Canmore Area Trails Master Plan engagement

The Bow Valley surrounding the Town of Canmore has a multitude of uses and the area’s trails serve as a familiar daily playground for outdoor enthusiasts and a destination for visitors from near and far. It is also an important wildlife corridor in the central Rocky Mountains and is viewed as an extended backyard by residents of and visitors to one of North America’s most desirable mountain communities.

The trails plan establishes a trail system for lands across the Bow Valley that supports nearby wildlife corridors and habitats, while improving outdoor recreation and visitor experience.

The plan makes recommendations for trail network additions, improvements, management and operations which will lead to:

• improvements in the quality of wildlife habitat by shifting trails to concentrate human use and reduce human use in critical wildlife habitat
  • The trails plan will coordinate with the work of the Bow Valley fireguard and targeted fuel reduction which will also improve wildlife habitat quality.
• a network of over 500 kilometres of designated trails that will address the evolving demand for trail-based experiences (downhill mountain biking, beginner trails, adaptive trails) and purposefully designed trails for different activity types
• the network will provide a diversity of recreation options for different uses and experience levels
• decommissioning 270 kilometres of trails where they intersect critical wildlife habitat, are not sustainably built and/or a similar experience is provided elsewhere in the proposed designated trail system
• updates to trail governance and management processes to better support community involvement

Building a more intentional, modernized recreational system helps give users a better idea of what to expect when enjoying their favourite activities which will make experiences more accessible, safe and enjoyable.