There are washrooms at the the trail head (Fort Point), at Valley of the Five Lakes (by the highway) as well as at Wabasso Lake (by the highway). Intermediate bikers will follow Trail 9c, there are trail signs at each trail crossing. When you come to a fairly obvious Y which is the 9 and 9a, you have a choice to make. If you stick to the high trail it is fairly nice and flows above the lakes which give you the view of the crystal blue green water. If you take 9 down to the lake areas, you will have a more challenging ride over a technical section of roots and rocks. If on trail 9a and / or 9b you will come down a hill and see a bridge straight ahead. This will take you out to the highway (washroom) and you can go back to town following the river trails. If you are on 9 you will pop out and that same bridge will be on your right. So it is the meeting of 3 trails essentially. If you choose to keep going on trail 9, you will enjoy the curvy, racing kind of singletrack. Be aware of hikers and other bikers, slow down for them. There is an area on this section that may have a fairly large tree to go around or over, it's worth it to keep going. Wabasso Lake is not far after a small bridge. There are many different ways to go back. Either retrace your path in or head out to the highway and ride in the grassy ditch along the highway. There are other trails as well if you are adventerous!
This great trail has something for everybody. Flow (featuring tourists though) around the lakes themselves, fast and technical trail on the way from Jasper, a brutal climb up Trail #1, and an easy pedal returning to town. Bonus: take trail #12a on the way back to get some awesome technical river riding in.
| ThankYou know I love this trail, when the last time we did it in the winter it took us 6 hours, yet here we go to try it again. This time we did it in the reverse and it took us 4.5 hours. The snow was crunchier and for about 75% of it there had been snowshoe tracks or a set of footprints. We did get some virgin snow and rode part of that. There was a portion over a marsh area that we had to push the fatbikes. That ended up being my favorite part of the day due to the tracks we saw. There were cougar tracks, leaping after a single deer. The tracks told an interesting tale and it was so neat to be able to see that. No sign of either the cougar or the deer once the tracks disappeared into the bush. I imagine the trail could have been done a lot quicker but I am forever pulling out my camera.
| ThankWe really enjoy this ride and have done this in almost every season with regular mtn bikes and fat bikes. There are so many scenic views and some technical stuff.
| Thank