Ganaraska Forest Trail is a 28.3 mile loop trail located near Clarington, Ontario, Canada that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
January 16, 2021Beautiful trail. Lots of options for exploration. We went on a perfect winter day, but could be treacherous on a cold/icy day. Would be lovely in the summer. If walking/hiking/snowshoeing, find the Ganaraska Forest centre (instead of following the map here). Be prepared to pay, but today when we went, no one was at the gate house to pay.
January 11, 2021Trail are closed to snowmobilers. Good snow to walk or snowshoe on. it was very peaceful as I was the only on out there. Just near the end I heard a few gunshots. Hunting is not allowed, so I guess they were poachers. I may invest in a hunting best to be safe.
January 10, 2021Amazing!! Quiet!!
January 8, 2021January 8th our first time there , great conditions for skiing and snowshoeing of which we did the latter. 8km snowshoe trail will take about 2.5 hours to do. Trails are well marked. Appears to be an honour system for payment.
November 7, 2020November 4, 2020Amazing
October 30, 2020October 27, 2020Lots of ruts and mud. Better for motorized vehicles and not great for hikers
October 17, 2020So nice! Not too crowded. A bit of hills, but not bad if you’re a beginner hiker.
October 12, 2020Amazing
September 20, 2020It was a good hike, not busy. Stopped in to kill some time. Good for kids and the dog. Just keep an ear out for mountain bikers and horses. The bikers that we came across were respectful. It's a beautiful area. Have to come back and try the larger loops. Bring cash for parking.
September 17, 2020August 21, 2020July 26, 2020Started at Ganaraska Forest Centre with a friend. Self registration for park entrance, $6 per adult as a day pass. No pamphlet maps available, photographed the main trail board and distances at the trail head. Orange, Red and Blue trails mapped. We did the Orange Trail to the start of Loop B and looped back roughly 12K in total with some moderate climbs here and there. beautiful and very quiet , hardly anyone in the orange loop. a little lush and overgrown in parts, do wear long thick pants and talk socks. So many mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies. will definitely re-visit in the fall for the colours and less bugs.
July 22, 2020Great Trail. Lots of options to choose from in regards to length and difficulty.
July 3, 2020June 20, 2020June 13, 2020This recording includes dirt bike and ATV trails.
March 22, 2020Ganaraska is still the best hiking I’ve found around central Ontario. As a previous reviewer noted start at the Ganaraska Forest Center and not where the app points you. https://www.google.ca/search?q=ganaraska+forest+center&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari# In the winter the main trails are for cross country skiing and they are coloured orange, blue and yellow. Orange is hard with 3 optional loops (A, B, and C) while blue is medium and yellow easy. Orange can be anywhere from 10 to 16 kms depending on the loops you choose. Blue is roughly 6.5 kms and yellow about 4kms. All trails are loops so they start and end in the same place. In the fall and summer these are excellent hiking trails. Sand covered for the most part so not too muddy unless it just rained. There are ATV/snowmobile trails that criss cross hiking/skiing but motorized vehicles are not allowed on hiking/skiing trails. Often times if you take the orange trail A or C loop, blue, or yellow, you won’t even encounter them. B loop runs closer to the motorized trails so the noise can be heard at times on that trail. You do have to pay for parking but I believe it’s $5 or a $30-40 season pass depending on activities you want to do. Season pass is definitely worth it! Besides hiking you can horse back ride or mountain bike as well. There is a good mountain bike trail network here that criss crosses the hiking trail. Horses are also allowed and there is a separate horse trailer parking lot just before the forest centre. Dogs are allowed too. Because of the dogs and horses you should watch out for poop but the trail is wide enough that it’s not a problem. There are bugs in the summer because you are in the forest. Honestly I would recommend this trail system to anyone wanting a nice escape. I grew up hiking and skiing these trails so I know kids will love this place too. There is also a tree top trekking facility here if you want to explore zip lines and climbing through the trees.
October 24, 2019Ganaraska East Forest B Loop
October 15, 2019Ah! the billowing clouds of exhaust fumes and the roar of engines as motor dirt bikes and ATVs constantly speed past us. We won’t be hiking here again anytime soon.
September 30, 2019Great trails for off-roading in my Tacoma. Only a few technical sections but still lots if fun and manageable with stock suspension and decent A/T tires.
September 28, 2019Incredible trails, where GPS is necessary to get back out. Ran the B & C loops with an additional extension onto the Millbrook Trail. So beautiful!
August 24, 2019If you use the directions option via the app, it directs you to the portion of the trail that is primarily used by motor vehicles and horses. You can definitely hike it, but you’re better off starting at the Ganaraska Forest Centre vs this spot. It’s at the Forest Centre, you’ll be able to purchase your trail pass. There are also multiple trails to choose from. We were searching for a moderate to hard trail. We asked the person at the Centre which trail would be ideal, she wasn’t much help unfortunately. She suggested one of the trails, which she “heard” was challenging (yellow). It wasn’t. While the drive out was pleasant, there weren’t many interesting things to see/observe on the yellow path.
June 30, 2019I visited the Ganaraska Forest Trail during this weekday and it was my first experience with stock Jeep Wrangler doing basic off-road, watch my complete review here - https://youtu.be/zvib3eiAK6I
