Corridor Du Nord
By: John Arkwright
Mention the James Bay Frontier to an avid snowmobiler and they’ll just smile at you… won’t talk much, just smile.
Once they do open up, they’ll tell you about the Gold Rush Tour, the Abitibi Canyons and the incredible ride up to Moosonee on James Bay.
But most likely they’ll tell you about riding the trails in the Corridor Du Nord. Here you’ll experience some of the deepest snow and the smoothest, best groomed trails anywhere.
The clubs in the James Bay Region groom 3000 miles (5000 kms) of trails and that, my friends, is one sizeable piece of real estate!
The Corridor Du Nord runs across the top of the region from Cochrane, west to Hearst and, on this route, Ontario TOP Trail A alone is over 200 miles long.
Much has changed since my first visit in 1997 when there were very few club trails in the system. Ten years later there are hundreds of miles of excellent club trails to ride.
Other than a few frozen crossings over rivers, the highest percentage of trails are on big, wide logging roads and hydro lines.
Besides great trails, the James Bay Frontier has some very unique attractions. In Kirkland Lake there’s the Hockey Heritage North Museum, the city of Timmins has the Shania Twain Center and also the Cedar Meadows Wildlife Park where you get up close and personal with Moose, Buffalo, Elk and Deer.
My favorite is the Polar Bear Habitat and Heritage Village and snowmobile museum in Cochrane. The Polar Bears are absolutely amazing to watch and the Heritage Village and snowmobile museum is an incredible experience.
In a nutshell this part of the James Bay Frontier has so much to offer snowmobile tourists, I guarantee when your sleds are loaded up and you’re heading back home, you’ll be planning your return visit.
For information on the James Bay region and the Corridor Du Nord call 1-800-ONTARIO and visit www.ontariotravel.net/goride
