The Mountain Bike Tourist, Quebec Road Trip Part One - Circuits Frontières

Ten hours behind the wheel, eight hundred kilometres on the odometer a weird kind of tired has stiffened my body into the shape of the car seat. I guess it’s to be expected after a day of doing a whole lot of nothing but driving. A flash downpour turned this 30+ celsius summer day into a steam bath making sweat drip down my nose every time I move. Long day for sure but camp is all set up and a cold beer and lawn chair are calling my name. Not so fast, according to the map the trailhead is just a couple hundred meters down the road, hmm what are you gonna do?

Cold beer be damned, we are now looking up at the promise of the longest gravity assisted run of the season, an experience that comes with a ‘please prepay price’ of a steady one hour grind uphill. “One crank at a time,” I keep telling myself. My typical ride back home consists of a one hour lunch time singletrack blast, with 90 meters of elevation, so my self-doubt at the moment is not surprising. Finally, with daylight fading, we point the bikes downhill, and just like that in a fraction of the time it took us to get up the mountain, we are back where we started with our shins crusted in a layer of dirt, water and sweat, and ear to ear smiles cramping our faces. Forgotten is the long day traveled, the lung burning climb, the aching leg muscles, all is good in the world; hello Mont Hereford, nice to meet you.



Tucked away in the eastern corner of Quebec’s southern region practically within walking distance of Vermont and New Hampshire, the township of East Hereford is where you will find the hub of the Circuits Frontières trail system. With the slopes of Mont Hereford as a blank canvas, a 70+ kilometre network of trails has been artfully laid out providing some wicked riding with a backcountry vibe. One of the reasons for our pilgrimage to Circuits Frontières is web intel of a potential 20 kilometre, mostly downward motivated, run from the top of Mont Hereford. At 864m (2835’) the trip to the top is nothing to sneeze at. Although you can depart from the town centre on an all day adventure there is another option, ah car shuttle anyone? We drop off the top onto the double black diamond Maitrise, followed by the blue designated JDA and Chainom-Manquat, admittedly get a bit lost in the middle, but all is good again as we twist and turn through the pines. We eventually partake in the pièce de résistance, the one-kilometre long berm lined flow goodness that is the tail end of the Bobine trail; damn, what a ride. Back at trail central you can’t avoid being impressed with the set up here: parking, bike wash, maps, trail passes bathrooms and even showers, and if you still have some ride left in your legs there is a new jump line being developed on the Releve trail in the forest adjacent the parking lot.





Coming from one of the biggest cities in Canada, East Hereford might as well be the end of civilization. Imagine a place where cell service and WiFi has to be searched out, accommodations and eating establishments can be counted on one hand. Remote, sure feels like it, off the beaten path, yeah that too. But now looking back, awesome riding aside, it’s our time spent in the region that has left the greatest impression.



We set up camp at Mont Experience Hereford, relaxed creek side by day and fire pit by night. We explored the country =side of rolling valleys, Christmas tree farms and dairy cows. We visited Parc de la Gorge in nearby Coaticook, where you can take in the longest suspended footbridge in North America (169 m) and enjoy a hike in the gorge. There are actually some 30kms of mtb trails here to ride, a fact we learned too late, next time for sure.


A particularly pleasant experience was in the adjacent village of Saint-Venant-De-Paquette where the pasture side Café-Délices du Terroir serves up a local fair of cheese, meat, smoked fish and of course local beer. The food was delicious, the conversation, well, we all lacked the fluidity in each others language of choice, (though ultimately successful) it was as humorous as it was enjoyable. This country living thing, I could get used to this.



Last day big plans, start off with some whole family good times along the green tracks of Aiguille and Ficelle then those up to the challenge will head up the mountain, eventually emerging near camp. Good plan on paper but this is mountain biking and shit happens and it often happens on the easy stuff that you take for granted. As we’re almost done with our green loop, a sweet banked turn, an overzealous rider and a small tree, ends with a brake/shifter assembly dangling in pieces. Just like that the ride plans went from exploration to repair and with three more stops and ten days left in this trip, finding parts is a must but it will prove to be a challenge. Oh well, it’s not a bad thing leaving a place with unfinished business, gives you more reason to come back. Thank you Circuits Frontières it’s been a blast, till next time.

For more info visit - Circuits Frontières

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MENTIONS: @MartinLortz

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