(The volunteers of the Stittsville Winter Trail Network are looking forward to having groomed trails during the winter season on Stittsville’s portion of the Trans Canada Trail.)
Imagine a brilliant sun shining from a clear blue sky on a crisp winters day after a snowfall. You are tempted to go for a walk on one of the trails but you are put off by the thought of trudging through the snow. Maybe others have gone out and the snow is packed down but you are unsure of the footing on the lumpy surface. Or you’ve put on your new cross country skis and head out down the TCT, only to come to the realization that breaking trail is hard work.
Robert Postma is heading up a volunteer group called the Stittsville Winter Trail Network (SWTN). The group is endeavouring to groom the TCT and certain recreational pathways in winter in an effort to get more people out enjoying winter. Currently the group has a GoFundMe campaign running to raise money to cover the administrative costs of setting up a not-for-profit organization.
Stittsville Winter Trail Network (SWTN), a small group of volunteers, want to change your perception of winter by grooming a network of recreational pathways.
Grooming would consist of compacting and grooving the trails with a nordic ski track down the side where space permits. There are a number of existing groomed winter trails in Ottawa:
- Kichi Sibi Winter Trail (formerly the SJAM)
- Britannia Winter Trail
- Rideau Winter Trail
- Ski Heritage East and Ottawa West Winter Trail
All of the above are volunteer managed organizations. SWTN wants to grow this network of trails to include our community and build social engagement amongst its users.
SWTN has been investigating a possible network of trails with the TCT as its backbone. The TCT itself could be groomed from Terry Fox Drive to Jinkinson Road. We propose establishing a nordic ski circuit at the CARDELREC Centre, going around the perimeter of the sports fields, an area that is now unused during the winter months. The future Fernbank District Park, along with the adjacent hydro corridor, affords an opportunity to support trails as well as an idea to build a significant hill for tobogganing. A connecting trail to the Amberwood Golf Course, which supports an existing ski circuit, could also be maintained. Eventually additional legs and loops could be added, it may even be feasible to extend grooming of the TCT to the Greenbelt Trails and eventually link with the Ottawa West trails.
One of the favoured areas people like to visit is the TCT west of Westridge Drive. This area certainly feels like being out in the natural environment. Although it would be wonderful to have trails extending off the TCT into the surrounding natural spaces, all of the lands in the wetland area are privately owned. The wetlands are designated as provincially significant, but this does not convey a right of public access and permission from the property owners must be sought.
With winter fading and the trails clearing, why are you reading about this now? All of the trail grooming proposed requires equipment, insurance, permits and most importantly volunteers. All of these things cannot be put in place unless SWTN becomes a legal entity, which means registering our group as a not-for-profit organization in Ontario. This is a milestone that can be achieved during the warmer months.
Becoming a not-for-profit organization requires funds and we have set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise $1,000 to cover initial administrative costs. We are asking for your support to bring more fun to winter in Stittsville by going to https://gofund.me/7adbfc7a and donating what you can.