(Town of Blackfalds)

By Sheldon Spackman

seeking a Path Forward

Study shares how to advance local trails tourism

Nov 3, 2020 | 2:25 PM

The Central Alberta Tourism Alliance (CATA) has released a study on how trails-based infrastructure can be grown to support related tourism businesses and boost the region’s economy.

The study, entitled Our Path Forward, provides an inventory of trails across central Alberta, including those well-suited to offer tourism experiences, along with identifying opportunities to develop networks of market-ready signature trails. The study also recommends strategies to enhance trail systems throughout CATA communities in order to help grow the local visitor economy.

Officials describe it as a framework in which CATA and its partners can work collaboratively with industry, tourism operators, and land managers to advance trails tourism, and ultimately, sustainably reach the area’s trails tourism potential.

CATA Chair Jerry Pratt says trails were identified as a significant asset to the region’s tourism potential during the creation of a Destination Management Plan five years ago.

“As we were going through trying to promote the area, in each municipality, we figured out that we didn’t know how many trails we had or what types of trails we had” admits Pratt. “So we wanted to take an inventory to be able to say that we have this much for biking, and hiking, and quadding, and equestrian. From there, we also grew into, how can we elevate our trails so they actually become provincial, national, and international tourism attractions to help grow the business of tourism in our area?”

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After completing the study, Pratt says they were surprised by how many kilometres of ‘official’ trails there are throughout central Alberta.

“We actually have just-under 4,000 kilometres of ‘official’ trails in the municipalities that participated in this,” says Pratt. “Then of course there’s thousands of kilometres of ‘unofficial’ trails out there as well. ‘Official’ trails are trails that are recognized by some level of government or an organization with some level of maintenance and signage that supports them.”

(Town of Blackfalds)

Member municipalities that make up the informal partnership of CATA include the City of Red Deer, Tourism Red Deer, Red Deer County, Town of Innisfail, Town of Blackfalds, Lacombe Regional Tourism, Town of Sylvan Lake, Town of Rocky Mountain House, and Clearwater County.

Pratt suggests the more investment made in a trail, the more businesses it will attract, such as mountain bike rental companies or campgrounds.

“Trail development actually improves the local quality of life and recreation,” adds Pratt. “And as a trail is developed even more, it attracts people from further away to come participate in that, but also providing job opportunities and business investment opportunities at the same time.”

Pratt says their path forward includes sharing their findings with the provincial government and taking a hard look at what financial investments might be needed to help elevate area trails to a level where they become an attraction for people from not only around the province, but from across the country and around the world.

“A lot of that being around the trailhead area with better signage and amenities that go with it and hopefully to link them up,” he explains.

Pratt points to a Nordegg to Rocky Mountain House trail already in the works.

“If we could link some of them (trails) between our municipalities, it provides a better, longer experience, making it worth people travelling for. We are blessed in central Alberta to have trails for hiking, mountain biking, equestrian use, and OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) as well, and with so many different trails, we have the opportunity to attract a lot of people here to enjoy what they want. We just need to make sure that the trail experience is going to be good for the visitor.”