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Bromont or Mont Sainte Anne?

5K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  tammie 
#1 ·
My boyfriend and I are planning a 5 day mountain bike trip to Quebec we are from Southern Ontario. We are looking to do 2 to 3 days of cross country and 1 day of DH(renting bikes). Maybe a 1/2 day of some site seeing/hiking if there is interesting stuff in the area. We are planning on camping for our accomodations, which is the better place to go? we are advanced riders who have most fun on technical single track and scenic trails. Looks like bromont has the better DH how are the XC trails there does'nt look like as much as st. anne on the maps? Just want the more all around better place to make a mini vacation out of it. I like that mont sainte anne has the campsite right there. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. We were thinking even maybe trying to fit both places in like go out to st. anne, do a couple days of the XC then hit bromont for the last day of DH on the way back. just trying to get it all figured out want to make the best of the 5 days.
 
#2 ·
To my taste, Bromont is definitely the spot for biking but St-Anne is probably the better place for a one stop shop and also for "vacation" type activities.

For the DH day, Bromont has the edge for sure, at least to my taste. Even though St-Anne is better known for it's biking competitions, Bromont has way more variety and fun stuff as far as DH is concerned. For technical singletrack though, you could spend a day in Bromont but it's not the greatest. The best would be to go to Coaticook (about 40 minutes from Bromont) and also to KingdomTrails (about 1h from Bromont). Those two spots are awesome for singletrack riding, Coaticook is really fun but not for beginners and KingdomTrails will appeal to all types of riders. There are campgrounds at each of those places.

If you go to St-Anne, then it's nice to visit the old part of Quebec city, the scenery from the top of St-Anne is superb, you could even go see the whales a few hours further then St-Anne. The DH is also fun at St-Anne, specially if you go just for a day but I have a preference for Bromont. For singletrack riding in St-Anne, well it's not the type of trails I like very much. I guess it's ok, the scenery is quite nice but I don't find the trails that much fun and there is a lot of double track type which I don't enjoy very much.

Bottom line I don't think you would be disappointed by either of those two. I you don't want to drive at all then I guess St-Anne might be better since you could park the car at the parks campground and then ride both DH and XC right there. If you are looking for the best you can get in terms of biking, then I think I would combine Bromont with Coaticook and Kingdom Trails.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
#3 ·
Thanx for the info definately helps out.

One more question do both places have a bike shop where you buy parts and such, just incase of break down? I know there is rental shops but someone told me last time there were at anne there was no bike shop?? she was there along time ago.

sounds like anne is the more all around spot but i don't want to be dissapointed on the xc since that is what most of the trip is ive read a few reviews that there is too much double track and fire roads? I think for the DH day we will make it bromont for sure. I have to do the DH day on our last day because my wrist are done after a day of DH(broke both of them in 99) i only have problems with them after a day of DH, then they are fried for the next day which makes XC VERY hard and painful. I have yet to try taping them so I am going to do that for this trip.
 
#4 ·
There is a bike shop at Sainte-Anne, there was one last time I went anyway.

I agree with Banzai on most things. Bromont is good for DH but not for XC, especially if you want to do more than a day of XC. Not sure about camping near Bromont, it's close enough to me not to need it.

Sainte-Anne is a bit better for XC riding, not the best but compared to Bromont, it's a bit better. There is a camp ground that you can start from to access the trails so you don't have to drive to the trails.

Coaticook is a good place for a day, flowy, twisty up-and-down trails that are very fun to ride, not enough trails for two days though so combining it with other places is not a bad idea if you don't mind doing some driving. Kingdom Trails is a great place and has enough XC trails for more than a day, it's in Vermont, in East Burke if you want to see how far it is on Google map or something. There are a few campings in the area, one right on the mountain close to some of the trails. It's not up to par with Bromont and Sainte-Anne for DH but a whole lot better for XC.

It could be good to do a day in Coaticook, head straight to Burke after that, camp there and ride two days there and stop at Bromont on the way back for the DH.
 
#5 ·
Ok, if you want to be bored out of your mind after just a day, head to Mont-Saint-Anne! Honestly, the XC there is pretty boring... the whole system is base around XC-SKIING so all trails are wide enough to be groomed... And like most XC-skiing trails, they don't care for what's under the snow... so what's on the ground lacks both flow and fun!

If i had to come from Ontario and planned for 5 days of GREAT riding, i would mix the following:

DAY 1 :: Drive all the way to Coaticook and ride there in the afternoon. Coaticook had a major overhaul in 2006 with the IMBA TCC visit. 2 Weekends ago, we did it all again... Look for 18km of singletrack with new rock features, more sidehill trails and definately fun! They have camping right on site and local bike shop (and creator of the trail system): Le Foyer du Sport

All the info is here: http://www.allezy.net/rep_sentiers/sentier.php?ID=1

DAY 2 :: Drive south for about an hour to Kingdom Trails in Vermont. This is by far the best trail system in all the Northeast. Everything is sidehill... Lots of pine needles trails... Really scenic... Simply awsome... plus, the town is all about mountain biking in summer... and home of Trout River Brewery! There is a bike shop in town: East Burke Sports and camping right at the mountain... but i would rather enjoy the view that Lake Willoughby Campground as to offer.

Info: http://www.allezy.net/rep_sentiers/sentier.php?ID=2

DAY 3 :: Montgomery CTR, VT - Probably the best unknown spot in the northeast! It's 45-60min from East Burke. Ok, it's right in my backyard... but i just love the trails there... Lots of climbing involved... but lots of flow... 3 major loops... Oberland, Race Course and Outback and the Connector between Oberland and Race Course. With the building w-e in June, we're adding a trail right from the shop to Race course so now everything can be linked together. Drop by First Trax and ask Don for all the inside info. You're looking at 26km of singletrack on Montgomery's side of the mountain. After the day. drive back North heading towards Bromont. It's about an hour drive also.

DAY 4 :: Bromont XC - There is more then enough to ride in one day at Bromont. Don't expect high quality singletrack because of all the races that went on through the years but you'll have a blast.

http://www.allezy.net/rep_sentiers/sentier.php?ID=30

DAY 5 :: Bromont DH - No need to mention that Bromont is the premier place for DH in Quebec.... Really amazing stuff. Rent a bike and enjoy all the vertical and all the acres of terrain available for your biking pleasure!

Search our ride reports forum for all the various spots mentionned above: www.ClubVeloEpic.org
Reports might be in french... but you'll see lots of pictures and movies.

Hope this helps!
 
#10 ·
tammie said:
Thanks guys!!! looks like probably wont go to st. anne. it is 3 hours further than bromont for us and sounds like we can get much better riding closer.

I will look into these vermont places..........

THANX
Where do you ride in Ontario? You have very nice spots North of Toronto. I've been to BlueMountain two times and stopped at a few spots like HardwoodHills. You can expect Bromont to be a mountain similar to BlueMountain but a bit higher with more rocky/rooty trails. KingdomTrails is like a very big HardwoodHills, the trails are a bit less tight but a bit more technical. There is also a small mountain there with a shuttle for freeriding. Coaticook is quite a bit more technical then KingdomTrails, lot's of short killer uphill with a some roots or a rocks to have you spin on and loose your momentum! ;) For a one time trip if weather is nice you will certainly have fun. If it has been raining for a few days make sure you check the trail report, specially KingdomTrails where they sometimes close the trails.

http://www.kingdomtrails.org/

By the way, in case you didn't know, Bromont also has a major water slide park, can be fun after your DH day to have a dip!

Hope you like your vacation.
 
#11 ·
Hi there, well im from southern ontario so for places within an hour we ususally ride Hydrocut(waterloo), Kelso(milton), waterdown trails, hilton falls(milton), shorthills in st. catherines, for a bit further we've gone to brant tract and bruce mtn bike park up in wiarton.
we also like Albion Hills in Bolton, Hardwood Hills, 3 stage in blue mountain and of course the DH trails in blue mtn. This year im looking to check out buckwallow andporcupine ridge never been there..........also like durham forest, and ravenshoe.

ALWAYS trying to find new places thats for sure, hence this trip we have planned.


thanx for everyones help looks like we are going to hit bromont and the trails within 2 hours of theere...........
 
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