Put on your walking shoes for trail conference
Hamilton Spectator
This is one conference where walking the walk is essential.
Oh, they'll be doing lots of talking. But you can rest assured at every opportunity they'll be putting on their boots to hit the trails.
The Trailhead Ontario Conference is in town, with plenty of hiking tours and all kinds of discussion about trail development in Hamilton and across the province.
Patrick Connor, the executive director of the Ontario Trails Council, says more than 80 trail management people from across the province have come to the conference at McMaster University that will feature sessions such topics as the health benefits of "active transportation," trail accessibility, trail tourism and "trail branding."
A big part of the conference will involve celebrating the ever-expanding trail network in Hamilton that comprises everything from the Bruce Trail, to rail trails, to the Waterfront Trail. There are trails on city property, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Hamilton Conservation Authority Property.
"There is so much great trail activity going on in Hamilton. The city is undergoing a revitalization ... how could we not say no to Hamilton when people wanted to host the conference in the city."
A key person in bringing the conference to McMaster and also working to bring together people involved in various trails groups in Hamilton in an umbrella organization known as the Hamilton-Burlington Trails Council is Wayne Terryberry, Outdoor Team Development Coordinator at McMaster.
"We're trying to bring everybody together to build a working relationship, creating a common vision for trail connectivity and linkages," he says.
By bringing everyone together in the trails council, he hopes connecting trail systems together can be more easily accomplished.
The group plans to put together a website to be a one-stop location for trail information in, and around, Hamilton. He says today there are about eight different websites that have trail information.
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