Crumpit Woods/Valleycliffe – Squamish, BC – Mountain Bike Route
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Style of Riding: XC and All Mountain/Enduro
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Distance: 9km
Elevation Gain: 390 meters
Trailhead: Click here for Google Maps Link Westway and Cherry Drive, Squamish, BC
Description: This is a great loop to do if you only have 1 to 2 hours. The trails in Valleycliffe are really different than the rest of Squamish; all hand built and with loads of short steep climbs. The descent down Meet Yer Maker is incredibly fun and quite technical in a couple of spots, but an experienced Intermediate rider will still be happy, despite possibly dismounting for one or two challenging rock features. Advanced riders will love this loop as the ups are physically hard, (but interesting) and the descents are thrilling especially if you are looking for extra speed.
About the area: The Valleycliffe trails (or Crumpit Woods, as they are often called) are generally under-ridden. Located on the south side of Squamish, these trails are the closest in town to Vancouver. The area is punctuated by steep short climbs and steep short, very fun and generally challenging descents. Some of the best technical granite rock riding in Squamish can be found here, but it can be really confusing to find your way around so you might not have much luck finding the slabs without a local. The well known Test of Metal cross-country mountain bike race also finishes by using some of the more well ridden and easier trails of this part of town.
The area is also used by trials motorcycles such that some of the trails have some amazing steep challenges for those who are looking to ride some fantastic rock faces and unique lines on the famous Squamish granite.
One of the best things about this area is the fact that most of the trees are deciduous. This makes it one of the brightest places to ride in the winter months as many of the trees will have shed their leaves. It’s also a good spot to ride if you’re looking for a shorter ride, as it’s a small area compared to the rest of Squamish. That said, route finding can be a challenge in here so rides might take longer than you planned. All in all, Valleycliffe is really worth riding if you’re in town for a longer period and if you’re looking to ride some trails that are quite different than the rest of Squamish.
Smoke Bluffs/Valleycliffe – Intermediate/Advance Loop 1 – 2+ hours – RideSpots.com on Trailforks.com
ValleyCliffe/Smoke Bluffs 1 to 2 hour XC/All-mountain Loop
Turn by Turn directions:
Intermediate/Advanced: 1-2 hours
Key Trails – Far Side climb, Further Side climb and descent, Sweeter the Barry climb, Meet Your Maker descent, The Graduate xc trail, Three Virgins climb, Seven Stitches xc trail, (bonus Cougar Ridge hike up/descend down double black trail), My Trail descent.
Park – Raven’s Plateau at the end of Westway at Cherry Rd.
– Enter trail head, ride 30 meters, turn right at fire road (stay left on this gravel road at the Y), then left again onto the larger forest service road.
– At the gate stay left, wiggle through concrete block gate and do the short climb up to the Farside Trail and veer left after about 5-10 mins onto the Furtherside Trail
– climb Furtherside all the way to top, crest top and stay on trail (don’t take any of the trails off to the left) and stay right after the high point – just follow the main well ridden trail.
– Descend down to S&M connector, cross this trail and climb up for about 30 meters then hang a right onto Hairy Barry, then after a few minutes hang a left onto Sweeter the Berry
– You will do a challenging climb up many switchbacks and end up at a high point with some options (again just stay on the main trail and do not deviate from the most worn-in trail) after climbing about 7ish hard switchbacks.
– Keep going straight and the trail flattens out a bit and goes through a sort of boggy area and over a large fallen log. After the log the trails starts to descend…. You are now on Meet Your Maker, one of Squamish’s super fun yet very under utilized trails. Enjoy challenging single track that is full of flow and has a couple cool rock features. Once you learn the lines on this trail it becomes a joy to ride.
– At the bottom hang a right onto the Graduate
– Climb up Three Virgins right to a steep old fire road, a short climb up the fire road and you are at a high point that has great views of the Valleycliffe riding area as well as the surrounding hills and mountains.
– From here you hang a left into Pipetrail, followed by an immediate left after about 10 feet onto Seven Stitches, ride this whole trail and you will come out on the back side of the Crumpit Woods development. If you are feeling keen a this point, you can hike up Cougar Ridge and try riding down some of the craziest rock faces in Squamish, or you can keep it mellow and just turn left and cruise down My Trail.
– Turn right at the bottom onto Endo, followed by another left onto 31 seconds which drops you out onto a fire road, turn right on this fire road followed by a quick right onto the same little trail that you started your ride on… you are now back at your car.
Nice work, you just did a very uncommon and quite local ride in the Smoke Bluff trails.
There are loads of other amazing variations to ride in this area, but this loop will give a you a sense of the area and also a rideable loop so you don’t waste your time getting too lost in this spaghetti mess of trails.
