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Ontario boasts over 80,000 km in trails. Whether you're in downtown Toronto or North of Superior, we have a trail for you. The Ontario Trails Council is a registered charity, led by volunteers who promote the development, management, use and conservation of Ontario's trails. You'll find everything from gentle walking trails to rock faces for climbing and water routes to canoe and kayak.
Showing posts with label biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biking. Show all posts
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Ontario Trails News - Trailwise - June 22, 2017
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Ontario Trails News - Brantford Skills Park supports safer off road riding!
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Find your favorite today! |
Cycling club onside with bike skills park
Brant Cycling Club
Photo by Brian Shypula, Brant News
Brant Cycling Club members, from left, Coun. Rick Weaver, Loren Butler, Katie MacDonald and John Harker stand in Earl Haig Park, one of the potential sites for a bike skills park in Brantford.
Brant News
The Brant Cycling Club has a lot of wheels in motion.
In a little over one year since it was formed last April, the non-profit club has grown to about 50 members, expanded its weekly road and trail rides, started a kids mountain bike camp, got involved in holding a major fundraiser for mental health and taken on advocacy for the development of a skills bike park in Brantford.
City councillor Rick Weaver, the newly minted vice president of the Brant Cycling Club (BCC), is chairing the task force looking into building a skills bike park in one of three city parks: Earl Haig, Waterworks and Rivergreen.
“Other cities that have done these have found they’ve become a family attraction,” he said in a weekend interview.
Toronto’s bike skills park, visible from the Gardiner Expressway near Sunnyside Avenue, cost $500,000 to build.
“That’s kind of the Cadillac of bike parks,” Weaver said.
“A scaled-down version is what we want,” he added.
The specially designed park would help develop cycling skills in kids.
Weaver said features he would like to see included would be “jump lines” (a series of jumps and a “pump track” (a hilly, banked track that allows riders to maintain momentum without pedalling).
The park would also be suitable for skateboards and scooters.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Ontario Trail News - Ontario Trail Counts and Hamilton Trail Survey
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Learn more about your trails - Trail Counts
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TRAILS
John Rennison,The Hamilton Spectator
Sign posts marking the Hendrie Valley Trails. Hamilton Burlington Trails Council and McMaster University are conducting a survey regarding area trails use.
Hamilton Spectator
Joggers, bikers and even parents pushing baby strollers shouldn't be surprised if someone with a clipboard asks them why they're using Hamilton nature trails.
Throughout the next year, impromptu questionnaires are one of the ways the Hamilton Burlington Trails Council (HBTC) and McMaster University are completing one of the most extensive trail surveys ever conducted in Ontario.
The joint initiative launched on Thursday will use online surveys and up to 36 volunteers to survey trail users on the flyto find out who's walking the trails, how they get around and where and why they're choosing the paths they are on.
The goal is to find out if certain paths could be linked, what trails are most popular and which need attention. In Hamilton, there are more than 130 kilometres of nature trails.
"The City of Hamilton has a lot of trail head counts, but we don't know who they are. Are they on bikes? Are they walking with dogs? Do they live nearby? Do they come here often?" said Wayne Terryberry, HBTC chair and McMaster University Outdoor Recreation co-ordinator.
"What can we use to make the trail experience better? We want to get definite data in different seasons — an annual time table."
The data along with information from community partners like Hamilton Conservation Authority and the Royal Botanical Gardens will go toward building a comprehensive trail map.
"We have 13 survey locations through Hamilton and Burlington and they are going to be surveyed by volunteers, and at each survey there will be a manual head count of people passing by," survey co-ordinator Alex Farquharson said.
Matthew Brodka of McMaster University Outdoor Recreation said one of the challenges facing the study is weather.
"Especially if it's a year-long thing, but we have a passionate group of volunteers who are passionate about the trail system."
Ward 1 Coun. Aidan Johnson said the survey data can have a broader impact on people.
"The more people who use and see nature, the more people who'll want more effective environmental policies and more biodiversity protection," he said.
People interested in helping as volunteers for the project throughout the year are encouraged to visit the Hamilton Burlington Trail website, http://hamiltonburlingtontrails.ca/.
905-526-3434
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Ontario Trails News - find your favorite Eastern Ontario trail, and fun on the trails with EOTA
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Find your favourite Eastern Ontario Trail |
Family Day fun on the trails
Family Day fun
Brett Mann
This group of snowmobilers passed through Tweed from Verona on their way to Madoc on Family Day. Rear left: Ben Perry, John Morrow, Glena Salisbury and Jim Salisbury. Centre: Amy Young.
Central Hastings News
“It’s a very good deal, a chance to try it out for free if you haven’t before,” says Cindy Cassidy, general manager of the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance. Ms. Cassidy is referring to the chance to use the trail system for free on Family Day, an opportunity eagerly seized by local snowmobilers. Season snowmobile passes can cost up to $260 says Cassidy, noting that the trails are used year round for hiking, cycling, ATV use and even dog-sledding.
“The fees depend on when they purchase it [the trail pass] and they are cheaper before November 1.”
The local network of trails extends from the Bay of Quinte to Algonquin Park and attracts 25,000 visitors annually “for the whole region we cover,” Cassidy reports. The trails generate $6 million in spending each year, the organization estimates. The trail project began in 1997 with a steering committee representing the Hastings, Quinte and Land O’ Lakes regions and became the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA) in 1998. The group is incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable organization.
As well as managing the trails themselves. EOTA provides maps and listings of accommodations and lodgings along the trails. Larry Palmateer grooms the snow on the trails and reports that traffic on Family Day morning was low, likely because of the extremely cold temperatures.
“There was a lot going into Tweed yesterday. Coming into Madoc today I saw only two snowmobiles but Riley [another groomer] the other day quit counting after 45. Last year I would say there was at least a ten per cent increase in traffic on Family Day,” says Palmateer adding that last year was the first time one could obtain a trail permit on-line. He is relieved to see the significant snowfalls rider have been waiting for.
“People were getting pretty antsy in December and January when there was no snow. This year there’s been a lot of later permits,” he observes. “The big thing is snow for Christmas and New Year’s. That really affects sales of permits and snowmobiles and equipment.”
By early afternoon on Family Day the groups of snowmobiles passing through Tweed on the trail were becoming more numerous.
“If it warms up they’ll be just like bumble bees,” Palmateer predicted.
Monday, February 23, 2015
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