BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance Staff
Move over, Great Wall of China. The Great Trail now connects Canada’s 13 provinces and territories with 24,000 km of trails that loop and wind from the far north to the 49th parallel.
Among the dozens of trail openings celebrated across Canada last Saturday was a path that leaves Highway 3A about 2 km north of Gray Creek and goes to Crawford Bay, where it will allow ferry passengers from the west to resume their hiking or biking trip along what was until recently known as the Trans-Canada Trail.
At a small ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Farley Cursons described the segment as a combination of new construction and existing rural roads. Cursons is the founder and project manager of the East Shore Trail and Bike Association, which has also created a trail network on the Crawford Peninsula, better known locally as the Pilot Peninsula.
RDCK Area A director Garry Jackman was adamant that the Gray Creek-Crawford Bay connector “is the last spike”.
“This trail really was the last portion of The Great Trail to be planned and built,” he said.
Travellers on The Great Trail, which also offers paddling, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling experiences, can now arrive on the ferry and make their way westward to Kimberley via the Gray Creek Pass with less highway shoulder walking.
More information about The Great Trail can be found on the Internet at thegreattrail.ca.