Lifestyle & Travel
Mar 1, 2017
TRANS CANADIAN TRAIL - THE GREAT TRAIL THAT UNITES CANADA
Its construction began in 1992, the Trans Canada Trail has the purpose to unite the extremes of Canada since the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Arctic, and it's about to be completed this Fall, precisely in the year of the celebration of the country's 150th anniversary, in a route that sums up to 24,000 kilometers.
With an estimated cost of 75 million dollars, it needed 25 years of hard work to complete this ambitious project. The trail binds together for the first time ever urban trails, less travelled countryside roads, creeks and trails that cross the Canadian mountains and forests, uniting and estimate 15,000 communities dispersed throughout the territory and with an app that will make every trackers' lives easier.
The Trans Canada Trail Foundation confirms that so far over 20,000 kilometres of the trail have been completed and are already in use and that the remaining 4,000 kilometres will be completed up to the Fall of the current year, silver lining as main attraction the fact that any of the trails parcels are a mere 30 minutes away from the homes of four on each five Canadians.
The construction of the trail began upon the 125th anniversary of the founding of Canada with five clear objectives: leaving a national legacy for the future generations; inspiring healthy activities among the population; preserving the great green spaces of the nation; educating and raising awareness towards the History, cultural and natural heritages of Canada and developing the economy through the stimulation of tourism, turning the trail into a differential that will attract tourists from the whole world, creating new investment and job opportunities.
The trails rises as a joint effort of public and private entities, being that the maintenance of each section of the trail is the responsibility of local authorities, municipalities, nationwide governmental entities or even private businesses and associations. Although the Canadian government has funded a great part of the trail (35 million dollars), many companies and private foundations also contributed non-profit for its construction. Besides that, the Foundation carries several donation campaigns so that the citizens can contribute for it, as an extra incentive the government already compromised to fund extra 50 cents on each dollar raised. Meaning that if a donations campaign raises 50,000 dollars, the government will fund an extra 25,000 dollars and so on until the completion of the work.
The construction took 25 years, mostly due to the need to create new trails in very scarcely populated areas with very rough terrains, still in its original wilderness state. The already existing trails were recovered and extended, the largest trail section being on Ontario. It's noteworthy that you can opt for several sections of the trail depending on your own outdoor tastes, if most of the trail is ideal for racing, hiking, skiing, riding and biking, 26% of it are only possible through padding. The first territories annexed to it were Labrador and Newfoundland, given its proximity to Zero Kilometre in St. John's.
On 2016 a new marketing campaign was launched, rebranding the initiative as The Great Trail, enhancing that the trail was "built by Canada" and silver lining that "no matter your age, your beliefs or your passions, there is a link that connects us all (…) Canada is home to the greatest trail in the world. Our epic trail-of-trails was created by thousands of dreamers, can-doers, volunteers, friends and partners sharing the same audacious goal of connecting our country. Though Canada is as diverse as it is vast, we can all find common ground on the Trail."
A great portion of the trail was possible thanks to the recycling of the ancient and historical train tracks that were left abandoned, as time passed by the migrations from the countryside to the cities and the generalization of the use of automobiles, those tracks were no longer sustainable and now they were given a new life.
Contacts: www.thegreattrail.ca * info@tctrail.ca * Tel: +1800 465 3636 * Trans Canada Trail, 300-321 de la Commune W, Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2E1, Canada
