1 Ride

Mountain Biking Trail

Hard
11.26 mi
1,684 ft
A fantastic link up of 5 of Cumberland's best trails.

Even by BC standards, Cumberland Forest is a vast, intricate, and dense trail network. Strands of singletrack run in every direction imaginable, and at some junctions, you'll find yourself choosing from 5 or 6different paths to take. In a network this varied and overwhelming, choosing which trails to do is the greatest challenge. On this loop, you'll hit what some people consider to be the top 5 trails in Cumberland in just one 11-mile ride.

The ride begins by following the classic climbing route up the dirt road and then up Sobo No Michi. Sobo No Michi is a purpose-built ascending trail that's been constructed with a series of constant switchbacks and grade reversals to make for an eminently climbable singletrack descent. The concession to build numerous switchbacks is much-appreciated because the upper section of the mountain here in Cumberland is quite steep.

Once at the top of the climb, you'll drop down the road a few meters to pick up Upper Thirsty Beaver. Upper Thirsty Beaver followed by Lower Thirsty Beaver are two of the most difficult trails on this ride, graded as a single black diamond. By BC standards, these are quite easy single blacks, but you'll still be faced with some steep descents, slick roots, optional drops, jumps, and best of all: a beautiful set of lengthy wooden bridges.

The woodwork is by far the highlight on the Thirsty Beavers! Upper Thirsty Beaver especially features long, winding bridges that run above swampland and, in one spot, even a flowing stream. These gorgeous bridges running through a deep forest are an absolute pleasure to ride and are extensive even by BC standards.

After dropping out of Lower Thirsty Beaver, you'll pedal up the road and then climb a well-built section of the Vanilla Climb Trail to sample Upper Vanilla on the way down. Upper Vanilla features some roots and small drops, but it's quite fast and flowy overall.

While Lower Vanilla continues on down the mountainside, remember that this is a sampler platter: you're tasting 5 of the top trails, not doing 5 top-to-bottom runs. So it's time to pedal back up the hill to reach Blue Collar.

Blue Collar is a flowy, jumpy downhill romp that retains an old-school feel with stump drops, some woodwork, and a few rocks to keep you honest. Blue Collar is a perennial favorite in Cumberland Forest, and you're almost guaranteed to see other riders on this trail.

After Blue Collar, you'll drop into the Crafty Butchers: Upper, Middle, and Lower. The flowy intermediate trail character is retained, but these trails are a bit chunkier and feature some beautiful woodwork and extended bridge sections.

Finally, the ride wraps up with an absolute gem to finish: Bonestorm. The iconic standout feature on Bonestorm is an aesthetic rock roll. You'll begin the feature by riding along an elevated fin of rock and then rolling down the backside to a wooden bridge run out into a flowy section of singletrack. By Squamish standards, this rock roll is a baby feature, but the aesthetic, exposed run-in on the ridge intimidates many riders. It can easily be bypassed to the left if you don't feel like riding it.

While this ride does get a "Severe" FATMAP rating on our global scale, accomplished intermediate BC riders should feel right at home on this ride. The Thirsty Beavers might have a few tricky spots, but again by British Columbia standards, they're relatively tame. The one rock roll on Bonestorm is intimidating, but it can easily be bypassed. But of course, to riders unfamiliar with the level of trails in British Columbia, some of these features could be very intimidating. It's all a matter of perspective! Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

2 mi
600 ft800 ft1,000 ft1,200 ft1,400 ft1,600 ft0.0 mi1.0 mi2.0 mi3.0 mi4.0 mi5.0 mi6.0 mi7.0 mi8.0 mi9.0 mi10.0 mi11.0 mi

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
STRAVAAA! 🔶0.19 mi-30 ft-1.3%
Dogshit Alley0.43 mi157 ft6.9%
AH there goes my DERAILLEUR $@!#%0.25 mi115 ft8.5%
Unnamed Rd Climb0.85 mi279 ft6.2%
YGate to Sykes on **NEW** climb trail2.37 mi623 ft4.5%
just another boring road 0.82 mi207 ft4.4%
Uppity Uppity.4.28 mi1,112 ft4.9%
Stand Up0.43 mi131 ft5.8%
Yellow gate to Sobo summit3.99 mi1,099 ft5.2%
The Full & Fun Climb2.18 mi587 ft5.1%
Climb trail 1st section 0.31 mi148 ft8.9%
Climb trail #1 and #21.22 mi410 ft5.6%
Sobo to last exit2.34 mi702 ft5.7%
The Full Climbing Trail 1.04 mi371 ft6.7%
Sobo No Michi2.81 mi886 ft5.9%
Entire Climb Trail😅/Sobo No Michi (Broadway to Old Bucket Access)2.84 mi883 ft5.9%
Sobo just the climb2.64 mi725 ft5.2%
Climbing Party Pt.20.71 mi236 ft6.2%
Climbing Trail 2nd Section0.69 mi223 ft5.8%
Climbing Trail - Top Half1.46 mi531 ft6.9%
Climbing upper half1.54 mi558 ft6.6%
Trent Main [Sobo ➡︎🍺BEAV]0.38 mi-98 ft-4.8%
Upper Thirsty Beaver0.43 mi-108 ft-4.8%
Full Thirsty Beaver0.87 mi-315 ft-6.8%
Lower Thirsty Beaver0.48 mi-194 ft-7.5%
Vanilla Climb0.24 mi157 ft12.3%
Vanilla0.45 mi-131 ft-5.2%
🍦🍦🍦0.35 mi-154 ft-8.3%
Blue Collar T-B1.07 mi-394 ft-6.9%
Blue Collar clearcut0.29 mi-131 ft-8.5%
Blue Collar out to the road0.87 mi-348 ft-7.4%
Blue Collar Fork Cup0.17 mi-89 ft-9.7%
Upper Blue Collar0.58 mi-249 ft-8.1%
Blue Collar to Uphill0.74 mi-338 ft-8.6%
Royal Dicky ⚜️0.19 mi-75 ft-7.3%
Lower BC + climb0.42 mi-190 ft-8.5%
Lower Blue Collar -long-0.70 mi-236 ft-6.2%
Lower blue collar 0.22 mi-69 ft-5.3%
Better than the road0.21 mi-30 ft-2.4%
Trestle0.21 mi59 ft1.0%
Upper Crafty Butcher0.41 mi-62 ft-1.6%
Crafty Butcher Downhill0.92 mi-223 ft-4.0%
Middle Crafty Butcher0.25 mi-75 ft-3.7%
Crafty Dropout0.47 mi-223 ft-8.4%
Lower crafty with crappy berms!0.29 mi-121 ft-7.7%
Lower Crafty (after the logging)0.24 mi-85 ft-6.4%
Two Flats Before Bonestorm0.25 mi30 ft1.7%
Bonestorm Enduro0.53 mi-95 ft-2.3%
Bonestorm0.25 mi-95 ft-6.8%
Bonestorm extended0.30 mi-95 ft-5.9%