Tucked along the north shore of Lake Erie, Turkey point has been mountain bike destination for decadees. The trail network has quietly grown into one of Ontario’s largest and most distinctive systems, with roughly 90 kilometres of singletrack winding through sand, pine plantations and bluff-top ridgelines.
It’s also one of the first places to open each spring.
“We’re lucky because we do have a pretty early start to the season,” said Simon Luke of the Turkey Point Mountain Bike Club. “The Hydrocut is closed right now and we’re open, so people who ride in Kitchener-Wwaterloo are heading down this way already.”
That early access helps the club attract riders from the surrounding region. About half of its roughly 700 members come from outside the immediate area. Riders regularly travel from London, Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area to ride here.
From wasteland to trail network
About 100 years ago, the area was known as the Normandale Sand Plains. It was a heavily logged, barren landscape. Large-scale tree planting created the grid-like forests that still defines the trails today.
That open forest, combined with old logging and access roads, gave early riders a framework to start building.
“For a lot of years, before we formed our club, it was kind of the wild west down there,” Luke said.
Mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians and motocross riders all shared the trails. Often with predictable friction. The rogue status of the trail system meant access was tenuous at best.
In the late 2000s, a small group of riders formed the TPMBC.
“In 2011 we went legitimate, just as kind of an act of self-preservation,” Luke said.
Built by hand, maintained by routine
Unlike many modern trail systems, Turkey Point has largely resisted mechanized construction. There are no excavators carving flow trails or reshaping terrain.
“It’s all just manual labour,” Luke said. “We don’t have tractors or bulldozers or anything.”
That approach has helped preserve a more traditional singletrack feel, even as the network has expanded. A core maintenance crew, meets weekly to keep trails rideable. If a tree comes down, word travels quickly.
“Somebody will message us on social media and our director of trails will go out with an electric chainsaw in his backpack,” Luke said. “By noon it’s clear. We take pride in the fact that we take pretty good care of our trails.”
More than just riding
A unique part of Turkey Point, as far as…
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