Snow Adventure.
The 156-kilometre Hastings Heritage Trail and the 450-kilometre Central Ontario Loop Trail both pass through Bancroft, making it one of the busier OFSC snowmobile hubs in central Ontario. The Heritage Trail runs the abandoned Central Ontario Railway corridor from Glen Ross north to Lake St.
Peter Provincial Park; the Loop Trail circles five counties — Hastings, Haliburton, City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, and Northumberland — anchored on Bancroft.
The brief.
Both corridors operate four seasons but the snowmobile identity is the headline — the Hastings Heritage Trail is groomed to OFSC standards by the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance and local member clubs (the Maple Leaf Snow Skimmers groom the Bancroft district). OFSC permits are required and are not sold at the Town of Bancroft office — purchase through OFSC or EOTA.
The 450 km Central Ontario Loop Trail carries snowmobile and ATV traffic and is groomed across the same corridor in winter. The standard snowmobile window is mid-December through mid-March, dependent on lake-effect snowfall and groomed-trail status.
Snowshoeing on the in-town segments of the Heritage Trail and at Eagle's Nest Park is free year-round.
3. places.
- 01
Hastings Heritage Trail
156 km four-season multi-use rail corridor (former Central Ontario Railway), Glen Ross (Quinte West) to Lake St. Peter Provincial Park; primary OFSC snowmobile corridor through Bancroft, managed by the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance.
- 02
Central Ontario Loop Trail
450 km year-round multi-county circuit through Hastings, Haliburton, City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, and Northumberland; Bancroft is on the corridor.
- 03
Maple Leaf Snow Skimmers (local OFSC member club)
Grooms the Bancroft district trails as part of the Heritage Trail and Loop networks.
Today's read.
Temperature (4.5°C) above the typical range and outside the typical season window.
By the book.
- 01Snowmobile and ATV use on the Hastings Heritage Trail and Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance corridors require an OFSC/MTO permit; passes are sold by EOTA and OFSC, not at the Town of Bancroft office.Source ↗
- 02Hiking, walking, and jogging on the Hastings Heritage Trail are free; the corridor is non-motorized-friendly outside the snowmobile and ATV permit context.Source ↗
- 03OFSC trail status, grooming, and permits are managed centrally by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.Source ↗