Why you should plan a trip to Ontario’s Bruce Trail

If you’re a trail runner in southern Ontario, you’ve almost certainly encountered the white and blue blazes that signify you’re on a part of the Bruce Trail, the 900-km trail that begins at the Niagara River and runs along the Niagara Escarpment all the way to Tobermory, at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. Along the way, an additional 450 km of side trail—with more added almost every year—makes it the perfect bucket-list challenge.

Because the trail is broken into nine distinct sections, setting a goal to run one section every year (or even doing some of the shorter sections in a single day, or a weekend) is reasonable. And if you’re looking for a section to put on the calendar for 2025, I highly recommend planning a weekend or two in the pieces of trail that are south of Collingwood, Ont.

The Three Stage section and the singletrack that leads up to the new section that skirts the Highlands Nordic Centre are well worth the trip, especially if you’re craving technical climbs and descents. The terrain is as rocky and rooted as it gets in Ontario, and the 40 or so kilometres from the start of the Three Stage area to the end of the Devil’s Glen segment are some of the trickiest singletrack in Canada.

The new section—a few kilometres around Highlands Nordic—can be marshy, and it’s still being “broken in” (meaning it can be perilous running through the high grass and spiky raspberry cane). But it does allow trail users to skip passing through the ski centre.

Much of the trail-running excitement happens over in the Blue Mountains section. It’s slightly less rugged, but the Summit 700 race held at Blue Mountain Resort in July ventures onto the trail, and in October 2025, it will also be the site of the Blue Bully Ultra stage race put on by the Sinister Sports team.

That area tends to be the most heavily trafficked, thanks to the ease of access from the top of the resort. But a few kilometres further south is where the most technical sections begin. Park at the base of Pretty River Road (in the snowmobile parking lot), then head up Pretty River Road to connect to the Bruce Trail. Turn right, and you’ll start the climb up to the top of Three Stage; expect to hike some of the steeper sections, but it’s otherwise largely runnable. From that lot to the parking lot at Petun is almost a perfect 10 km, so it’s a great one to do with a friend, dropping a car at one end and starting at the other, or doing a 20 km out-and-back, or taking one of the many sidetrails and making it a longer adventure.

If you want to get messier, turn left instead and make your way up to the Nottawasaga Bluffs, climbing up to Singhampton, where you shouldn’t skip the Keyhole side trail—one of the coolest, weirdest and most technical sections of the entire trail. From there, you’ll eventually make it to the newest section and into Devil’s Glen, where, after the first gnarly climb, it finally gets a little easier. From the snowmobile parking lot to the Bruce Trail Parking lot at the other end of Devil’s Glen, it’s a solid 13 km (and not an easy 13 km, so bring plenty of snacks).

Dufferin Hi-Land and Blue Mountains sections

Travel: The Toronto Bruce Trail Club offers occasional bus trips to these areas, or plan a weekend trip to the Blue Mountain Resort or Collingwood.
Information: brucetrail.org
Races: Summit 700 in July and the Blue Bully Ultra stage race in October

Molly Hurford is a fitness and nutrition writer, ultrarunner, author and founder of Strong Girl Publishing. She lives and trains in Collingwood, Ont.