Winter riding on groomed trails is more popular than ever, mostly thanks to MTB areas keeping up the work when the trails are covered in snow. While fat biking is largely dependent on conditions, high quality trail maintenance is a game changer.
The Québec City region is arguably the biggest hub for mountain bike enthusiasts in the province, and most of the time, where there is mountain bike riding, there is also fatbike riding. Most Mountain Bike parks also offer winter riding by grooming their trails to offer the best conditions possible. Here is an overview of our favorite locations for riding this winter in the Québec City region:
Empire 47 (E47)
Arguably the absolute best Mountain Bike trail resort in the province, Empire 47 (E47) is filled with high quality trails for riders of all levels. Empire 47 has the benefit of having employed trail builders (rather than volunteers) which means trail maintenance and construction level is absolutely top notch year round.
With a whopping 42km of trails, park employees are always grooming and patrolling the entire network for the absolute best conditions possible. Sometimes though, the weather simply does not allow for fatbiking. Not a problem, E47 also has a lot of snowshoe foot trails, which means you can still be in the great outdoors after a big snowfall.
Rentals are offered on site and provide bikes, helmets, pedals, lights and more - everything to get you riding as quickly as possible.
Our favorite trails : Belzébrute, Kamasutrail, Végétarienne
Sentiers du Moulin
Sentiers du Moulin is another excellent network of trails, for all types of winter enthusiasts. It offers 35km of pristine fatbiking in the winter, but also 20km of foot trails and 53km of cross-country skiing.
The installations provide rental equipment for all outdoor activities in the park, and even have a restaurant on-site, the Buvette du Moulin, for a warm meal after a cold day.
Check out the Maelstrom sector for great views along your ride, with technical challenges to get there.
Our favorite trails : Raph, Caribou, SuperG
Vallée Bras-du-Nord
This renowned summer destination that is home to the Raid du-bras-du-nord, also provides up to 20km of high quality fatbiking in the winter. With other winter activities to choose from, such as snowshoeing and ski touring, this is a great back country destination for taking in the great outdoors.
While they do not offer rentals on location, their trail quality more than makes up for it with great scenery and views, and even rentable refuges for a weekend-long getaway.
Our favorite trails : Delaney, Grande Évasion, Tartosuc
