3 Stage

3 Stage is the prime mountain biking spot in the Collingwood area. I would venture to say that it ranks right up there with other top rated mountain bike areas in North America. It has everything from fast twisty turny single track to rocky difficult technical sections to long lung busting climbs, sometimes all on the same trail.
When I first started riding here 3 Stage was nothing more than a double track road and a few trails going through it. Then about 12 -13 years ago my friends (Cam, Lori, Terry, Steve) and I set out to make our first trail there. When we were done it was a little soft but within 2 weeks enough riders had seen it, ridden it and enjoyed it to pack it down and to this day it is still a fun trail. We made several more trails over the years with my favourite being what is now called the Millennium trail made in 2000. It's fast with some tough technical sections placed in there to keep you on your toes. Terry made the best technical trail in 3 Stage which starts by the yellow posts. I think it's called Terry's Techy now and believe me, if you can ride through it in either direction without a foot or hand dab you have done very well indeed.
Since our trail building days many more trails have been made so that you could ride in there for several hours without riding the same trail twice. The more recently built trails tend to be rockier and more technical because of advances in bike technology. Full suspension bikes with 5 inches of travel are not unusual now so what was a tough section to us on our old hard tails with 2 inch travel forks is now a piece of cake on a newer bike. I used to thread my way through technical sections but the new riding method is to simply go over them. It's not better or worse, just different.
Regardless of the type of bike you have one thing that will never change is 3 Stage is a great place to ride.