TRACK: BIDWELL RIDE
AREA: Region: Sturgeon Falls, Field & Marten River.
East of Hwy 11N, south of Marten Lake
DISTANCE: 60 km
RATING: 4 (see cover letter) wnatvclub.ca
ACCESS: Drive 6 km. south on Hwy 11N from the Marten River intersection with Hwy 64 or 50 km. north of North Bay on Hwy 11N. At the sign Bidwell Lake Road turn east. Cross the pipeline and then turn left, and travel 1 km. and park along the road near a gravel pit. Going straight will lead to cottages on Bidwell Lake.
CAUTION: The last time this ride was travelled by the club was 2013. There are challenging spots so beware of the hazards.
TRACK DESCRIPTION:
– From the parking area, head northwest and follow the logging road for close to 15 km. Going is good and you can see that work has been done recently on the road.
– At #1 on the map make sure to go straight ahead onto a trail. Turning left, following the logging road will lead to recent cutovers. Continue on for maybe 1 km. and then make a sharp right (south). Going straight ahead will lead to old cutovers and dead ends.
– Follow the trail for 3 km. It is rough in places but you can see that it is maintained by hunt camp owners in the area. Continue on to #2 on the map.
– At this point going left (east) will bring you to a well-organized hunt camp. Turn right (west).
– Keep going for a short distance and will cross the Poplar Creek which is covered with boulders and rocks. Going is slow but manageable.
– Now we continue on in beautiful hardwoods. There is an intersection whereby going left leads to South Spruce Lake and right to Poplar Lake.
– Continue straight ahead 3 km and at #3 marked on the map, you may follow the trail to the right (west) which leads to Bear Lake and a beautiful sandy beach. The owner has given us permission to cross over to the beach. This is where we have lunch.
– Return to the main trail and continue on in hardwood stands. There are two areas for concern especially the one marked beaver dam on the map. Stay high on the beaver dam, go slow and all should be OK.
– Continue on past Little Clear Lake and follow the trail to Noble Lake. Here you can see trailers parked during the summer. We now follow the same road as the Sand Dam ride all the way to Tilden Lake.
– At the Tomiko Restaurant, stop for good cup of coffee.
– From here follow a short cut that crosses Hwy 11N and bring us to the pipeline. Turn right (north), heading 5 km. on the pipeline. Going is good.
– The ride then crosses over Hwy 11N again. Continue on a cottage road for a short distance and then back onto the pipeline. Continue on for 2 km.
– We now have a section that follows Hwy 11N but is steep and extreme caution must be used. If you feel unsafe get off the bike to manoeuvre. Take your time here please. If not you can travel a short distance on Hwy 11N.
– Once past this, we continue on to a water hole where a bridge used to be. Stay in the middle of the track, and all will be OK, but the water depth can be high. Again take your time.
– From here continue on to the Bidwell road and the parking area.
Revised 01/20/2020