Checking out the Mountain Bike Trails at Doumont near Nanaimo, BC

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

We usually mountain bike at the mega trail system at Cumberland but it is also good to see other places and see what their trails have to offer. On a recent trip to drop our granddaughter off at the ferry in Nanaimo we decided to check out the trails at Doumont for 90 minutes or so before heading back to Courtenay. Since we had not ridden these trails and trailforks reports that there are dozens of trails there we wanted to check out the “best” trails right away. So when we googled “Best Mountain Bike Trails at Doumont” up came Lower Fine China, Upper Fine China and Finer China – ranked 1, 2 and 3 as ranked by Trailforks. For those that aren’t familiar with this aspect of the trailforks app it is a handy way to see what the most best/most popular trails in a new area are. So using that info we headed for the parking area that would give us good access to Upper and Lower Fine China since they were ranked as blue trails and Finer China as a black trail. 

                              Keith at the top of Upper Fine China -- Liked this trail so much I did it 3 times 

And we were not disappointed ..Upper Fine China feeds naturally into Lower Fine China and I am not sure if I have been on a more flowy trail with nice berms that follows a twistly course down the mountain. Obviously much work has gone into this trail and we congratulate the trail builders. I wish we had a similar trail at Cumberland that was also just as accessible as this one. Cumberland does have some flowy trails but they seem to be high up in the trail system where as this one appealed to families and other newer riders since it was right next to the access road. In fact I saw several groups yo yoing this trail so I know it gets lots of use. I decided to try another trail that parallels Fine China called Styx and it was also rated as a blue trail. It is certainly more technical with many roots and rocks to deal with and short steep uphills in sections and I found that part way along when it came close to Fine China I left it to get back on Fine China.   So if you are visiting the Nanaimo area and want a bike on an easy flowy trail then Fine China at the Doumont trail system should be checked out. For more info on Trailforks see: https://www.trailforks.com/