‘Where can I ride my MTB in Cochrane?’

This is one of the most common questions we hear from our members and non-members and we thought we’d provide a bit of information as the Bike Cochrane Trails Team makes progress this season towards more legal, official, sustainable trails for Cochrane.

Signage at NEW PRIVATE Buffalo Bean Trail

 

Buffalo Bean Trail (PRIVATE to Bike Cochrane members)

We are really excited to announce that our first official MTB trail in the Town of Cochrane is ‘almost open’!  We have installed signs marking the trail at the entrance (see attached map) and we have a ~2.5km loop built (with ~120m elevation gain) called ‘Buffalo Bean’ (named after this beautiful wildflower that populates this area in the early spring), and a smaller loop called ‘Buffalo Junior’ (see linked map).  The present ‘fast time’ for the Buffalo Bean loop is around 12 minutes, but it rides really well and has amazing views (when we don’t have wildfire smoke)!  The trail still needs a bit more work to fully open (our Trails Crew has already invested ~200 person-hours into this trail to date) but we do have preliminary land approval from the Ag Society to start riding bikes already to pack the trail in better!  However, we have a pair of pretty aggressive hawks that are patrolling the area until their fledglings are gone (Fish and Wildlife now tell us to expect them to start backing off soon and then migrate south).  Think ‘Top Gun’ style strafing/dive bombing or Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’, so until these hawks are gone, we’d ask people to be really careful in the area and if you’re going to ride the trails, please make a lot of noise and report to trails@bikecochrane.com any interactions you have with the hawks.  The Ag Society has asked us to park vehicles along the west side of the property on the grass if you’re going to drive there (see linked map), or bike via Heritage Hills or Heartland to avoid riding on the highway.  This trail is presently open for ‘Bike Cochrane Members Only’.  We would ask you to stop at Big Hill Cycle or Bike Bros, show your membership card, and they will give you 2 small Bike Cochrane stickers to place on your helmet or bike to self-identify as a Bike Cochrane member.  Please follow all of the rules posted on the signs, respect the land, and remember that this is private land and we’re here as guests of the Cochrane Ag Society.  If you want to be a part of building our trail system, please email Kevin at trails@bikecochrane.com to be added to the ‘Trail Crew’ and be the first to know what we’re working on and help Cochrane have MTB trails we can ride! 

Riding on Town of Cochrane land and Cochrane Foodfest ‘Bike Valet’

As part of our cycling advocacy, Bike Cochrane volunteered with Big Hill Cycle this August at the Cochrane FoodFest to help operate the ‘Bike Valet’ service – see linked photo where we had ~100+ bikes parked over the course of the day!  We also took the opportunity to show some maps of the trails we’re working on, and got overwhelming feedback to share more of these maps more widely, even though they’re in draft form.  See a photo below of board member Andra talking with people at the Cochrane Foodfest.  We will also be bringing the Bike Valet service future events in town and if you’re interested in volunteering, please email Paul at paul@bikecochrane.com. 

It does appear that more of you want to see ‘where can I bike RIGHT NOW’.  See a small summary map of the trails in the Cochrane Ranche and Sunset areas that people are biking on today (from our Draft Trails Plan with the Town), with the caveat that Bike Cochrane is working with the Town to become the Trail Steward for the Town of Cochrane and make these more permanent.  The intention is to have these trails actively managed, signed, mapped, and maintained.  If you see a downed tree, or damage to the trails, please email Kevin at trails@bikecochrane.com so that we can either remediate it, or work with the Town to get it fixed.  Also, if you’re interested in being a part of our Trails Crew, please email Kevin at trails@bikecochrane.com to be added to our regular Trails Crew activities emails.  We can’t do anything without volunteers, and if you think ‘Somebody should do something about this trail’, then remember YOU’RE SOMEBODY!

Mt St Francis land

If you look at our ‘Unofficial Trails Map’, you’ll see the BCPS/Mt St Francis trail being ridden along the Bighill Creek.  A significant portion of this trail is on private Mt St Francis land.  It’s important to know that the Mt St Francis friars operate a ‘silent retreat’ on this land, so screaming downhill on a bike through their quiet space is strongly discouraged.  In that spirit, Bike Cochrane has worked with both Strava and Trailforks to remove trails marked on these apps that are in the middle of Mt St Francis’ silent retreat space.  We’ve also made signage to show where to avoid when biking. See that preliminary signage HERE with the intention for our cycling community to be respectful. It’s our hope that through being good neighbours and stewards that we’ll be able to have Mt St Francis’ blessing to continue biking on their creekside trail along with other future trails too that don’t interrupt their quiet spaces.

Okay, that’s it for now, but hopefully you can see that Bike Cochrane is actively working to give you more trails to ride locally.  Think about volunteering for the Trails Crew, our events operations (like the upcoming Ag Fair), our active transportation committee, or for a leadership position when we announce our AGM in the fall.

Thanks and happy riding!