Wikwemikong Tourism

Trail Development Services

Trail Development Services

LET US ASSIST YOU IN PLANNING, DESIGNING AND BUILDING YOUR TRAIL SYSTEM

Connecting communities through trails

Our Trail Development Services specialize in  planning, designing and building non-motorized trail systems for First Nations and Municipalities. Whether you’re building a trail for health/recreation, active transportation or trails tourism our team has the expertise to execute a trail plan that is aligned with your communities vision. Our trail specialists assist in planning, constructing and training communities in sustainable trail practices including risk management and maintenance.

Plan, Design, Build, Train

Our team uses the plan, design, build & train model for trail construction to develop the best possible user experience trail systems while building capacity in the communities we service. When using this process properly it ensures better efficiencies during all stages of trail development. Spending adequate time and resources in the planning and designing stages will allow the building phase to be carried out more precisely and efficiently. Training in the principles of sustainable trail building and maintenance allow for the plan to be executed properly with minimal trail maintenance in the future.

Plan

  • Coordinate with stakeholders & community partners to identify desires, needs and wants in the trail development including asset inventory for economic development, trails tourism, active transportation and health/recreation.
  • Work with land use planners to identify land usage, cultural, historical sites, species at risk and ecologically sensitive areas.
  • Assess and mitigate risk.
  • Develop a trail plan that is inclusive of costing, materials and signage needs.
  • Sourcing government grants for trail funding

Design

  • Use principles of sustainable trail building to address the desires, needs and wants from the planning phase.
  • Field work consists of plotting trails, assessing positive control points and finding usable materials.
  • Pin flag to ensure proper trail flow and alignment.

Build

  • Skillfully construct the trail by following the design while also adjusting when necessary for unaccounted for opportunities and challenges.
  • Experienced and qualified trail builders ensure minimal future trail maintenance.

Train

  • Partnerships with industry professionals to offer training in both mechanized and hand built applications while constructing your trail project.
  • Specialized training in constructing boardwalks and bridges
Mechanized Building

Mechanized Building

Mechanized equipment is used in trail building to offset the higher cost of hand building. A mechanized trail builder is able to complete a considerable amount of trail in a short period of time. Production rates vary depending on such items as: the slope of the terrain, soil conditions, climate, trail usage and existing foliage density.

Hand Building

Hand Building

Hand built trails require the use of hand tools to hand finish the trail surface and trim the back slope to the trail tread. Hand built trails are generally labor intensive projects and more conducive to back country hiking trails.

Past & Current Projects