The Trans Canada Trail...linking over 33 million Canadians
What we doSpread the wordAt the heart of the Trail’s promotional efforts is the difficult task of trail-building. People just like you are working side by side with professional tree-fellers, earth-movers, fence-installers and boulder-shifters. Helping communities develop the capacity to start trail groups and maintain the trail in the long term is key.
It is also our job to tell the world about the Trail. Public service announcements, corporate partnerships, merchandise development, and the website are some of the ways we do just that. Help people find the Trail“Where exactly is the trail?” is by far the most popular question asked of Trail staffers. People want to locate the Trail in their area, plan trips, or find pavilions. We are working on a new Trail Locator, which will allow you to click on a map and find the Trail anywhere in Canada. You will be able to find pavilions and link to directions. The most exciting feature planned is a postal code lookup, which will allow you to enter your postal code and locate the Trail nearest you. Easy!SignsOnce you’re out on the Trail, it helps to have an idea of where you’re headed. This becomes especially important in rural areas. Aluminum signs and self-adhesive stickers featuring the Trans Canada Trail logo tell users that they’re on the Trail; directional arrows are posted by local trail groups to keep folks on the right track.
Under the Discovery Program, interpretive panels were installed to inform users about local plants and animals. Guidebooks and MapsSeven Official Trans Canada Trail guidebooks have been produced so far. Provinces covered are Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia. There are three stand-alone maps, particularly helpful for planning longer trips, which trace the routes in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Ontario. This achievement would not have been possible without the support of the Canadian Tourism Commission; the publishing and cartographic expertise of Canadian Geographic; and Ulysses, the travel book specialists, who distribute the guidebooks to bookstores throughout Quebec. Planning a Trail Trip? Shop the Trail for your guidebook.…and a few other little thingsIt takes a lot of fundraising, coordinating, liaising, meeting, discussing and negotiating to build trail in a country as big as Canada. The Montreal office is a hub for communication between users and board members, donors and recipients, and trail groups from one side of the country to the other. Donations and memberships are processed here; tax receipts are issued; phone calls and e-mails are answered; name and message panels are produced; the website and other informational projects are managed. And always - planning, planning and more planning for the future.What we don’t doThe Trans Canada Trail does not own or operate any of the trail sections. Management and maintenance are the responsibility of local trail groups and/or municipal, provincial or federal governments.
We create and distribute signs but we don’t install them. Local trail groups use their knowledge of the area to ensure that signs are placed where they are needed the most.
|
