After a section of the TOP C snowmobile trail was plowed for a logging road, volunteers with the Sudbury Trail Plan Association (STP) headed out to Gowganda to help the small club open an alternate route in late January.

According to an STP media release, hundreds of snowmobilers that used that road as part of the main trans-provincial TOP C snowmobile trail, and businesses that rely on travelling riders looking for food, gas, and overnight accommodations, would have been out in the cold.

Urs Brunner from Auld Reekie Lodge in Gowganda recognized that the problem of a shared route, STP reported, and along with local volunteers worked to find an alternative trail. Once that route was found, the replacement trail needed to be cleared of brush and limbs, and proper signage installed to ensure maximum safety.

That's where the Sudbury Trail Plan Association (STP) came in. STP President Dave Bolton recruited 15 volunteers to spend to drive out to Gowganda on Jan 26th to spend three days getting that work done.

What's more, once the work had started they discovered another section of trail that had to be re-routed.

“The hard work of volunteers, planning and generosity of some local lodge owners are to be thanked for this new connection to the north,” Bolton said. “Snowmobilers across the province that regularly travel the TOP C route between Sudbury and Timmins as well as destinations in between can now enjoy this new northern route.”

For more local and district trail condition information check the OFSC website at: ofsc.on.ca under Trail Conditions – District 12 or at sudburytrailplan.on.ca.

Posted by Mark Gentili