Ontario Trails News - Summer Fun Guide and more!

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On Our Calendar

Stakeholder Day
Are you a group with an interest in trails? Many recent announcements on the Ontario Trails Act, trail openings, Bill C-31 and other developments have led the OTC to convene a trails stakeholder day.

September 23rd, in Toronto. location to TBD. Watch this space for details.

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OTC AGM
We are planning for Thursday September 24th, 1100 -1200 am at McMaster University.

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Accessibility
We have worked with the Ministry of Employment, Economic Development and Infrastructure "Enabling Change" Program to create awareness about accessibility and trail organization communications. Download the guide, complete our survey.

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Trail HerosKnow somebody that works hard on trails? If so nominate them to be an Ontario Trails "Trail Hero!" We'd be happy to review your recommendations and acknowledge in a small way their contribution to trails in your community.


 

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Trail Blog

Every day trails are news! Every day we blog about trails. In communities all over Ontario trails are big news, for cyclists, runners, canoe or horses, every day we capture in one spot all the trail news - local, provincial or national! Join today!

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Trail Leaders!

Join Ontario's first ever series of 13 online trail education courses in the development and management of trails. Designed for both volunteers and professionals. Course locations and seats available - Trail Management. Register today - registration is open 24/7  

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Join OTC

The Ontario Trails Council is a nonprofit charitable organization, established in 1988, that promotes the development, preservation, management and use of recreational trails. With over 130 organizational members and 25 individual supporters the OTC continues to grow! Support trails in Ontario - join the OTC.

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Learn an Activity

Our website contains information on over 2,600 trails, and a description for nearly 2,000. Learn about the places where you can bike, cross country ski, climb or any of another 15 activities. We are linked to over 130 organizations and a variety of provincial groups that can help you learn an activity or become better at one you already love!


 

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Add Your Event

We post trail or outdoor events on trail specific facebook pages, the main OTC facebook page, and the event section of the OTC website. You can send us your event and we'll post it to these extensive networks. Each week we reach over 20,000 people, so if you want your event known, a bit better, send us the information.

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Add/Edit Trails

An important part of the Refreshed OTC Web site will be a dynamic page dedicated to each trail. It is important that you give us as much information as possible - this will be the only source for creating your dedicated page on the OTC Web site. If we don't get the information from you, it won't make it onto the site. If you have any questions about the form, please contact Patrick at 613-484-1140. Thank you for taking the time to add or edit your trail on the Ontario Trails Council Web site.


 

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Be a Friend of Trails

We invite all trail users to support the work of the Ontario Trails Council. As a registered charity we do our community work based on the support of member organizations, individuals and some government grants. We do the work, in the end for the individual families and folks that use the trails every day. Please consider supporting us as your thanks for your trails. Thank you.

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Ontario Trails News - Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

From the Ontario Newsroom
 

Ontario will introduce new legislation today to protect and improve thousands of kilometres of the province's urban, suburban, rural and remote land and water trails network while encouraging its expansion.  

If passed, the Supporting Ontario's Trails Act would:

• Provide the trails community with enhanced tools to effectively develop, operate and promote trails
• Remove barriers to help connect and expand trails across the province
• Increase trail awareness and promote local tourism by enabling the recognition of trails of distinction, supporting communities and jobs across Ontario
• Enable the development of a classification system to help users find trails that match their interest and ability

The proposed act would also improve, sustain and encourage the expansion of trails by addressing liability, trespassing and crown land issues.

Expanding and improving Ontario trails is part of the government's plan to build Ontario up. The four-part plan includes investing in people's talents and skills, making the largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario's history, creating a dynamic, innovative environment where business thrives and building a secure retirement savings plan.

Quick Facts

• The proposed legislation is based on feedback received from an environmental registry posting, engagement with Aboriginal groups and five regional sessions across the province.
• Since 2009, Ontario has invested more than $80 million in trails.
• The province has approximately 2,500 trails and more than 80,000 kilometres of trail; the second-largest network in Canada.
• Almost 20,000 kilometres of trails are located within municipalities.
• Thousands of kilometres of trails and roads are on provincial Crown land that are open for the public to use free of charge.
• Ontario Parks protects and manages approximately 2,200 kilometres of trails and boardwalks.
• As a key legacy of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, Ontario will complete 250 kilometres of gaps in Ontario's Trans Canada Trail and connect communities from Ottawa to Windsor and Fort Erie to Huntsville.

Background Information

• New Legislation and Amendments to Protect Land, Improve Trails

Additional Resources

• Provide your feedback on the proposed legislation
• Ontario’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Trails

Quotes

“Each year, millions of Ontarians and visitors from outside the province experience the province’s world class trail system. Our trails encourage explorers of all ages and abilities to visit our unique communities and support local economies and jobs. To ensure this continues and our trails remain vital for future generations, Ontario will introduce new legislation today that would, if passed, contribute to an improved, safer and more sustainable trails network.”

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From our Ministry Partners

On May 12^th, 2015 the Ontario Government introduced  Bill 100 – the Supporting Ontario’s Trails Act, 2015 in the Legislature.  The consultations held across the province and the comments received through the Environmental Registry in fall 2013 provided valuable feedback that was used during the development of this proposed legislation.http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&BillID=3338
 
The proposed legislation has been posted on the Environmental Registry (search # 012-4102) for public comment for 45 days.  This posting and a copy of the proposed legislation can be accessed by the following links: http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTI0OTgx&statusId=MTg4MjMx&language=en
 
Thank you for your continued support as we all work together to improve trails in Ontario.

Sincerely,
Anna Ilnyckyj Director, Policy Branch Sport, Recreation and Community Programs Division Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport 777 Bay Street, 23^rd Floor Toronto, ON M7A 1S5
N.B. - Ministry staff will be present to answer questions on the Act and its development at Trailhead Ontario - June 8th and 9th 2015

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A Special Note of Thanks 

The OTC President Jack De Wit, the Board and Staff of OTC wish to acknowledge all the trails, trail groups, members, board members, trail developers and community members who have assisted or waited a long time for the implementation of an Ontario Trails Act.

Too numerous to mention here, we want the trail community to know that we could not have achieved the development of an Ontario Trails Act without over the years.

Many of us are carrying your torch or your trail legacy.

The work of the trails community has produced this impact and for this we extend our gratitude to all of you.
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Le Président OTC Jack De Wit, le conseil et le personnel de l'OTC tiennent à remercier tous les sentiers, les groupes de sentiers, les membres, les membres du conseil d'administration, les développeurs de sentiers et membres de la communauté qui ont aidé ou attendu longtemps pour la mise en œuvre d'un Ontario Loi Trails.

Trop nombreux pour être cités ici, nous voulons que la communauté des sentiers de savoir que nous ne pouvions pas atteint l'élaboration d'une loi de l'Ontario Trails sans fil des ans.

Beaucoup d'entre nous sont porteurs votre torche ou votre legs de piste.

Le travail de la communauté des sentiers a produit cet impact et pour cela nous exprimer notre gratitude à vous tous.

Merci/Thank-you.

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Support the Kinghorn Trail Development
Last fall we started an audit of the rail corridor. This audit captures the good, the bad and the ugly. Using the latest trail auditing software, we are able to capture all the issues that need to be fixed prior to opening the trail. We will finish the audit in the spring for the full length of the line.

Please support us in building this legacy trail along Lake Superior. Even a small donation adds up and supports the capital required to upgrade the corridor for Northwestern Ontario's only rail trail!

We have plans to upgrade the railbed surface to accommodate trail users like cyclists, hikers, summer motorized use and snowmobiles in the winter months. As a full multi-use trail, we will be able to keep the trail in the public domain for future generations to enjoy.

The rail line doesn't stop at Nipigon but then turns north towards Greenstone. There has been some interest in discussing this as an option but conversations need to occur.  Please support this legacy project as we create an amazing trail alongside Lake Superior - the great inland sea.

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Healthy Hikes Program Begins May 1, 2015

Ontario Trails News - Trailwise - all about trails, all the time. Over 1000 subscribers - sign up today!

Find your favorite!

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THUNDER BAY, ON, June 19, 2015 /CNW/ - The Trans Canada Trail is thrilled to announce it has received a $2 million joint gift from TD Bank Group and the Ontario Trillium Foundation – funds that have been matched by the Government of Canada with another $1 million grant, for a total of $3 million in Trail development funding.

These funds will help the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) to enhance and complete its route in Northern Ontario, between the City of North Bay and the City of Thunder Bay. The Trail sections under development include water and land routes, connecting 44 municipalities and aboriginal communities.

"We are grateful for the generous donation from TD Bank Group and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and to our federal government for matching that $2 million gift with an additional $1 million grant," says Valerie Pringle, Co-Chair of the Trans Canada Trail Foundation. "It's a testament to our vision and passion when three major funders collaborate to help us reach our bold goal of a fully connected Trail, from Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic coasts, byCanada's 150^th birthday in 2017."

50 Trail development projects are currently in progress as part of the TCT's goal to connect the Trail from coast to coast to coast by 2017. Currently, the Trail is more than 17,000 kilometres long and is 75 per cent connected. Once complete, the Trans Canada Trail will stretch almost 24,000 kilometres and will include urban, rural and wilderness trails in every province and territory.

Connecting Trail sections and communities in Northern Ontario

The $3 million donation will be used to help complete or enhance three TCT routes in northern Ontario.

1. The North Bay to Sudbury Cycling Route, a 207-km road cycling route.
2. The Lake Huron North Channel Waterfront Cycling Trail (LHNC), a 370-km road cycling route from Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie.
3. The Lake Superior Water Trail (LSWT), a 989-km paddling route from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay, currently part of the TCT network, will see the enhancement of 15 access points with amenities for paddlers.

Connecting these three routes to the TCT depends on multiple community partnerships and volunteers. The leadership efforts of aboriginal communities, regional municipalities, and the Trail Group Collaborative – comprised of the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, and Tourism Northern Ontario – will drive the project to completion.

The TCT is a multi-purpose recreational trail that promotes six preferred activities: walking/hiking, paddling, cycling, horseback riding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

As sections of TCT, the North Bay to Sudbury Cycling Route, the Lake Huron North Channel Waterfront Cycling Trail, and the Lake Superior Water Trail all evoke the rich history and culture of Canada's people. By recalling the heritage of our aboriginal people, to early European trading and settlement, the growth of resource industries, the transcontinental railway, revolutionary Group of Seven paintings, and more – the TCT celebrates our proud Canadian journey.

Comment on our Comments! - by June 27th

As Presented Publicly at Trailhead Ontario June 8, 2015




















In summary - the Ontario Trails Council will be making comment, #1-12 on the last slide above on the Environmental Registry. 

The Ontario Trails welcomes any additions or comment to this list and we encourage you to e-mail the OTC at execdir@ontariotrails.ca if you have an item to discuss for addition.

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Tweet the Act

This should help secure land for trails, control trespass, change crown land processes. Please share these suggested tweets - 

Ontario Trails Act? What is it? What does it do? How does it secure trails? Does it impact me? Answers at http://trailheadontario.com

New - Ontario Trails Act - NEW - learn more - hear from government and sector on impacts and expectations http://trailheadontario.com

Giving feedback to trails act on EBR? Are you commenting on the Ontario Trails Act? use us -#‎craftyourbestanswer 

Ontario Trails News - Trailwise each week. Sign up today! Over 1,000 on subscribe list. Thanks

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Ontario Trails - Greenbelt Route a path to discovering Ontario

All Ontario Trails, All The Time

Greenbelt Route a path to discovering Ontario

Hundreds of kilometres of bicycle paths stretching from Niagara to Northumberland invite cyclists to explore the GTA.

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The Greenbelt Route stretches from the Niagara Region all the way around the Golden Horseshoe to Northumberland County in the east.

By: Stephanie Wallcraft Special to the Star, Published on Fri Jul 03 2015

There’s an all-new way to explore Ontario’s Greenbelt — on two wheels — launching later this summer.

The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is on the verge of unveiling its new Greenbelt Route, which creates one seamless cycling trail from the Niagara Region all the way around the Golden Horseshoe to Northumberland County in the east while highlighting hundreds of diversions to explore along the way.

Born of a desire to help people stay active while they discover all that the regions surrounding Toronto have to offer, the new route hopes to capitalize on what has become a burgeoning tourism segment.

“Cycling tourism is an incredibly growing industry,” says Burkhard Mausberg, chief executive officer of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation. “It’s now worth $300 million in Ontario alone per year.”

Mausberg says that the cycling tourism is being called “the new golf” and is particularly appealing to the same people who enjoy the golfing lifestyle.

“People in a certain age group — who can afford to cycle, can afford to stay in a B&B, can afford to eat in restaurants — are recognizing it’s great for their health to go out and be active,” Mausberg explains.

A cycling route through the Greenbelt seemed a natural fit for connecting such people with a part of the province that might otherwise be overlooked or thought of as too difficult to navigate.

“It’s one of those very special parts of Ontario,” Mausberg says. “It has all these great villages and hamlets, natural areas, working farms and on-farm markets, and historical sites. And it’s protected by law not to be paved over by subdivisions and industrial lands. We wanted people to actually get out and experience it.”

The grand opening of the new route will begin on Aug. 16, when hundreds of cyclists will be brought together to explore it over the course of the following week in an event being called the Great Greenbelt Adventure.

“We’ll take as many riders as want to participate,” Mausberg says. “We’re going to start in Northumberland, at the easternmost part of the route, and take it all the way around, travelling with hopefully hundreds of people from town to town. We’ll celebrate the end of it seven days later in Niagara with a big party.”

More information about the Great Greenbelt Adventure will be released in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, to explore the route, download and print maps, plan out an itinerary and much more, visit greenbelt.ca/route .

The Greenbelt Route

by the numbers

Freelance writer Stephanie Wallcraft is a frequent contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. For more Toronto Star Wheels stories, go to thestar.com/autos . To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald: nmcdonald@thestar.com/autos

3: years of planning from conception to completion

27: municipalities the route passes through

475: kilometres of road needed to form the route

900: directional signs being installed for route guidance

1,100: points of interest identified on route maps from conservation areas to wineries, historical/natural sites and more

2,000,000:acres of land that comprise Ontario’s Greenbelt, which is the world’s largest at a size roughly equal to Prince Edward Island

Getting to the Greenbelt Route

The Greenbelt Route was planned to allow visitors not only to be active and environmentally conscious while using it but also in reaching it in the first place.

Riders from the Toronto area will be able to access the route car-free by travelling with their bikes via:

the Waterfront Trail

TTC (by taking the subway to Finch station and riding a Keswick-bound connecting route north)

GO Train (access the route directly from Georgetown, Stouffville, and St. Catharines stations, or indirectly from Acton, Aldershot, Aurora, Burlington, Hamilton, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, and Oshawa stations)

Via Rail (from St. Catharines, Grimsby, Port Hope, and Cobourg stations)

For those who prefer to reach the route by car, five staging areas will be set up with parking, tuck shops, information boards and route maps. A number of short, circular day-trip routes have also been integrated into the plans to help riders who prefer not to leave their vehicles overnight or would rather return to them without doubling back.

Planning your trip

The Greenbelt Route has been planned to meet the expectations of both the casual tourist and the experienced cyclist.

“We know we’re going to attract a lot of people in their spandex on their $2,000 bikes, and they will do it in two days,” Mausberg says. “But there are those who maybe want to take their family or friends and are going to make it seven days. It really depends what type of cyclist you are.”

Whichever type describes you best, you can plan out our trip by picking up a printed map or visiting greenbelt.ca/route , where you’ll find a detailed route map that lets you toggle different itineraries and points of interest such as natural features, cultural attractions, amenities like campgrounds and bike shops, restaurants and wineries, and much more.

There are also 36 separate maps that can be printed from the website that highlight various route segments and features.

“What we try to do is give you as many options as possible to let you have the choice of how you want to experience the Greenbelt on two wheels under your own power,” Mausberg says.