East Gwillimbury, Ontario: Building a Trails Community

IMBA teaches a Trailbuilding School in Mount Albert

This smiling group hasn't hit the dirt yet!
Trailbuilding School participants begin the construction of what is referred to as a full-bench trail
Removing the organic material and building the trail on mineral soil is important for drainage, and the trail's long-term sustainability.
Anthony holds up a root ball with pride. When removing small trees from the tread, it is a good idea to pull them up, roots and all. Otherwise, the short pungees can pose a potential hazard.
These two volunteers find conversation makes the time fly while compacting the finished tread.
All that's left to do is remove the pin flags. The trail is complete!

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew veterans, Mark Schmidt and Lora Woolner, shared their knowledge with trail users of all types at a recent IMBA Trailbuilding School in Mount Albert, Ontario. The visit was organized by the East Gwillimbury Trails Advisory Committee, whose mandate is the creation, development, preservation, management and use of recreational trails within the Town of East Gwillimbury.

The focus of the weekend's work was the re-route of an existing section of the Vivian Creek Trail. More than 20 people came out for a classroom session on sustainable trail creation, followed by a lesson on trail construction in the field. Mountain bikers, hikers, dog walkers, cross-country skiers, and snowshoers were represented, and the result was a short trail that the entire community can enjoy.

A special thanks to the East Gwillimbury Trails Advisory Committee for a very well organized event!