logs rocks & steel | Course Description

race details

Pine Crest Course:

Beginning with a 4km paddle on Gullwing Lake, competitors have a chance to size up their competition as they race around a small island and visit a cottage on the north shore. After transitioning to mountain bikes participants will begin with 5 kilometres of double & single lane gravel road. From there it's off into the backcountry for 4 kilometres of ATV double track, followed by 2 kilometres of single track in the Torrance Barrens Night Sky Preserve. Once through the preserve it's another 11k on one of the most scenic, winding roads in Ontario. The ride contains numerous hills, crosses some dilapidated bridges and sidles countless small lakes & streams. The final challenge of the day will be a 5k trail run through a rough & rugged hiking trail network. These trails are moderately technical and contain some sizeable elevation changes. Competitors will traverse scenic shorelines, rocky ridges, low lying marshes and steep valleys before reaching the finish line and toasting a wicked day of adventure on the shore of Clear Lake at Camp Pine Crest.

Championship Course:

The Championship Course traverses a hard-earned 83 kilometres of wild southern Muskoka topography.

The journey begins at Camp Pine Crest on the shore of Gullwing Lake where participants will tackle 2 laps of a 7 kilometre semi-wilderness paddling route. First up is Gullwing Lake, over a beaver dam into Echo Lake, followed by a 300m portage into Clear Lake, around an island and back to Camp Pine Crest for another 300m portage where participants will be cheered by many spectators and participants preparing for the Pine Crest Course. Another loop of the paddle and it'll be time to transition to mountain bikes.

Once riding, participants will head off on what can only be described as an epic, roller-coaster ride through the Southern Muskoka backcountry. The biking begins with 5 kilometers of double & single lane gravel road. From there it's into the backcountry for 11.5 kilometres of ATV double track crossing stellar sections of exposed Canadian Shield bedrock, bombing across countless rivers, bypassing remote wilderness lakes and hoofing-it through the occasional flooded area. Participants will next emerge onto North Loon Lake and North Muldrew Lake Road for a brief respite before hitting the double track of Old Stone Road and back to Southwood Road. Next up are 6k of the most unique trails in all of Ontario within the Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Preserve. These tight, flowy, & sometimes technical singletrack trails follow predominantly exposed sections of Canadian Shield bedrock. From here participants have a further 11k of paved & gravel road before returning to Camp and the TA to trail running.

The 17km singletrack run follows rock, root & boulder strewn trails up and down gnarly ridges, along remote shorelines, across scenic valleys and through low lying marshes. There's a beaver dam crossing, which could turn into a small swim depending on the status of local the cottager's battle against their furry friends (sometimes the dam is broken to allow boats through the narrow channel). There will also be a 1k stretch of marked, off-trail bushwacking (crossed twice) to connect the Camp Pine Crest trails with the Torrance Dark Sky Preserve trails. As with the mountain biking, much of the running follows exposed section of bedrock making for an experience very unique to this part of the province. Once back into the Pine Crest trail system it will be 2.5k more of rugged single track, a few stretches of scenic boardwalk and onto the finish line on Camp Pine Crests massive dock on the shore of Clear Lake.