DESTINATION CASE STUDY / THUNDER BAY

Trails worth
travelling for.

PHOTOGRAPHY, STORIES & SOCIAL
THUNDER BAY / ONTARIO

A growing trail network. A community race.
A destination with more to explore beyond the bike.

Riders taking different lines through the mountain bike skills park in Thunder Bay

PARTNERS

Tourism Thunder Bay
Blacksheep Mountain Bike Club

PROJECT

Paid, fully hosted
destination campaign

VISIT

September 2023
Thunder Bay & Orient Bay, Ontario

MY WORK

Photography, writing
& social coverage

THE BRIEF

A reason to visit.
A story to bring home.

The brief was to show what new trail investment had brought to Trowbridge Forest and capture the energy of the Shuniah Forty Miner mountain bike race.

The paid collaboration brought together Tourism Thunder Bay and Blacksheep Mountain Bike Club. Tourism hosted the trip and the club funded the photography fee. I photographed the trails, riders and race, delivered image galleries, and shared the experience in real time.

The destination story went beyond riding. Coffee shops, local restaurants and the waterfront Delta helped connect outdoor adventure with time in the city. Climbing at Orient Bay added another perspective on the same visit.

01 / TROWBRIDGE FOREST

Follow the trail.

A mountain biker riding through a rocky passage surrounded by green foliage

Mountain bikers following a broad forest turn, seen from above

Riders following winding singletrack through the forest

A rider navigating a rocky section of forest trail

Sunlight behind a rider descending a rocky trail

A rider approaching a narrow boardwalk through the forest

A mountain biker crossing a wooden boardwalk

A rider moving through tall grass beside the forest

A rider taking a small jump on a forest trail

Cyclists crossing a bridge above the river in Thunder Bay

02 / THE BIKE PARK

Room to play.

A rider airborne above the mountain bike skills park

Two riders moving through the mountain bike jump line

A rider extending the bike sideways over a jump

03 / SHUNIAH FORTY MINER

A community
on the start line.

A crowd of riders beneath the Forty Miner start banner

Competitors at the front of the Shuniah Forty Miner start

Competitors riding forest singletrack during the Shuniah Forty Miner

A rider in a red jersey turning through the forest during the Shuniah Forty Miner

04 / EDITORIAL COVERAGE

Two sports.
Two published stories.

The visit led to a Canadian Cycling destination feature and photography in Gripped’s Orient Bay climbing feature. The original magazine pages show the work as it appeared in print.

CANADIAN CYCLING / FEATURE

Thunder Bay’s Mountain Biking Haven

February & March 2024 · Pages 14 to 17

Story and photography by Tim Banfield.

Read the tearsheet View the magazine article · Member access may apply

GRIPPED / FEATURE

The Shield

April & May 2024 · Volume 26, Issue 2 · Pages 12 to 15

A Three-Pitch Ontario Crag One Minute From the Car. Photography by Tim Banfield. Text credited to Gripped.

Read the tearsheet

05 / DESTINATION CAMPAIGN USE

Working beyond
the original visit.

Tourism Thunder Bay used the photographs in its digital advertising and added images to its digital library. These are four finished Visit Thunder Bay advertisements supplied by the tourism team in July 2024.