Celebrate The Great Trail as a part of Canada 150

Over 200 communities across Canada including Red Deer are invited to take part in the celebration of the connectivity of The Great Trail.

The Trans Canada Trail (TCT) now stretches 22,000 km across our great country, including many lengths of trail locally for people of all ages to enjoy.

Paul Pettypiece, president of the Central Alberta Regional Trails Society, said the project has been supported by so many and has come a long way since its inception in 1992.

“It’s the longest recreational trail in the world, it connects well over 90 per cent of Canada’s population who want to walk or bike or canoe so we don’t necessarily have to use a car to get from place to place,” he said. “It provides a safe, healthy means of connecting people and communities and gives a sense of what the environment is like both in rural and urban areas.”

Pettypiece added that while there are some segments not completed in Alberta, it is largely to do with a lack of funding. Once the trails are built there is very little cost associated with the maintenance of them.

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“Generally trail builders try to generate funding and in Central Alberta the trail builders are the municipalities themselves. So when you have a municipality like Red Deer County for example, which a huge amount of trail goes through, they aren’t in a position to fund the whole project themselves.”

Pettypiece proudly notes that portions of the trail pass through Red Deer, Blackfalds, Lacombe, Ponoka, and Innisfail.

“Until recently there has actually been some hesitation of rural municipalities to get involved in trail building simply because they didn’t see it as a need. However, Red Deer County did a survey of residents and trails were either the first or second choice of recreational development in all divisions.”

Even with the unfinished segments of trail, Pettypiece added that people looking to travel at length on it can do so using roadway connections until they’re able to link back to a designated trail.

The celebration in Red Deer is being held at Bower Ponds on August 26 at 2 p.m. and will feature a short program with a presentation of trail hero awards as well as live music, a history of trails in Alberta, as well as cake and ice cream.

There will also be a viewing of the plans for the refurbishment of the Trans Canada Trail Pavilion at Bower Ponds. This project is slated to be completed in the fall.

Blackfalds is also hosting a celebration on August 26 at the Abbey Centre at 12:30 p.m. while Lacombe is hosting their event at Elizabeth Lake on the Bill Nielsen trail at 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.