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The yellow brick trail
This fall, Uxbridge celebrates the second anniversary of being designated the “Trail Capital of Canada”. There’s a tourism planning committee which is currently working hard on making the best of that title, because the rest of Canada certainly hasn’t paid much attention so far. At any rate, two years along, we thought it was worth repeating the editorial we wrote on that occasion.
What exactly does it mean to be the “Trail Capital” of Canada? Were there dozens of other communities or municipalities vying for the title? Does it mean we have more individual trails, or more kilometres of trails, or a greater variety of trails, or more beautiful trails, than any other place in Canada? Or are we just the only town that thought to apply for the designation, and the federal government saw no real good reason not to grant our request?
We suspect there’s a bit of truth in all of the above. There probably wasn’t a fierce competition for the trophy, although when they discover that the designation has been grabbed by Uxbridge, a few other communities that come to mind may be kicking themselves that they didn’t think of it first. Because, as we’ll discover in years to come, the title is a very nice one to own from a tourism point of view.
And we suspect that even if we didn’t have a hundred rivals, the feds still didn’t award the honour lightly. Even if they didn’t exactly ask for applications, they probably came up with a list of criteria that if met, would make the title meaningful. So yes, they probably had to be satisfied that for the size of our population, we had a significant number of trails that added up to an impressive length, and ran through a variety of terrain, and above all, were well-used.
What may have particularly impressed them is that aren’t too many nooks and crannies of Uxbridge town that aren’t near to a trail. It’s one thing to have lots of rural or wilderness trails, many Ontario municipalities have those; we’ve had them ourselves for decades. It’s another to have a variety of trails right in town that have a wild portion, and are accessible from many places. What’s even more remarkable is that Uxbridge’s town trails have been developed from nothing in less than a decade.
Township Councils present and past, current CAO and former Parks Director Ingrid Svelnis, the leaders of Uxbridge Naturally, and the many volunteers with the trail system get a lot of credit for creating the trails that Uxbridge enjoys today, and for continuing to develop them; the newest trail, the Butternut, opened just a few weeks ago.
Hikers, cyclists and horsefolk already flock to our trails from many miles around. If our new designation is well marketed, that out-of-Township usage is bound to grow rapidly; the trails may well compete with Lucy Maud or the Heritage Railway as our top tourist draw.
A lot of people have worked very hard to make Uxbridge a worthy titleholder as Trail Capital. So whenever you get the opportunity, take the chance to applaud them. But an even better way to pay them tribute is to walk their beautiful trails. Take a stroll along the Ewen Trail - watch for the turtles on Bass Pond. Stop and be still for a moment in the Walker Woods; you’ll probably see a deer. For a real treat, climb up Observation Hill in the Countryside Preserve. You’re only a few minutes from the WalMart parking lot, but you’re in a whole different world. In the fall, prepare to have your breath taken away. Contemplate that view for a few moments, and soon you’ll be doing that rare thing - praising the Govt. of Canada for its wisdom, in recognizing that Uxbridge truly is the Trail Capital of Canada.
July 14, 2011
