Trailforks Trail of the Month: Purgatory (The Way)

Some of our global readers might be tired of hearing how great the West Coast of North America is for Mountain Biking. From Oregon to Washington and the home of Pinkbike, British Columbia, Mountain Biking truly lives here. And heck, that's why many of us live in the Pacific North West. It may be no surprise that February's Trail of the Month comes from the Mecca of Mountain Biking, but you may not have heard about this little paradise off the Coast of Vancouver Island. Hornby Island has been a long time Summer destination for those living in Southwestern BC, but in the winter this place can provide a quite, albeit wet, riding getaway. It's low elevation keeps it snow free all winter long.

We sat down with long time Hornby Island trail builder, Sasha LeBaron and talked history. He explained that as more and more people visited Hornby, the trail usage inevitably increased, first with hippies and equestrians; but in 1982 the Mountain Bike arrived. One of the first trails built by Mountain Bikers was Devil's Kitchen. Sasha describes it as a "rather unsustainable but fun fall-line trail." Brett Trimble and Gerard D'Avino had created Bitchin' Camero, named after the Dead Milkmen song.

Purgatory is just one of many fast, flowy trails on Hornby. Leave your DH bike at home, you won't need it. In a land of tech trails, Hornby Island is a buffed out vacation that's just pure fun.

After Purgatory, "The Way" flows into the "North Shore" inspired Bitchin' Camero and finishes with Milo's Meadow.

Hornby Island may be small but it packs a bunch of trails into it's network. An average day of riding will see you zig and zag your way across the island multiple times and their's no wrong way, almost every trail climbs as well as they descend.