KANANASKIS COUNTRY – The east side of Kananaskis Country is getting a little more love in 2023.
The Trail Love – Give Back fundraiser, put on by the Friends of Kananaskis Country for the sixth year in a row, raised $21,318, well beyond its $15,000 goal, to ensure the support of thousands more hours of trail-building and maintenance throughout K-Country by the charity’s dedicated network of volunteers.
But the executive director for the Friends said more attention is being directed to the east side of the region, whereas the west – home to most of the busier, more well-known trails – has historically required more care.
“We’re looking to divide our work more into east and west,” said Nancy Ouimet, the Friends of K-Country executive director. “We’re hoping that allows us to bring on additional supports allowing us to balance our work in both areas a bit better.
“In general, the western areas of Kananaskis have seen more activity and are more established, but we’re starting to see more use in these areas in the east that, historically speaking, have not seen as much activity.”
Some trails in Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park, for example, seem to be gaining popularity.
“That area, I think, is seeing an increase because some of the more established areas have become so popular and slightly overrun, that people are seeking out some of the less busy areas more,” she said.
The province is reporting visitation in K-Country to be down this year, with about 3.4 million visits from January to September, compared to record visitation numbers in 2021 and 2020, with over five million visitors each year.
Work began this year to expand Friends of K-Country trail care programming in Elbow-Sheep. Next year, planned work will include trail maintenance and deadfall removal in the provincial park, as well as leading trail condition assessments in the eastern portion of the region.
That work will be supported by the acquisition of four new e-bikes, which helped volunteers carry out 154 kilometres worth of trail assessments in K-Country over 25 outings in 2022. Another 103km of trail was assessed on foot.
Other program enhancements in 2022 included the addition of chainsaw operations, with certified operators now part of the organization.
This year, volunteers also helped to build 550 metres of the new Iliad trail at the Canmore Nordic Centre over the course of 617 hours in 44 sessions. Another 285 volunteer hours over 16 sessions was spent helping to build Alberta Parks’ new Cloudline trail, which extends eastward from the Highline trail in the Canmore area.
Support from volunteers totalled 2,733 hours in 2022, with 563 shifts filled by 249 volunteers.
In 2023, the Friends will use funds raised from Trail Love – Give Back to support efforts for ongoing trail maintenance in K-Country and the Sibbald public land use zone, in addition to continuing to assist Alberta Parks with building and maintaining its designated trails.
Other projects in the new year will include continued work on the 4.5km Iliad trail, ski trail brushing and maintenance at Canmore Nordic Centre, and work in the areas of Highline, Montane Traverse and Cloudline trails.
“The generosity of people really exceeded our expectations and it’s so appreciated because this is the one time we really hit the drum,” said Ouimet of the fundraiser. “As a society and a registered charity, we depend on the support to be in a position to operate our programs at the standard and quality of volunteer programming that we offer.”
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
