Here is a short 12 km rail trail that would make a great day trip for the family or with your spouse right into Collingwood, one of Ontario’s top tourist destinations.
The Clearview Collingwood Train Trail runs southeast to the town of Stayner and is officially a little farther if you want to do the entire length. Actually, in the future it may even go beyond—potentially to Angus one day?? As always, it will take time and money.
For anyone coming up from the big city, Station Park in Stayner is a good launch point for your group to head into Collingwood on bicycles. It’s a short, easy ride into town with views of farms, equestrian activity on harness racing ovals, and the smell of lilac stands in the spring.
It’s a straight-as-an-arrow route with only one bend in it, because this is the cheapest and fastest means to get a train from A to B. Last time
I checked the rusty rails are still there and RT runs beside the abandoned tracks till Poplar Sideroad. Odd, since most of the time rails are removed in haste; perhaps future consideration?
As you enter town, this fine gravel path becomes shady with trees lining the route. This tree canopy will continue until you reach the end at the station museum near the harbour.
To make it a little bit more interesting, I’ve added a 4.5 km side loop to…
Read the rest of this review and 59 others in my NEW book, Volume 2 of Best Bicycle Park & Rail Trails in Ontario.
