Ompah

The Equipment:
2006 Yamaha Banshee SE
2005 Yamaha Grizzly

The Location:
Ompah

The Hosts:
None.

Skill Level:
Intermediate.

Gas:
Yes, in Ompah.
Next has stop Calabogie.

Food:
Yes, in Ompah. May or may not be open. (bring a lunch or have a big breakfast)

The Trail:

We where met with another beautiful sunny day today so my father and I quickly loaded the bikes and headed off around 8:30. A stop at the Thruway restaurant in Carleton Place for an awesome breakfast had our stomeaches full and ready for a day of riding. We made another stop at Carson's in Perth and picked up our passes - $12.00 each for the day. We continued on our trip up to Omap. Ompah looked like a great destination because of the number of trails that are visible on the Eastern Ontario Trails alliance map - available from http://www.thetrail.ca/ As I have found though, it is very difficult to gain information from anyone on ATV trails. I have a number of theories on this.

After a good trek up to Ompah we stopped to speak with a local resident to find out an ideal launch location as we couldn't find anything on the map. He recommended launching at the map below inbetween Palmerston and Canonto Lake across from the fish hatchery.


View Larger Map

We unloaded the bikes and headed off. Do not take the trail marked "Ungroomed Trail" because it's extremely rough and there are trees fallen over the trail. Instead, stick on Arcol Rd. as it turns into the trail. (The ungroomed trail will take you to Arcol Rd. any way - save the frustration). I had to laugh though as this was my father's first time out in a while and it was quite an introduction. The trail "cleaned" up after this. The trail is very smooth, so much so that it could qualify as a road. Essentially a really nice rolling backroad through endless backcountry featuring massive pine trees, cliffs, lakes and swamps. The trail is very good, with the Banshee having no trouble whatsoever. Shortly after heading out you will come to a small T in the trail. Heading left across the bridge will take you back down into Ompah around Palmerston Lake. Continuing North will take you towards Calabogie. We chose to head North towards the damn at Mountain Chute. Quite by accident we connected with a trail I have ridden quite frequently out of Norcan Lake (Near Calabogie) as I have a friend with some land up that way. At this point of the trail you will reach a "trail triangle" where a small cabin is located up on a hill and there is a board with a map on it - unfortunately it's been torn off in this case, but this is an important junction. If you head North, you'll be going towards Mountain Chute and the big Hydro Damn. Alternativelly, if you hang a right and proceed South, you'll be heading towards Calabogie. I have not taken the route to the right all the way to Calabogie so I'm unable to comment on this portion of the trail. This will hopefully be my next run. The trail becomes rougher up this way, but poses no problem for Banshees or sport bikes. Be very careful as it's temping to open things up along the way - just remember there are other riders and I've seen everything come down this trail. Jeeps, trucks, cars - you name it. This past winter, I ran on a hellish snowmobile trip with some great buddies that wanted to introduce me to some serious sledding this past winter so I had a basic familiarity with the trail system around Ompah.



I'll never forgot how we became very turned around as the trails are poorly marked, do not correspond with the map and some of the signs/maps have been torn down by vandals. Visiting on an ATV in the summer proved no different. If you haven't ridden in this area before try and take note of the paths you choose and if possible, bring a GPS. It is possible to get lost in here. Anyhow, along the way up to Mountain Chute you will find a big sand hill on your left. Yes, this one has been confirmed, unlike the supposed sand hill in Limerick. It's not that big an area so don't get too excited, but it's a highlight of the trip in any case. We made it to the hydro damn, but you can’t get close enough (on the trails any way) to get a good view. So, we turned around and headed back. Gas was a concern for the Banshee at this point. We made it back without running out of fuel, but it was close. If gas had not been an issue, we would have turned right at the T I mentioned above and headed down into Ompah around Palmerston lake. There is a little gas station, convenience store where the trail comes out. It’s a great little spot that has everything – maps, spark plugs, you name it. It’s expensive, but what isn’t.

The trails where slightly dusty as it has’t rained in a little while, but no complaints – bikes not broke, riders not broke, good day.