News & Conditions: Weather Forecast
28 january 2012: The trails have been freshly groomed and with the fresh snow falling conditions are excellent.
14 January 2012: John reports the trails are excellent since the last snow. Enjoy!
8 January 2012: Temperatures will stay below freexing today which will preserve the good snow. Warm through the week, but back to cold and new flurries by Friday.
6 January: All traiis but Snow Bunting have been groomed following the recent snow. Some thinness under heavy overhang, otherwise great. Enjoy!
2 January 2012: The trails are a bit crusty this morning, with track visible some places. Experienced caution would allow an enjoyable outing. The forecast calls for 60% chance of flurries today and tonight with dropping temps and serious snow on Wednesday and Thursday.
28 December 2011: Well, it's happened. FRESH SNOW! All trails except Hemlock and Horsecollar have been groomed and are awaiting your pleasure. WE'RE OPEN!!!
19 December 2011: Still no snow!
24 November 2011: The Madawaska X-Country Trail system is ready for another season. A number of volunteers have been working hard to clear the trails of brush and dead falls. During this past fall the Township of Greater Madawaska Trails Committee was fortunate again to have the help of the Corp of Engineers for some trail maintenance. The Snow Bunting Loop crosses a swamp at one point and has been a real problem in past years as the water does not freeze well enough for safe passage of the groomer. This fall the Corp of Engineers built a bridge at this trouble spot. So this winter as you ski Snow Bunting Loop you will be able to enjoy safe passage over our new bridge thanks to the hard work of the Corp of Engineers and the Township of Greater Madawaska Trails Committee . All we need is a bit more snow and the trails will be open for the season.
Watch this site for further updates on trail conditions.
Madawaska Nordic Trail System
About Us:
A unique partnership between volunteer ski enthusiasts and the Township of Greater Madawaska. Working under the Township’s Recreation Department, Madawaska Nordic is staffed entirely by volunteers who are responsible for development, maintenance and grooming of cross-country ski trails within the Township.
Funding was provided by grants from the Province of Ontario’s Communities In Action (Active 2010) and the Trillium Foundation which has enabled the club to purchase state-of-the-art grooming and track-setting equipment along with a Skandic super wide track snowmobile.
The Township's Madawaska Nordic Trail System is supported by a number of volunteers and local businesses.
Calabogie Peaks covers the Land Use Permit for the Crown Land on which our trail system is built. If you are like many of our members who both cross country and down hill ski, please visit www.calabogie.com to learn more about downhill skiing in the Township of Greater Madawaska. Calabogie Peaks also rents cross country skis.
The Madawaska Nordic ski trails are located behind the Peaks Village, across from Calabogie Peaks Resort, north of Renfrew County Road 508, during the winter season.
Trails are well marked and colour coded for level of difficulty: Green for Easy, Blue for Moderate and Red for Difficult. For the most part, the Madawaska Nordic trails are ‘Green’ (Easy) trails with some ‘Blue’ (Moderate) and "Red" (difficult) sections and are suitable for skiers of all levels.
These trails, which were at one time old logging roads, wind their way through a very picturesque forest landscape with lots of gentle ups and downs to keep the outing visually interesting and lots of fun.
From the trailhead, all skiers begin their outing on the Red Pine trail that takes them 1 km slowly uphill to where it intersects with the local snowmobile trail. At the Crossroads, skiers then have the choice of continuing on Red Pine or taking any of the other trails that branch off Red Pine - Chickadee, Footloose, Horse Collar and Hemlock. The Snow Bunting loop branches off Horse Collar.
Return
distances to the trailhead are
indicated below:
Red Pine – 6km
Snow Bunting – 6 km
Chickadee/Footloose – 5 km
Horsecollar/Chickadee - 3 km
Crossroads – 2 km
Hemlock - 4 km
Note: During the winter season the trails are for the use of cross-country skiing only. The trails are accessible for bicycling and hiking during the other seasons. of the year
wnship Municipal
Offices in
Calabogie or at Munfords Gas Station at the intersection of County Roads 508 & 511.Write info@madawaskanordic.orgDirections
The Madawaska Nordic Trails are located west of Calabogie near the Calabogie Peaks Ski Resort. To find the trailhead, travel 7 km west from the intersection of Highways 508 and 511 in Calabogie to Viewmount Drive. Turn right on Viewmount and take the next right onto Crestview where you will find parking on Crestview at the trailhead.
Some Links
So Much More to Explore
Ottawa Valley Explore
Calabogie Peaks Ski Resort
CABA (Calabogie Area Business Association)
XC Skiing Information Centre
Recent Trail Enhancements
The Township’s Madawaska Nordic trail system was given a real boost this past Fall when the new Hemlock Trail was built by the 33rd COMBAT ENGINEERS RESERVES based in Ottawa. An entire weekend was dedicated last Fall to trail clearing, brush back and bridge building. In two days of heavy labour, the Hemlock Trail and the Lookout Trail were completed. We owe these men and women a tremendous thank you. Their work brought to completion about 3 years of trail scouting by Madawaska Nordic volunteers.
It took a few additional volunteer days, including a non-skier with an ATV to drags logs, to grade selected sections with pick axe and shovel to handle the groomer and track setter. In addition the Nordic
volunteers were able to complete the link trails between Horsecollar and Chickadee and the Snow Bunting Loop. This was also a community effort with assistance provided by the Councilor Pratt, the Township, the County, Calabogie Peaks and the loan of an ATV for the military and the use of a portable saw mill to provide a first rate Nordic Trail system for our Community and Visitors.
You will notice that new trail signs, which have been made by one of our volunteers, are going up on the t
rails this season.
The trail system is now complete but we will continue to maintain and upgrade the quality of the trails. To date, we have spent over $2,500 dollars of user fees on bulldozer time, culverts, signs etc. This is in addition to buying gas for the snowmobile and putting money aside for future equipment maintenance and eventual replacement as our ongoing operations are not subsidized by any levels of government.
Feedback from users has been 100% positive. We can now offer about 18km. of trails. Thank you to all who have worked so very hard to make this happen and to you the skiers who helped us; "a Twoonie at a Time"
Contact Us
info@madawaskanordic.org
