New Pavement

New Pavement is about as fast of a surface as you’ll find in the area. It’s not a common sight, but you will find a few short (1-2km) segments where the pavement is new or relatively new.

Worn Pavement / Some Cracks

This is the most common paved surface you’ll find in the area. Simply put, most of our pavement in the area is worn but well cared for and in good condition… If your route includes pavement, it’s typically in pretty decent shape with the occasional cracks.

Category 1 Gravel

We’ll just call this South Bruce Champagne Gravel. Depending on when the roads are graded, it’s not unusual to find yourself on some of our epic Cat 1 Gravel segments. This gravel is relatively smooth, fast, and generally free of potholes. In some cases, local gravel roads are treated with dust mitigation, and this generally results in a fast, pavement like surface

Poor Pavement / Chipseal

Chipseal is the most common type of treatment for our more rural pavement roads. Depending on the age of the chipseal and traffic load, some of these roads tend to be quite smooth, but you will see more broken pavement sections. In other cases, you will see much more broken pavement with cracks and potholes. There are only a few instances of poor pavement sections in the area.

Category 2 Gravel

This type of gravel tends to be pretty analogous to freshly graded roads and is fairly common in the area, particularly on the more rural sections of rail trail and early in the season when the roads are being graded.

Category 3 Gravel

A less common surface in the area, Cat 3 gravel tends to be a bit more rough with potholes and larger stones and rocks, and including loose sections that will require reduced speeds. You will find some segments of shared trails and rail trails.

Category 4 Gravel

Category 4 Gravel is rough and typically slow going. Fortunately, there are very few segments like this on the peninsula, let alone in our region. If you’re sticking close to the area, on our routes under 160Km, you’re unlikely to see any Cat 4 Gravel. Trips to Big Bay or north on the Bruce Peninsula may include a few short Cat 4 Segments.