We are pleased to announce a landmark agreement between The City of Maple Ridge, the local equestrian community, and the FVMBA. Through rigorous public consultation and on-going collaboration with representatives from the local equestrian association, positive changes have been made regarding trail use at Thornhill. These three organizations have agreed on the following list of trails that will be considered “Mountain Bike Primary”. These mountain bike primary trails are designated light blue on the map below. Most of these trails did not exist before 2008 and were built by mountain bikers for the specific use of mountain biking and will now be officially recognized for this purpose.

This agreement means approximately 8 km of trails are designated specifically for mountain bike use.

We have also agreed on a new trail alignment which will help identify which user groups can use certain trails. The trail formerly known as Ridgeline will now be called Larry Bremnar and there is a new trail to access Rip n Dip. This trail incorporated the old Moto Loop and will now be called Blue Suede Shoes. This change to Larry Bremnar, in conjunction with the equestrian community building a new trail of their own named Sherman Olson, will give equestrians an outer loop that will help minimize horse and bike interactions. We have also agreed that the following trails will be considered “Horse Primary”. We recommend cyclists please avoid these trails and if they find themselves on these trails they should dismount to allow horses to pass. These Horse Primary trails are indicated as orange on the map.

These changes mean that in addition to the 11km of trails the equestrian community can currently access, they will have 3km dedicated as Horse Primary usage.

As part of this negotiation, an area will be designated as off limits to bicycle traffic and will give hikers routes where they will not be affected by bicycle traffic. As seen on the map in red, these trails are east of Thornstar.

Designating over 5.5 km of trails means hikers will have cycle-free trails. Hikers are the group least affected by this new trail alignment. Not only will they have access to this area, but they will have access to the entire trail network, although caution is highly recommended while using the Mountain Bike Primary trails.

Green trails on the map are considered multi-use. Look for new trail signage coming spring 2023 that will reflect what the map says.

A pdf version of the Thornhill Trails map is available from the City of Maple Ridge.

The FVMBA  would like to thank the city of Maple Ridge, the Haney Horsemen, the Horse Council of BC, and everyone involved for their cooperation and support throughout this process.