How do you remove illegal trails in a community that loves its trails? Turns out, you build some new ones instead.
How do you remove illegal trails in a community that loves its trails? Turns out, you build some new ones instead.
The Town of Canmore is working on a capital project this year to design and develop a dedicated mountain biking trail on land it co-owns and manages with the Rocky Mountain Heritage Foundation at Quarry Lake Park.
The Quarry Lake Park mountain bike trail is also a partnership with the Canmore and Area Mountain Bike Alliance, which is tasked with designing and building the trail with volunteers, and the Canmore Trails Alliance.
CAMBA trail director Andrew Dickison said the group has inventoried existing trails on the site, all of which are not designated trails, and examined terrain in order to design a beginner to intermediate trail loop for mountain bikers.
“We worked on theoretical maps and input from local riders, as well as an idea of what the Town wanted to see,” he said. “This is going to be an opportunity for everyone in town to get involved in building those trails. They are not going to be machine built; they are going to be hand built.
“CAMBA will take on some ongoing liability with these trails as part of our agreement, so it needs to be sustainable and safe.”
The proposed project is not without opposition, with some in the community expressing concern of the appropriateness of the location for a variety of reasons.
The trail will be in an already heavily used area, but it is also an area with high wildlife activity as it is near a wildlife corridor, and it is on land that is undermined.
As part of the overall Quarry Lake Park, it is an area zoned for recreation and designated trails are an approved use. In fact, the park itself is one million square metres in size and extends south toward Peak Drive.
According to manager of public works Andreas Comeau, developing a formalized mountain bike trail in the area will significantly reduce the number of illegal trails and illegal trail use currently occurring.
“We have trails in our town that are unofficial and are used as mountain bike trails,” Comeau said. “Right now, because there is not a designated trail, or purpose built trail, (mountain bikers) take all kinds of lines.”
Comeau said by having a dedicated mountain biking trail the goal is to reduce existing user conflicts between those using the area for biking and other recreational users.
The trail is designed to be three kilometres in length, and connect to the larger trail network, including the popular Highline Trail.
As for potential wildlife conflicts, Comeau said when wildlife enter the Quarry Lake Park area, they are leaving an adjacent designated wildlife corridor and that by intensifying use at this particular pinch point, the hope is that will occur less and result in a reduction in wildlife conflicts.
“This location is a pinch point if wildlife gets caught in there,” he said. “They get into the roadway and residential areas and are at a higher risk of conflict. The idea is that if we intensify use here, we discourage more animals from going in there. The intent is to encourage them to use the wildlife corridor and habitat patch that are established.”
There is also the issue of human use in those designated wildlife areas. Comeau said by providing high quality recreational experiences for mountain bikers with the new trail, they will be disinclined to access illegal trails that enter the corridor and thus displace wildlife.
He said while some may question the appropriateness of the location, it was chosen to specifically address the broader challenges the municipality has with people being inside wildlife corridors when they shouldn't be.
