Mountain bike trail system expanding

By Sandi Krasowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle Journal

Blacksheep Mountain’s Trowbridge Forest Master Plan, which involves improvements and expansion of the Trowbridge Forest trail system, is moving forward thanks to a $250,000 investment from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor).

An additional investment of $260,000, to be made in instalments towards the trail expansion at Shuniah Mines/Trowbridge Forest from the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) Tourism Development Fund, is expected to help improve the site.

Paul Pepe, manager of Tourism Thunder Bay, said the funding for the improvements helps to grow Thunder Bay as a national and internationally recognized cycling destination and can help attract future sport tourism events for cycling.

“Cycling and mountain biking, in particular, is a growth area for the tourism industry in North America with more people travelling with their bikes and seeking new mountain bike destinations,” Pepe said. “It’s a growing focus of our leisure marketing campaigns.”

He added that during the winter, fat biking is on the rise, and Thunder Bay is widely considered a leader in fat bike sales per capita.

“It’s an opportunity for us to expand our winter tourism offering,” he said, adding cycling trail investments also support workforce and youth attraction to a community as people seek active transportation options in a community.

The Blacksheep Mountain Bike Club is gearing up to host the Canada Cup event at the site this weekend and has received an additional $10,000 to support the event from the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission.

Eric Bailey, the club’s race director, called the club members “stewards of the trail system.” He explained how the club began in 1998, and around 10 years ago, “things had really taken off” after developing a partnership with the City of Thunder Bay.

“We got that first round of funding and we developed a master plan,” he said.

David Valente, the club’s president, added that after a master plan was in place, the club began looking for funding and applied for grants to complete year-round access for the multi-use trails in the Shuniah Mines and Trowbridge Forest.

“Beginning from Kinsman Park and going up into the Trowbridge forest, (including Trowbridge campground) the trail system includes new playgrounds and areas that the community could use for other purposes, not just mountain biking,” Valente said.

The system encompasses more than 30 kilometres of existing trail with expansion work being on an additional five kilometres of terrain. Funds are being used for grooming equipment of the trail system for recreational cross-country use in the winter and general maintenance of the cycling trails throughout the year.

More than 50 club members, whom Bailey called “stewards of the trail system,” volunteer year-round to look after and maintain the trail.

“These people are really into trail design and trail building, and they’re always out there looking for the next cool line that could become a signature trail for us,” Bailey said. “In the future, we’ll see a couple of new trails with more specific features and there is growing interest for the development of gravity trails, which have jumps or drops for people to help build their skills.”

Valente called the trail system a “huge asset” for the city that is drawing the interest of visitors who are making it part of their destination along the Trans-Canada Highway, to stop, go mountain bike riding, or use the campground that’s attached to the park.