Fatbiking the Goldilocks Loop

Another free weekend, another fatbike ride at West Bragg Creek.  This time out I decided to ride the "Goldilocks Loop" which uses new trails that were built specifically for mountain bikers.

These cozy rock seats offer a great view of the valley west.

The loop uses 3 trails to complete the loop.  Starting at the parking lot the trail heads south and immediately heads straight up the Ranger Summit (South) trail for about 45 minutes of lung busting climbing to the summit, pictured above.  I found the climb to be quite challenging but almost entirely rideable bottom to top.

Once at the top the trails basically heads straight back down along Strange Brew and Boundary Trails. The trail back down was so much fun!  Berms, switchbacks, jumps, and swooping singletrack take you all the way back to the parking lot.  I wish I had brought some eyewear or goggles for the descent though since the cold temperatures werer causing my eyes to sting and water, hardly a bummer but noteworthy for next time out.

Looking west from the summit.

Conditions in West Bragg are great right now.  In fact, for fatbiking, I'd suggest that Mother Nature needs to "get busy" and dump some more snow in the area.  The trails I rode were well boot packed and easy to ride on, in fact, I'd suggest that many of the trails could still be ridden on a regular MTB.

The completed loop.

Once I was back down to the parking lot I ran into Brett and his buddy Chris who were also just finishing up a ride on Bragging Rights and Long Distance.  It's obvious that the West Bragg Creek trails are THE place for great fatbiking close to Calgary - could it be our very own fatbike mecca?

Strava info here - Goldilocks Loop.
(Looks like I placed 17th on the downhill segment, not bad considering I've never ridden that trail before and it was snow covered!)