Crystal Creek
The terrain is rolling with some challenging up-hills, downhills, and rocky technical sections. If you’re an intermediate to advanced cross-country rider, these trails are well worth the travel!
Trail Information
Location: East of Landslide Road and South of Connor Road.
Parking: Next to the blue ski building on Fifth Line.
Skill Level: Intermediate & Advanced
Distance: 9.2 km + Optional 2 km add on
Start on the slow climb in along the Crystal trail that brings you to a fast down along a gentle flowing river. Get ready for one more climb as you arrive at Nemesis, known for its challenging technical climb. Heads up for downhill riders! Also, don’t worry, the trail levels out once you reach the top! If you’re looking for a fun down, loop back to enjoy the flow and berms (but you’ll have to climb back up to continue on!)
Take a hard left off of the double track at a good speed and you’ll love the flow into sidetrack! The trail is pretty level but has some sharp corners into gradual ups and downs that finishes off back at the double track. You’ll be met with two options: Easier (turn left) or Wedding Crasher (turn right). If you want to take the easier option, take a left at the end of sidetrack and follow the double track ski trail marked by white Rasta signs. Once you climb up the short punchy hill, you’ll see the sign for “Drop Zone” on your right and “Anymel” down the other side of the hill.
You’ll be flowing along a small ridge when you start on Anymel. Enjoy some small jumps off the edge of the trail. Just when you start getting tired, you’ll want to pick up your speed and you’ll fly into a nice roller where you can get some air or feel free to take it slow and enjoy the ride 
If you’ve chosen to have more adventure, take a right at the end of “sidetrack” to head over to Wedding Crasher! Flow through the winding trees until you reach a small log roll. Begin a short climb where you can either turn right (easier) or left to challenge yourself to a rock garden. Back on the main trail, you’ll find yourself pumping through the next section and rolling through a few small rock gardens. Finish off with a small climb.
Drop Zone! (ADVANCED): If you’ve got what it takes, take a left at the end of Wedding Crasher. You’ll see the sign for “Drop Zone” to your left once you climb the hill on the ski trail. This trail is for advanced riders only!! It includes rocky, roots descents and large drops.
Want to extend your ride by 2km? Follow the upside down white Rasta signs for an added adventure! (see pic below). Start on Gunsmoke which is a flat, rooty trail that flows along the Voyageur trail and the Crystal Creek. Stop at the Crystal Creek Bridge which is a popular spot where riders take a break to relax, eat a snack and snap some pics! Roll up the hill past the bridge and take a right on to Pump It. This is a Voyageur hiking trail so stop and say hi to the dog walkers and hikers!
Climb up the ski trail hill and take a left. At the top of The Altar you’ll choose your line down this rocky descent. At the bottom you’ll be met with a few rollers and some berm action! (Advanced riders!) For those who aren’t up for the rocky descent, head on over to Bermeeze. You’ll want some speed as you wind through this short trail shaped like an S – S is for Sweet berms! After some pedaling, you’ll pick up speed quick on Jedi as you round a corner into a rolling descent. Take advantage of your speed and enjoy some sharp fast corners. Take a left when you get to the ski trail to head to Guillotine. The name Guillotine came from the original trail having a large overhead downed tree at the start which was known to take a few heads off (not really, but if you weren’t careful, you could hit your head!) Fun, fast berms make this trail a local favorite! (see pics below).
You’ll have some speed from Guillotine as you roll into Root’n and Root’n 2. Time for some flats with, well, roots! After you navigate the roots, head into Squishy. Yep, you guessed it. This trail didn’t get its name from being dry. It’s SQUISHY year round. Its time for some Rock’n & Roll’n! Take the easy route (Roll’n) along the ski trail to by-pass this technical, rocky trail meant for advanced riders. If you’ve got the skills, take Rock’n for a bumpy, technical ride into a rocky descent.
If you are looking for a place to stop for lunch, this could be the perfect spot overlooking a beautiful waterfall. We recommend walking your bike down the extremely rocky descent (found by going straight through the entrance of Rock’n instead of taking a left. Listen for the water! **This is an unmarked trail and not maintained by the Sault Cycling Club.
Ride smooth on Yoda you will. Gentle, flowy trail into Wave which is a short, fun trail that ends with an easy (take a left) or a root’n rock climb meant for Advanced Riders. Watch for the jump at the end! Head into Switch for a few flowy turns followed by a rooty uphill into Flow! YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! What more can we say?? It’s a fun rooty downhill that ends in a couple berms that’ll send you back up. Keep the flow!! (yeah we said more… shush!) Ridge Runis the last single track section of the Crystal Creek Trail System. Keep your speed and you’ll fly through this flowy, rooty trail to finish it all off.
After you cross the big bridge, hop off your bike, take a right and walk down the walkway to the bottom of the Crystal Falls. You saw this water a few times already, upstream!
Sorry, eh. Got to pedal back up that big paved hill to get back to the trailhead. At least there are no roots or rocks!! :-p