Mountain bikers and dogs will not be permitted along Lake Minnewanka’s shoreline this summer under new Parks Canada rules aimed at reducing serious bear encounters.
A seasonal restriction will be in place for the Aylmer Trail and Lake Minnewanka Shoreline Trail from Stewart Canyon Bridge to the east park boundary, from July 10 to Sept. 15.
Hikers must travel in tight groups of four, but new this year is a requirement they must carry bear spray. Cycling is also not permitted along the Minnewanka Shoreline Trail and dogs are not allowed in the area.
The LM8 backcountry campground will be closed.
Parks officials say this restriction lowers the risk of potentially harmful encounters between people and bears feeding on prime food sources, such as buffalo berries.
They say the restriction was changed this year as a result of three or four surprise grizzly bear encounters with cyclists in the past few years, all involving female bears with cubs.
“We wanted to come up with a constructive solution that would allow cycling on the trail for a portion of the year,” said Steve Michel, Banff’s human-wildlife conflict specialist.
“We didn’t want to have a situation develop where we could have a bear encounter that became so serious it could jeopardize the future of cycling in that area.”
Not everyone is happy with the decision, with some arguing decisions such as these should apply to all users and not just single out mountain bikers.
But Doug Topp, a director of the Bow Valley Mountain Bike Alliance, said he is fully behind Parks Canada’s decision.
“Nobody likes a closure, but this is an adaptive management step and it was the right step. It’s being closed for a time, while every other trail in the valley is open,” he said.
“We know we are not pleasing all bikers, but we believe it’s the right decision. Minnewanka has been open for months already and it will be open for months after; there’s plenty of time left to ride.”
Topp said Parks Canada has presented the science to justify this.
“There’ve been close encounters, and if there was ever a bad mauling or worse, we felt the chance of it being permanently closed was real,” he said.
“This trail is iconic, and if something really bad happens there, it could be worse than losing the Upper Bench like we did in Canmore a few years ago.”
Michel said there were serious bear attacks involving hikers in the Aylmer area in 2001 and 2005 and three or four serious bluff charges involving cyclists from 2007 to 2010.
He said cyclists are able to travel at a higher rate of speed than hikers, thereby increasing the chances of a surprise encounter with bears.
“They were very serious close encounters, and if it was not for just luck in some cases, it could have easily turned into a bear attack situation,” he said.
“We’re trying to avoid something like that happening.”
