East Hereford, QC

Hello Mountain Bikers!

I'll introduce myself first. I live a half-hour north of North Troy, VT up in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

I'm a passholder at Jay Peak but also love to ski all over during the winter. Smuggs and Stowe are two of my favourites also. Sutton and Orford on this side of the Border are fun too.

My love of skiing has created another passion for mountain biking over the years. I'm a member at Kingdom Trails which I believe to be one of the awesomest places on Earth, but the other day in search of something different I went to East Hereford just north of the VT/NH/QC borders.

I heard of this place from a friend, but I had my doubts. Being a regular at KT one gets spoiled. But this place is the real deal!

I arrived in the town and had never experienced such calm and peacefulness. The town has maybe about 40-50 residents, yet it's very well kept and parking and signage is fantastic.

There are about 6 or 7 named trails, but the average trail length is significant. See the trail map.

I started by climbing La Noire to Bobine and then Quartz CDN & US. I then went down Troll followed by a climb up a mountain road to the JDA trail. I then went down the Chainon-Manquant (wrong choice), this trail is still under construction and wasn't too much fun. I then came back through Indian Stream, Panache and Recupe back to Bobine and down through Des Pins.

I would do the route in the opposite direction next time and leave out Chainon Manquant. Here are the suggested routes. I think it would be less uphill that way. I don't know how many km's I did, but I was out for about 5hrs. The trails here are very well-built and loooonnnnggggg. Don't let the trail map fool you, it's a lot bigger than it looks on paper!

I highly recommend! Just a stone throw from the border, this place is like a step back in time. I really enjoyed it. For those interested, the website is http://www.municipalite.easthereford.qc.ca/velo.html.

Here are the pics:

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Glad you liked it!

East Hereford was a 3-year project of building 30km (22mi) of pure singletrack. The doubletrack network has been on the map for years... And they've hold a long distance race there (100km) since the early-mid 90s. Our group (ADSVMQ) help the local trail group (Circuits Frontieres) make the place "our" kingdom. Right now, we're still looking at expending the network in the coming years but we're at a stage where you can't do it all in one day.

With the toursim bureau, we made a map with 2 great riding areas in the region:
http://www.tourismecoaticook.qc.ca/en/joindre/brochure.asp#pdf
(last one down)

It's a big step for our organisation to have mountain biking planned by the tourism bureau. We're busy bringing new opportunities all over the province but the Coaticook region his one of our best asset!

As Jay would say: C'mon up!
;-)

Hey BigJay,

I assume you're a Jay Peak skier as well!

You guys did a great job at East Hereford. It would be awesome to make it even bigger, but at least now there's enough to bike for a whole day as you said.

So are you part of the ADSVMQ, is this your mission in life, to bring mountain biking trails all over? It's a great mission!

Do you live at Jay or in QC? Do you ever ride in Montgomery? I think I should join the Grateful Treads, are you a member?

I noticed you post on www.allezy.net as well! That site is awesome! Do you have anything to do with the project in Mansonville? If so, how is it coming along?

Later Man...

Great couple of questions there!

Yeah, i'm part of ADSVMQ. I do most of the advocacy work for the organisation, but i'm not alone in there! There is a great team of dedicated people who truely believe in this!

I do ride at Jay... born and raised in the area (as a weekender). I live in Montreal but have a house in Jay. I am also part of the Grateful Treads and i do ride (and help build) in Montgomery and Jay. A great club as well!

I helped out also when we built the trail directory (repertoire de sentiers) on AllezY.net, it is a great tool as well to have an online directory of all the official riding areas in Quebec (and some great trails of the northeast!) One stop shop!

And yeah, i am involved with the trail project in Mansonville. This week, we're starting to build the bike park right in town. We'll have a small pumptrack and a few structures. Right now, we're running into a financial crisis... not as much money as we'd like is coming in front various grants we've applied for... but we should be able to build a few km of singletrack by the end of the summer. The first singletrack will be a very "family" oriented trail right next to the village. It will be flowy and wide with a few "jumps" on the side. Kids will love this trail and parents will be able to follow them on hybrid bikes. It will serve as a way to initiate people into the activity and make them enjoy riding their bikes on dirt. Our website is pretty simple and needs updating but still: clubvvm.blogspot.com

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Back to topic, there is a mountain biking festival in East Hereford :



Simple. Rides. Fun. BBQ and microbrew beer.

Friday: Shuttle rides from the top of Mount Hereford.
Saturday Ride day - Everyone should join in. Kids as young as 5 years old and adults up to their 70s will find a ride that suits them. We'll have an epic ride that will ruin everyone that joins in!
Sunday Race day (or ride in Coaticook) - A big "marathon" race with distances ranging from 30 to 80km of trails. A fast paced event with great vistas and challenging climbs... sorta like a VT50... but with singletrack mixed into this. If you're not the racing type... There will be a fun ride in Coaticook 15 minutes from there.

Sat. night, the mayor is hosting the dinner with his own spaghetti sauce and we'll have microbrew from Sherbrooke on tap! Camping is available as well.

Oh yeah, and "Chainon Manquant" is being worked on as we speak. All the bridges will be in by the end of this week.
:beer: