Sutton Zephyr – Rail Trail

Length –  11+ km (one way)

98% rail trail path
2% road crossings, detours

Elevation – flat as she goes

Terrain – crushed stone, small gravel, sandy base, puddles

Skill – easy

Maps – none

Traffic – bicycles, hikers, horses, ATV, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, X-country skiers

Facilities – parking in school lot, on street, services in Sutton but not on trail

Highlights – bridges, shaded woodlots, quite 

Trail Fee – free

Phone – none

Website – none

Similar Trails – Oro – Medonte, Victoria South,  N. Simcoe + Tiny – Rail Trail

Local Clubs – Toronto Bicycling Network – TBN

Access – From Toronto drive to the end of the hwy 404. Continue north on hwy 8 which turns east as hwy 8A. Drive to the end of this road into Sutton and turn south on Dalton Rd. past the high school and finding parking across from the start of the Rail trail on 1 Catering Rd. 

History – (I no longer include train history in my free reviews. Only to be found in my published books.)

Close to Toronto, and an easy drive to the Sutton – Zephyr Rail trail, was a perfect quick getaway from the city last weekend. I had seen this 11 km little sliver of a rail trail just south of Lake Simcoe years ago and always wondered if it was worth doing.

I invited some family members from Keswick to join us and we were all pleasantly surprised. Though obscure and not connecting to other trail systems, I would recommend it.

This is a Rail trail with no frills, but the trail base is in fine order. It starts at the bottom of the town of Sutton as a  crushed fine stone wide path. Eventually, about halfway down, it turns into a double track but still maintains a firm gravel/sandy base to cruise along. 

Easy enough to negotiate with a MTB or a gravel/ hybrid bike with medium tires. I saw some maintenance has been done to keep the bushes from growing in.

This little know Rail trail has none of the usual signage designating who can use it so I can not be sure what traffic you may meet on route. I saw large boulders blocking ATV’s but they make there way around anyway and I saw enough snowmobile marks on the bridges to know they travel here in the winter. But because this short line does not connect well with much else there is likely little traffic. On our Sunday ride, I heard no one.

There are three points on this trail that cross the Black River, the first two bridges are there the last is not…

Read the rest of this review and 59 others in my NEW book, Volume 2 of Best Bicycle Park & Rail Trails in Ontario.