Parks Canada鈥檚 trail crew is gearing up for another busy summer with several major projects scheduled to begin over the next few months.
鈥淲e鈥檙e focusing a lot of our trail work on the places people frequent most,鈥� said Marci DeWandel, coordinator for trail projects in Jasper National Park.
In the backcountry, a five-person crew will focus on improving and rehabilitating the Tonquin Valley Trail, from the Edith Cavell trailhead to the Old Horn rock slide area, a stretch of trail roughly 8.5 km long.
The crew will also focus on improving the Overlander Trail as well as the 20 Mile Loop鈥攁lso known as the Saturday Night Loop.
Parks also intends to improve the Minnow Lake campground along the Saturday Night Loop to offer people an opportunity to travel in the backcountry, while staying fairly close to town.
At the Overlander Trail, crews will improve access at the east end of the trail, formalizing the trailhead to make it more inviting.
鈥淚t can be a bit confusing because there鈥檚 a bit of a mosaic of unofficial trails and people tend to get disoriented there,鈥� said DeWandel, about the Overlander Trail.
There are also plans to rehabilitate the new Re-Run cross-country ski trail, which opened at Marmot Meadows last winter, as well as plans to improve the trail at Whistlers Summit.
The work at Whistlers Summit is a collaborative effort between Parks Canada, the Friends of Jasper and the SkyTram.
Last year, volunteers with the Friends of Jasper鈥攊n conjunction with Parks Canada鈥攕tarted working on the trail and this summer more work is expected to take place to formalize it.
鈥淭he crew will head up there again this season to see how that work survived the winter months to determine if there鈥檚 any other work that needs to be done and they will also be putting in directional signage,鈥� said DeWandel.
Last June, the Friends of Jasper announced it had received a $50,000 grant from Tauck Tours World of Giving Program, a grant program from the American travel company, to realign, redefine and rehabilitate the trail to Whistlers Summit.
In the front country, two trail crews will focus their energy on Jasper鈥檚 鈥渆asy trail鈥� system, including the Lake Annette Trail and Trail 7.
鈥淎n easy trail is our widest, easiest standard of trail in the park and most of our easy trails will connect the townsite to a high use area, such as Lake Annette or the campgrounds,鈥� explained DeWandel, pointing to examples like Wapiti Trail and Big Horn Alley.
The Lake Annette trail, which is 2.4 km long, was paved as a wheelchair-friendly trail in 1970 with the support of the Clifford E. Lee Foundation, but since then it has deteriorated due to use and erosion.
This year鈥檚 trail work will involve widening the trail tread, levelling broken or sagging pavement, stabilizing the shoreline, clearing sightlines and repairing sections where erosion has undermined the integrity of the pavement. The trail will then be re-paved later in the fall鈥攚hen there are less people using it鈥攕o that it remains wheelchair and stroller-friendly well into the future.
Work began at Lake Annette last week, with construction on the retaining wall that separates the beach from Ochre Lake.
To carry out the work, a 140 metre section of the trail is now closed until mid-May. A detour is in place to get around the construction and the beach will also remain open on either side of the closure.
In addition to the trail improvements, a dock at Lake Annette was recently replaced and is already in the water and ready for use.
鈥淔rom time to time we might have the odd roving closure where a section of the trail might be closed off for a few hours because they have to take down a danger tree or there is equipment that blocks the trail, but for the most part our goal is to provide the least amount of disturbance to visitors and locals on our trails,鈥� said DeWandel.
Trail 7, along the Athabasca River, is the other major trail slated for rehabilitation.
The multi-use trail stretches from Old Fort Point to the Sixth Bridge day use area.
According to Parks, trail crews will work over the summer to bring the trail up to an easy trail standard.
To bring the trail up to that standard, crews will level areas, re-route the path in certain areas and crown other sections that collect water.
Crews will also narrow the trail in several spots because it already exceeds the standard width of an easy trail, which is about 1.5 to two metres wide.
Parks also intends to improve the trail system at Valley of the Five Lakes by rerouting some parts of the trail around steep and rocky hills and create several pullouts along the way to allow people to pass one another.
A dock will also be installed at the fifth lake to make it a destination for people.
DeWandel was unable to provide any more information about the $65.9 million earmarked in the federal budget for a 鈥榳orld class鈥� biking and walking trail in JNP.
鈥淭hat $66 million was part of a larger proposed investment to Parks to improve tourism and highway access in general and because it was a proposal it鈥檚 still in parliament and the budget hasn鈥檛 been approved yet, so details for that project are still forthcoming,鈥� said DeWandel.
According to the Edmonton Journal, Yellowhead MP Jim Eglinski believes it may be similar, or at least in the same 鈥減erspective,鈥� as the Banff Legacy Trail. That 22-kilometre paved bike path links Banff and Canmore and runs parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway, drawing tens of thousands of people during the warmer months.
鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of waiting with bated breath here as well,鈥� said DeWandel, promising to let the public know as soon as she finds out more.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
