Don Valley Mountain Bike Trails

Well-​groomed trails with many challenging features. The trails cater to all skill levels, with expert-​level jumps and ladders to leisurely trails along the don river.
I have been biking these trails for over 10 years now, and can’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
Thank you to everyone involved in the development and maintenance of these trails.

I live a couple blocks down from this set of trails and bike or run it at least a couple times a week. It really is a blessing in a bustling city. Unlike High Park, you can’t hear honking, traffic or ambulance sirens once you’re inside — what a relief!
The only annoying thing is access. I would recommend googling access points either on Google Maps (surprisingly helpful on the iPhone) or the Ontario Gov websites. You can see the set of trails from pretty much anywhere but can’t reach them from most streets.
I would not suggest taking a commuter bike on here (though I often do) and definitely not a fixie (you will hate your life). There are some paved regions but it’s mostly a lot of gravel and dirt. Also, after periods of moderate to severe rain, the lower don river trails will be flooded. You can wade through or take the bridges on the upper don trails.
Bonus points: often less busy than the Martin Goodman Trail. And provides a more «rugged» outdoor experience — as best as you can expect in a Metropolitan area.

Gets bonus points for being close to downtown. It can be really busy in the weekends and afternoons, but if you go before work in the morning you can have the whole trail system to yourself.
The trails can be really challenging especially for new riders. Although I haven’t tried it before, I think they do group rides on Tuesday evenings in the summer.
My favourite trail is catalyst. It can be a bit tricky to find the first time you go. You have to go through the «ridge» (which is the first trail) which ends in a parking lot. You have to head down the road and make a left onto a trail when you get close to the creek (I think it is taylor creek, but not sure). Follow that trail until you get to a switch-​back and then head back east when you get to the top of the switchback (head away from the footbridge).
Please wear a helmet if you are going. As I said, these trails can be tricky, and I have hurt myself a couple of times with bad bails. Things could have been really bad if I wasn’t wearing a helmet.