The Ghost Public Land Use Zone (PLUZ) is an area of wild foothills with no paved roads and located 30km northwest of Cochrane.
I developed this route from an earlier ride I undertook in 2024 in the Ghost. By mid-October, when I got to ride this second route, the Fall leaves were past their best as the first overnight frosts had already crept down from the Rockies. Interestingly, when I observed the high mountains during the ride I noticed there was still no new snow on the tops. Long-time residents later told me they could never recall the mountains remaining bare of snow that late in the year.
I felt constrained in the extra clothing and subdued by the poor weather so this probably impacted my speed on the gentle climb along bench farmland above the Ghost River, through Waiparous Village and up to the southern entrance to the South Ghost Provincial Recreation Area. A number of pickups had overtaken me on the approach and one of these was parked up with two ATVs being unloaded. Further north I would gear gun-fire so I assumed it was the hunting season that had attracted these visitors to the area.
With the sun gradually burning off the cloud and mist, I took off the fleece layer and packed it down in the small pouch on my 2-litre hydro backpack. The air temperature was still cool enough for me to keep on wearing winter gloves as I made my way up the gravel road.
During my summer ride there the surface had been hardpacked, fast dirt but, this time, I faced new loose river gravel. Most of the time I could ride the narrow margin on the right side of the road where the new gravel hadn’t been strewn far enough to cover the hard pack. In places, though, riding on the new stuff was unavoidable so I was glad of my 45mm tires. I am not sure what stone grading process the road menders had used because I came across one rock the size and shape of a small rugby ball.
“Black Rock Mountain is a great landmark for much of the ride along the unpaved section of Highway 40”
The loose and rough gravel made the going much more strenuous than I recalled from my previous ride over this stretch of road, even though I had a more capable bike this time around. It served to remind me that gravel roads are much less predictable than paved surfaces. Meanwhile, the sun rose further and had more strength to it as I powered north with fine views of the Rockies and, in particular, the prominent stub of Black Rock Mountain
Sitting a couple of kilometres nearer the foothills than the rest of the front range, Black Rock Mountain is a great landmark for much of the ride along the unpaved section of Highway 40. An even better vista of the Waiparous Valley leading west towards the Rockies is afforded from the viewpoint just past the primitive Ghost Airstrip.
As I made my way further east, I passed other gas installations and realized I was riding along a gas pipeline service road. However, after 5km this road was barred by yellow gate and access beyond was only permitted for ATVs provided they followed the gas pipeline itself that ran roughly parallel to the gravel road but in much straighter segments. I only learned this later after studying the PLUZ access map for that specific connector that indicated: “OHV Along Pipeline Only”, OHV being Off-Highway Vehicles including Quadbikes, Side-by-side ATVs, trail bikes and snowmobiles. Interestingly, bicycles were not listed but had been permitted on the previous gravel roads because these “highways” were for licensed vehicles only and unlicensed OHVs were prohibited.
Whatever my status on the road or pipeline trail, I made my way cautiously east for 4km to a much larger gas installation where a gravel road that was open to road vehicles came in from the north. The road I was on amalgamated with that road and continued East as Stud Creek Road. This road was flanked by thin coniferous woodland for another 4km where, at an intersection I bore right and found myself alongside an open area of marshland with a creek running through it some fifty metres from the road.
“Whatever my status on the road or pipeline trail, I made my way cautiously east for 4km to a much larger gas installation where a gravel road that was open to road vehicles came in from the north.”
There were still a couple more lines of low hills before these foothills transitioned to the western prairie but the road weaved through gaps so the ups and downs were mitigated a little. Eventually, I reached the edge of the Ghost PLUZ right next to the Burnt Timber Gas Plant, the biggest installation on the section of the pipeline I had ridden, some 15km from the Highway 40 turnoff. At the gas plant, I found a few kilometres of paved access road which gave temporary a relief to my pedalling muscles.
At Water Valley, I opted not to call in at the hardware store for a coffee as I had done twice previously, conscious that I was heading for a 4pm finish and mindful that I needed to be back in Calgary by 5pm. South of Water Valley, I finally found a place to stop for five minutes to eat my cheese sandwich I had been saving for a suitable halt. Looking along the road stretching out ahead of me, I was aware there were still three more hills to conquer. Instead of staying on asphalt my route south returned me back to cycling on gravel, past the Winchell Lake Recreation Area that was set in an idyllic valley full of golden autumn colour.
When I looked at the computer analysis later I noticed two particular aspects of the ride that may have explained why it had been so demanding. Firstly, there was the temperature variation from 0⁰C at the start to 18⁰C near the end. And then there was the ride profile which looked like a rip saw blade and accounted for my fluctuating speed and low overall average speed. There were no flat sections and only one steady climb that came in the first 15km. Was it satisfying though? Yes definitely worth riding again next year.
