Come on, Canada! Join us on our Canadian journey: Help connect your Trail!

Our Canadian journey is well under way. With two years left before Canada’s 150th birthday, the Trans Canada Trail is now 80 per cent connected from coast to coast to coast and will very soon link nearly 1,000 municipalities. Over the next two years, Canadians will donate time, effort and resources to bridge all the remaining gaps, so that, on the sesquicentennial of Confederation in 2017, the Trail will be a glorious birthday gift for Canada and a legacy for future generations. It takes a community to connect the Trail. And we want everyone to be part of it.

Sea to Sky Marine Trail Squamish, British Columbia
The TCT reaches its Pacific Ocean destination in Clover Point, Victoria, after travelling 3,000 kilometres through beautiful British Columbia. B.C.’s section of the Trail is already 80 per cent connected, with only a few key gaps left to develop. It includes scenic cycling paths, mountainous hiking trails and breathtaking paddling routes, such as the Sea to Sky Marine Trail, a 40-kilometre water route through Squamish Nation traditional territory, from Squamish to Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver, that allows paddlers to observe bald eagles and whales along Howe Sound.

Kilometre Zero North Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
The TCT’s three Kilometre-Zero sites – east, west and north – serve as powerful symbols of Canadian unity from coast to coast to coast. Our Arctic Ocean Trailhead is the historic Inuvialuit community of Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. The TCT travels more than 4,600 kilometres, through all three Canadian territories, before reaching this northern terminus. As we fully connect the TCT in Canada’s North, we will refurbish Tuk’s existing Kilometre-Zero-North marker, located near the trailhead of the majestic Mackenzie River Trail.

Duck Mountain Provincial Forest (Crocus Trail), Manitoba
In the land of 100,000 lakes, the TCT links historic prairie towns with Winnipeg, traversing rolling plains, boreal forest and tallgrass prairie. Manitoba’s 1,500-kilometre section of the Trail is already 92 per cent connected, leaving less than 120 kilometres to develop. One of the few remaining gaps is a remote wilderness trail in Duck Mountain Provincial Forest. Once the Crocus Trail is re-established in Manitoba, it will link to Saskatchewan’s Duck Mountain Provincial Trail for cross-border walking/hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing.

Parcours des Anses Lévis, Quebec
In Quebec, the TCT presents the very best of la belle province – cosmopolitan Montreal, historic Quebec City, pristine boreal parks and charming rural regions, plus a distinct language and culture. The Parcours des Anses, in Lévis, Quebec, is a popular cycling trail with a view of Quebec City, the oldest walled town in North America. The province’s 1,500-kilometre portion of the TCT is currently 97 per cent connected, leaving only a few dozen kilometres to develop in time for Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. 

Pictou County Trails Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s 900-kilometre section of the Trail may be only
38 per cent connected, but it already boasts spectacular paddling and hiking routes through bucolic countryside. The eight-kilometre section in Pictou County links Trailside communities from Pictou to New Glasgow, known as “the birthplace of New Scotland.” With designated sections for walking, hiking, cycling and paddling, this active transportation corridor will prove vital for the area’s rapidly growing communities.

View full report online at globeandmail.com.