Mountain Biking in South March Highlands

Entrance to south march highlands conservation forest

The south march highlands or SMH for short is a great mountain bike/hiking trail located in Kanata, ON.  The trails are maintained by the Ottawa mountain biking association or OMBA for short.  A map of the trails can be found here. The first time I saw these bike paths on Google maps, I went to explore on a road bike.  Unfortunately, as soon as you go a few hundred metres in, the terrain becomes strictly mountain biking only.

Rocky Descent along PWT

The next time I came back to SMH, I had borrowed a friend's mountain bike and was ready to tackle any terrain.  Coming from Toronto, I really did not have that much off road experience.  However, I was able to jump a bike and did not consider myself a complete beginner.  To my surprise the PWT trail that is rated as intermediate and runs for about 8.6km had several difficult obstacles that I could not get through on my first try.

Log along path

Deer drop along PWT

Very difficult section along PWT

Toward the end of the season I tried the outback trail which was ~13.6km and rated much harder than PWT.  It was no surprise that I was walking most of it, but it did provide a lot of great challenges.  Overall, SMH is a great mountain bike trail that is really well maintained and provides a great challenge for riders of all skill levels.   

Pond along the trail

View along the trail

One of the hardest, rockiest uphills on PWT