Quinton Neufeldt
A little muddy but so far, so good.
Words and Photos by Quinton Neufeldt
The area northeast of Gravenhurst, ON, along Highway 118, is a four-wheeler’s paradise. Trails range from graded and easily-accessible roads for stock vehicles to extreme conditions for modified-rigs, which may mean getting stuck and using the pulling prowess of a winch or tug straps.
I met up with my fellow wheelers, Mike and Raymond, on a sunny Saturday morning in September on Highway 11 in Gravenhurst where we could fuel up and even grab an extra cup of coffee or two. From Gravenhurst, we made our north on the 11, then turned east on Highway 118 to Black River Road north.
Quinton Neufeldt
Our meeting place on Highway 11.
The maps or GPS tracks of this area might give you a real headache as the winding trails snake around many rivers, lakes, and marshes. But it’s necessary to map a route since it’s quite easy to get lost. Although there is some cell coverage among these northern trails, the signal is often weak. I always like to bring a Garmin GPS with different maps loaded, which uses the latest technology to offer improved accuracy under trees that can sometimes be problematic.
Once we arrived at a clearing on Crown Land, we stopped to repack our gear, lock the hubs, and let some air out of the tires. We also applied some insect repellant, as feisty mosquitoes and small relentless back flies always seem to be common.
Quinton Neufeldt
The first major water crossing of the day didn’t quite go as planned.
Black River Road leads across to Pine Springs Road and connects to Highway 35. The Hindon Access Road goes north from Black River Road up to Rill Lake Road. It can get confusing and signage is not the best. Again, a GPS or cell phone with a mapping system is always helpful. These routes are stock vehicle-friendly with lots of choices to boondock and easy access to lakes, making it a great place to enjoy weekend trips.
The different user groups in the area include snowmobilers and ATV’ers, and both trails are provided with designated signage throughout the trail network. I usually take note of these markers since they are sometimes mapped on the GPS. Plus, I know they will lead somewhere if we do get lost.
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Raymond’s newly painted TJ.
Turning north on the Hindon Access Road, we took trail marker 29 that looped east. Halfway around this marker, we spotted trail marker 25, and we decided to give it a try. Once we were over the first hill we came to a nasty, muddy water crossing with three choices to cross. It’s always a good idea to get out and check the depth of any water before crossing, and it didn’t seem much more than 60 cm (24 in) so I went in first – slowly and straight down the middle.
Whoops! The left front wheel sunk into the muck, causing my Jeep CJ7 to tilt into the bank and get stuck. After trying forward and reverse a few times I jumped out, pulled the winch cable, and attached a strap to a tree about 9 m (30 ft) away. It proved to be a fairly easy pull and I was out and on the other side within 15 minutes.
Quinton Neufeldt
Mike’s CJ – “50 Cans of Grey” – after yet another successful winch.
Up next was Raymond. His Jeep TJ Wrangler was working well and sported a new, bright yellow paint job with a bunch of other modifications. However, his tires were showing some signs of wear with only about 50 percent of tread. His vehicle doesn’t have lockers, but he does have a winch. After looking at some options, he felt that taking a line to the right would be a little easier as the water seemed shallower.
Once he got close to the edge, a base of a tree pushed up the right side of his TJ so the roof on the driver side was tight up against another tree. Taking stock of the situation, we realized there was no way he could go forward. Mike offered to winch Raymond out of his jam since he was still parked at the top of the hill. We then stretched out the cable and started pulling his TJ back.
Quinton Neufeldt
So…that’s the problem.
Once Raymond was back on dry ground, we assessed our options and realized today ‘just wasn’t going to be our day’ and decided to find another trail. Raymond started to do a three-point turn, however the off-camber, slick dirt (over rocks) proved challenging. After about 10 minutes, he realized a larger rock was stuck under the vehicle and stopped to pull it out.
Following his rock dilemma, he started up the hill but the poor traction of his tires (and no lockers) meant he had to winch again. When he made it up, it was my turn to come back across the water. After looking at what had happened, I tried the third option to the left. This way was much easier as there was less water, but the large rock face, wet soil, and tight turn at the top would be too daring to try. I simply decided a quick winch would be safer to get up the bank.
Quinton Neufeldt
In the thick of things on the trail.
Once we were all back on top of the hill, we finished the loop and made our way back to Hindon Access Rd., and turned east at trail marker 101. This took us to Shoe Lake at Highway 35. By this time, more than three hours had passed and we stopped for a break at another quiet shoreline.
After relaxing, we continued on the trail marked 101 east. This was much wider, had rocks strewn about, and various water crossings. It was a slow, bumpy ride, but the scenery was beautiful as we passed bogs, tall forests, rock faces, and swamps.
Quinton Neufeldt
Airing up for the ride home after a great – yet challenging – day.
This trail was a little busier as we occasionally passed some ATV’s and other off-road vehicles. The terrain demanded our attention and I got hung up at one of the water crossings but was able to back out and go around. By 5 pm, we were out at Shoe Lake Rd, and pulled over to the side, and checked our vehicles over. Everything looked good and we turned south on 35 for the trip back home.
See you next time!