Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Ontario Trail News - Trail Wise - news from the trails and communities that make them in Ontario and Across Canada

 

Ontario Trails Council - a provincial charity working for the development, use, management and preservation of trails and trail based activity.
Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.
ride dirt not mud seasonal reminder for trail users to stay off muddy trail surfaces
ONTARIO TRAILS COUNCIL NEWSLETTER - March 30, 2026

• National Trail Summit - Go Fund Us - • Provincial Budget Affects Recreation •
• Seasonal Activity on Ontario Trails • Trail Projects • Updates • Member Services •

engage brant parks masterplan logo banner

the province of Ontario flag
Ontario Trails Council is a charity, led by a volunteer board of directors, that promotes the use, management, development, and preservation of trails and trail-based activities in Ontario. 

Please consider supporting us through a donation or a membership. Thanks.

 

TOP TRAIL NEWS


The 2026 Ontario budget impacts recreational trails by investing $300 million over six years into the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund to repair, upgrade, and build new facilities. This funding boosts local tourism, improves safety, and helps municipalities expand trail networks for public use. 

Key Impacts on Recreational Trails:
  • Increased Infrastructure Funding: The Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund total is raised to $500 million to support community sport and recreation facility improvements, which includes trails.
     
  • Northern Ontario Support: The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) provides specific funding to improve trails, such as recent investments in snowmobile trail systems.
     
  • Safety and Maintenance: Funding supports the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) in maintaining and upgrading thousands of kilometres of trails, ensuring safe and reliable access for users.
     
  • Tourism Development: Investments are linked to strengthening tourism infrastructure, encouraging visitors to enjoy outdoor activities in both rural and Northern Ontario.
     
  • Accessibility: The funding aims to improve access to nature and keep residents active, bolstering local economies and promoting healthy lifestyles. 
Ontario budget projects $13.8B deficit, delays balance again - Barrie News
Barrie Today
Ontario is projecting a deficit of $13.8 billion for the coming year and pushing back its target date for balancing the budget by another year, ...
 
Here is how Ontario's 2026 budget will impact Toronto - CP24
CP24
Those projects will serve as a preview for an even bigger slate of projects ... trails and parks when its complete. The province has said work at ...
 
North Bay considers allowing ATVs on more municipal roads - CTV News
CTV News
Since 2015, the city has allowed the vehicles to use some roads, allowing riders to link to existing ATV trails that lead to Mattawa and other areas.
 
Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus Opposes Alto High-Speed Rail Project In Its Current Form
Kawartha 411
... trails, and environmentally sensitive areas, and with no long-term economic benefits; and the closure and/or dead-ending of roads will have ...

The Waterfall Strategy: How Hamilton is Fighting Overtourism to Save Its Natural Wonders
Travel And Tour World
... trails,” says Sarah, a volunteer trail ... Tags: Bruce Trail Conservancy, Hamilton Waterfalls, Overtourism Ontario, Spencer Gorge, sustainable tourism ...
 
Ski season still going strong - CTV News
CTV News
“This has been an exceptional year for cross-country skiing,” said Houben. “This far into March, usually we start closing some trails down but the ...
 
Musher from northwestern Ontario wins Rookie of the Year title at Iditarod Sled Dog Race
CBC
Terry said he had some challenging times out on the trail, including low moments where he was missing his family and thinking about his kids. Jesse ...
 
Local Army Cadet Conquers Winter Expedition at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
The Owen Sound Current
She also completed two days of cross-country skiing and two days of fat-tire biking on slippery, technical trails. Owen Sound Current is the city's ...
 
Exploring Ontario Digitally This Winter 2026 - PelhamToday.ca
PelhamToday.ca
The Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario ... Interactive maps, park websites, and regional travel guides allow you to research hiking trails, ...
 
Got 10 minutes? Here's what to do with it. - Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
ParticipACTION is urging Canadians to sneak 10 minutes of physical activity into their work day. Claiming that 64 percent of Canadians believe ...
 
Ontario Nature permanently protects Sauble Dunes North - The Brock Press
The Brock Press
The acquisition was supported by funding from the Government of Canada's Natural Heritage Conservation Program through the Land Trust Conservation ...
 
Man missing for 2 months found dead in conservation area near Owen Sound
Yahoo News Canada
... conservation area, provincial police said Friday ... Canada · World · Business · Entertainment · Weather · Videos · Sports · Science · Terms ...
 
Bradford Greenhouses gears up for a busy weekend with the Great Canadian Outdoors Show
Barrie 360
A two‑day, family‑friendly event celebrating everything from camping and fishing to wildlife demos and outdoor education.

 


Ontario's Trails
Are Rural Recreation
in 85% of Ontario.

flyer for the rural recreation conference

Patrick Connor Writes - "I'm Proud to be a Board Member with Kim Goodman on this initiative." https://www.facebook.com/ruralrecreationassociation/
 
 

OTC President’s Corner 
March 2026


As many of us now say, “It’s been a minute” since we last connected and so it has. As a
Canadian it would be strange of me not to inject something about the weather – so
however you experienced winter in Ontario this season, I’m hoping you found a way to
enjoy it outdoors on a trail! Spring is near and we all can feel the sun’s warmth again. It
is beginning to feel like a new day in more ways than a seasonal change. I’ll give you a
simple example.

Since the summer of 2000, the Ontario Trails Council (OTC) and the
Trans Canada Trail (TCT) decided it was in their best interest to each take a different
“fork in the trail”. The trail each agency followed diverged but were never out of sight
and often not out of step with each other’s forward direction. Time passed, trail leaders
moved on, history faded and those two forks in the trail, found their way back to a
single, more established pathway.

If you heard it from someone else, this should help make it clear: the Ontario Trails
Council is once again working with the Trans Canada Trail on trail related challenges to
find solutions and improve trail operations and the user experience here in Ontario. We
need each other – we always have. Starting this week, the OTC is engaging with local
trail champions in Durham Region, near Uxbridge – Trails Capital of Canada to knit
together a solution that will stabilize the management of the Beaver River Wetland Trail
– a 22km TCT section, in collaboration and with the support of the Trans Canada Trail.

As an OTC member, trail manager and/or trail enthusiast you may have questions about
what changed? What took you so long? How do we tap into this kind of OTC/TCT
assistance? What I can tell you here is that this renewed arrangement was long in the
making, fostered by many over many years and I’d be happy to share more about how it
came to be in several ways. First, I’d like to thank Patrick Connor (OTC Executive
Director) and Kim Goodman (OTC Board Member) for their resilience, openness and
aim to support this renewed relationship with the Trans Canada Trail team.

Now as for the options to connect and learn more see below:

Option 1: reach out and email me president@ontariotrails.ca. If my inbox is
overwhelmed by your questions, that’ll be a happy problem because we’ll get to meet
each other.

Option 2: reach out to Patrick Connor (Executive Director) and ask about membership
renewal, assistance and support – he’d love to get in touch. execdir@ontariotrails.ca

Option 3: Consider attending the Canadian Trail Summit in Winnipeg June 16-19
https://canadiantrailsummit.ca/ being hosted by Trans Canada Trail. This is a great
chance to catch up, connect, talk trail challenges and solutions. Also, The Forks in
Winnipeg is an iconic destination in Canada, especially in June – not to be missed.
 
Can’t make the Summit but would still like to support it? We have an OTC GoFundMe
account set up below, the aim is to use the funds raised to offset the costs of 10 Ontario
attendees to the conference. We’d love the support, but even better is to have 10 reps
from Ontario attend and bring back the learning here.
 
Safe, accessible and enjoyable trails to all of you,
Dan
 


Join Ontario Trails Council


We thank all those that join and support our work, individuals play a significant role locally and work with us to make change provincially! Thank-you.

RENEWAL - Township of Cavan-Monaghan - Thank - you!

cavan monaghan logo with link to their recreational trails

The Township of Cavan Monaghan has a number of parks and playgrounds throughout the Township. 

All parks, parkland and trails, with the exception of Whitfield Landing shall be considered non-operational from Thanksgiving Monday of each year, until the Friday prior to Victoria Day of each subsequent year. Whitfield Landing will be considered non-operational from the Monday following the 3rd weekend in November, each year to the Friday prior to Victoria Day each subsequent year.

During these periods, the Township of Cavan Monaghan will perform no maintenance and only complete minimal inspections. Parks, parkland and trails will have signs erected indicating open season and clearly stating that there is no maintenance when closed. This measure must be taken to protect the safety of persons using park facilities and equipment during a time when environmental conditions may promote or increase the potential for personal injury.

Payment Methods:

paypal membership payment badge qr codeinterac logo for dorect deposit
or call 613-484-1140 to Pay by Credit Card. Thank-you!


 

CANADIAN TRAILS SUMMIT

 

canadian trail summit showing the trans canada trail logo and a group of people out walking on a recreational trail in the woods

2026 Canadian Trail Summit

– Funding support is available to help individuals and members of non-profit organizations cover costs of attending the summit. Join us in Winnipeg June 16 to 19, 2026, to help shape the future of Canada’s trails!  
 

Learn more + Register here

  

Please Help send Ontario Trails Council to the National Trail Summit
 

Ontario Trails Council is revitalizing our partnership with the Trans Canada Trail. Recent talks have gone exceedingly well between the OTC Board and leadership of the TCT. We thank the TCT for the opportunity to support our presence at the national event.
 

Go Fund Us


Unfortunately due to a lack of resources we missed the World Trail Conference 2 years ago. We wish to have a presence in Winnipeg in support of those OTC members that Support the Trans Canada Trail in their communities.

With your help we can help shape a better future for trails in Canada. Please donate to get us there. Thank you.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment