Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Ontario Trail Counts! Niagara Regional Trail Committee, Trail Education and More!

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Ontario Trails Council - Trail Education - New In-Class Offering
Trailbuilding - March 13-14, 2013
Albion Hills Conservation Authority

Daniel Scott from IMBA writes, "Students will come away with a firm understanding of the fundamentals of trail design for both hard surface and naturally surfaced trails of various user types. A working knowledge of the design process from the planning phase to ground proofing trail alignments will be both discussed and experienced with examples and a field exercise which will include using field measurement equipment and flagging a trail alignment for construction."

Program elements include:

IMBA will provide for a two day workshop educating on the following elements
• Sustainable Trail Design – Making sure it lasts using various techniques:
• 5 Elements of Sustainable Design - Micro trail design - the fundamentals for bench cut
• Bench cut Trail vs. Raised Tread Trail - when is each appropriate
• 13 Steps to Trail Planning - Macro trail design - how one trail fits within a larger system
• Art of Trail Design - User psychology and design theory in the natural landscape
• Trail Closure & Rehabilitation - Mitigating reroutes & closures through design & signage
• Advanced Techniques – Building in challenging locations:
• Wooden Structures - intro to various techniques and how to design for users types
• Rock Armouring - intro to various techniques and how to design for users types
• Technical Trail Features - Designing trail features specific to various user groups
• Turns - Climbing, In sloped & Switchback - which turns is appropriate for who & where?

So watch these newsletters and the trails education page on our website for updates!

To Book - e-mail courses@ontariotrails.ca
Eventbrite : http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4393352636#
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Trail Counts

EVER WONDERED WHO IS USING YOUR TRAIL AND WHEN? LOOKING FOR MORE THAN JUST A STATIC COUNT OF TRAIL ACTIVITY? TELL OTHERS ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS USING YOUR TRAIL, WHAT MAKES YOUR TRAIL A POPULAR DESTINATION...AND MORE!

WE HAVE YOUR ANSWER.

Utilizing smartphone technology trail users can now complete a short survey that:

Logs in the trip
Single counts individual users
Consolidates results for centralized reporting
Consultation on survey content.
We ask your questions - the facility manager asks what they want to know!
Allows for separate trail counting
Multi-season operation
24/7collection
Identifies quality of trail experiences
Provides you feedback loop

Wherever there is a smartphone signal, and YOUR trailhead you could be gathering and collecting additional information that will make for a better trail! Got great trails? Get the feedback that keeps you in the know!

LOW MAINTENANCE

Using weatherproof decals our methods allow users to quickly and easily provide you with information you need to assess, improve, direct, re-direct, or provide information to the user - while on the trail. Our proprietary method has been developed by over 140 trail users and with the input of The City of Thunder Bayand Norfolk County Trail Managers.

LOW COST

$50.00 per trail per year (max 3 trails) includes:

Decal design
Decal Printing - max 6 sheets, various size decals
More decals option (fee charged)
Survey Set-up
Survey reports
All system maintenance
Regional Comparisons
Seasonal variances
Trail differentiations
Use patterns

PACKAGES

OTC Member? - Take $25.00 off each package!

Blue - 4-10 trails: $300.00 plus HST and registration fees
- Maximum 20 sheets of decals
Green - 10-20 trails: $500.00 plus HST and registration fees
- Maximum 40 sheets of decals
Gold - 20 or more trails: Starting at $1,000 plus HST and registration fees
- TBD

We've kept the price low - comparible pairs of static counters, that provide no demographic or qualitative information start at @$750.00 a pair, per trail - at OTC we are maintenance free, so operating cost is never an issue! Get information on your rural trails - save on gas, training, maintenance and get better connected to your customer: THE TRAIL USER!

VARIOUS DECAL SIZES TO MEET YOUR NEEDS!

8 decals per sheet - each decal is @4.5" (W) X 1.12" (T) or 11.43cm (W) X 2.8cm (T)
4 decals per sheet - each decal is @ 6" (W) X 1.75" (T) or 15.24cm (W) X 4.44cm (T)
2 decals per sheet - each decal is @ 9" (W) X 2.25" (T) or 22.86cm (W) x 5.72cm (T)

NETWORKED TRAIL TRAFFIC SERVICE -

Do you have a trail that comes into your area from somewhere else? Is it managed by someone other than you? Ever want to know how much trail traffic was passing through, staying. or going away from your place - on your trail? Trails network and they cross jurisdictions. How much maintenance are you doing for traffic that comes from someone else's trail? We can answer that! Watch this space for our Trillium Trail (C) Decal. It is designed specifically for trail networks!

OTHER FACILITIES?

Do you have a trail that comes into park, runs around the arena or pool and you'd like to know more about cross flow and traffic integration? Ontario Trails can offer this same method to integrate additional feedbak from your other recreation facilities as well - producing for you a comprehensive report on traffic, quality of experience at your arena, pool or tourism destination - giving you a sense of aggregate operation and our 4 F's - "fit, flow, funding and function."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Call Patrick at 877-668-7245
execdir@ontariotrails.ca
*Shipping and handling extra
** Colour print extra

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Our provincial trails conference - Trailhead Ontario

AGM - one member one vote

Trailhead Ontario Website
Trailhead Ontario Registration - Early Bird Ends April 1, 2013

Our Plan for 2013 – "From Recreation to Tourism" There are a lot of new trails and trail tourism partnerships in RTO8. The Ontario Trails “Trailhead Ontario 2013″ Committee is is pleased to announce the Holiday Inn Waterfront Peterborough as the location of our conferencing. Site locations for our trail education program are being determined now.

NATURAL/ HISTORIC SITES

When you’re entering the region from any direction the noticeable feature that differentiates Peterborough from other Cities or Counties in Ontario is the distinct rolling hills. These hills, while beautiful when full with fall foliage, have a unique history behind them. When the last ice age was receding, it left behind large pockets of sediment, which it picked up while proceeding to grow and freeze everything in its path. These pockets of sediment are what create the rolling hill effect you see now. The leftover hills are called Drumlins and Peterborough is home to one of the largest Drumlin fields in Canada. The reason is unknown, however when travelling along the trails or the roads, makes sure you keep an eye out for the next hill and think about how it really was created.
Become a Trailhead Ontario Presenter - tell us about yourself!

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Our mobile app voted one of 12 Must Have for Living in Rural Ontario by Ruralist.ca

Ontario Trail Projects - this page details our work in 32 areas of Ontario.

Ontario Trails Council liaise with the province, and through membership input we conduct a variety of surveys and create reports that guide decision makers at all levels - these include:

Trail Priorities
Accessibility
Land Use Planning
Ontario Cycling Route Commentary
Use of Maintenance Vehicles on Trails
Community Development
Event Planning for Trail Groups
Safe Trails Manual
Regional Tourism Trail Inventory RTO12

And more.

We can get you to a significant trails audience.

Ontario Trail Council Membership

Membership renewals for 2013 started going out December 1st, 2012. Thanks to the 70+ organizations that have renewed so far!
We have renewals from -

Uxbridge Township

Prince Edward County

Stokely Creek Lodge

Nottawasaga Conservation Authority

Grand River Conservation Authority

Elliott Lake Tourism

Hamilton Region Conservation Authority

Chatham Kent Trails Committee
Brant County
Bonnie Simpson
Sustainable Trails
Backroads Maps
Dryden
Lanark Tourism
Port Hope
Ontario Equestrian Federation
Lambton County
Saugeen Shores
Upper Grand Trailway Association
Northumberland County
Missississauga
S. MacCartney
Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs
Ontario Trail Riders Association
Collingwood
Toronto Region Conservation Authority
Norfolk County
Prescott-Russell
Chatham Kent County
French River
Orangeville
Algonquin Highlands
Fleming College
Upper Canada Horsemans Association
North Grenville
Bruce County
Cavan-Monaghan
Conservation Halton
Petawawa
Perterborough
Trak Map Concepts
Ausauble Bayfield CA
Cambridge Trails Committee
Elk Lake Eco Centre
Hastings County Trail Committee
Menesetung Bridge Association
Oshawa
Waterfront Regeneration Trust Trail
Headwaters Community in Action
Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance
Bruce Trail Network of Bruce County (not Bruce Trail)
Ontario Parks Association (not Ontario Parks)
Conservation Ontario
Timmins
Lake Simcoe Regional CA
Essex Region CA
London
East Gwillimbury
Ontario Federation of All Terrain Vehicle Clubs
Hearst
Thunder Bay Nordic Club
Friends of Second Marsh
Eskakwa Eco-Adventure Company
Kolapore Trails
Ontario Recreational Canoe and Kayak Association
Minto
Huronia Trails and Greenways
Haldimand County
Gananoque
Kincardine
Our Favorite Place (RTO8)
Clearview Township
Renfrew County
Oxford Trails Committee

On behalf of OTC we thank you for your support. If there is a group you know that is not a member contact us and we'll send them a note on membership benefits. THANKS! MERCI!