Cash for Shuswap trails

Photo: Holly Cowan

Provincial funding will allow new trails for hiking, mountain biking, horse riding and snowshoeing in the Shuswap region to move forward this year, according to the Shuswap Trail Alliance.

Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo handed the alliance a $98,061.43 cheque last week.

"What the work partners throughout the Shuswap have done to enhance tourism and grow outdoor recreational opportunities is remarkable," said Kyllo. “I particularly like that the Shuswap Trail Alliance supports so many communities throughout the Shuswap, from Chase to Malakwa, and Enderby to Seymour Arm. The alliance is also engaged with First Nations communities in developing trails to raise the profile, culture and heritage of the Secwepemc peoples.”

The funding comes on the heels of the trail alliance's annual general meeting where an ambitious list of project targets was outlined for the coming year.

The 2017 Shuswap trails infrastructure project includes the addition of six new four-season trails totalling 15 kilometers.

These include: the Rubberhead Dickson mountain bike climb trail, the South Canoe Mo Bedda Mo Budda mountain bike trail, the South EQ Trail Loop Extension, the Larch Hills Traverse Top-O-the-Sic and Cedar Circuit trails, and the North Fork Wild Historic Pack Trail (Perry River Trail Big Tree Loop).

"We targeted completion of currently approved but unfinished trail work within the region," said Phil McIntre-Paul, the alliance's executive director. “Each of these build on some of the region’s most visited destination trail networks.”

In addition to the grant supporting new trail construction, regional partners had word that a smaller grant application supporting new trail planning was also successful.

The $98,000 BCRDF grant will help with planning upgrades to existing alpine trails in the East Shuswap and elsewhere.