Fans of the Reinecker Trail system will be pleased to know improvements are in the works.
At the March 21 board meeting in Salmon Arm, Columbia Shuswap Regional District directors unanimously approved a sole source agreement in the amount of $195,553.14 plus tax with the Shuswap Trail Alliance (STA) for the supply and installation of four kilometres of non-motorized trail and a pedestrian bridge within the Reinecker Creek Trail System.
The trail system is located in Electoral Area C and the project will establish a western access from Herald Provincial Park, avoiding private property and a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) gravel pit.
Park improvements will include a pedestrian bridge crossing a western tributary of Reinecker Creek, while the proposed trail addition will add single-track access for mountain bikes and a more enjoyable loop option for walkers using the trail around Herald Provincial Park.
The Reinecker Creek trail system, which was established in 2009, connects Herald Provincial Park to White Lake Provincial Park and is managed in partnership with the Province of BC through Recreation Sites and Trails BC. The trail network is made up of two routes that parallel Reinecker Creek.
The west trail is a multi-use one that permits motorized traffic and is two- to three-metres wide and roughly 10 kilometres long. The east trail is a non-motorized trail route that is half-a-metre wide and 10 kilometres long. There are three crossing points – north, middle and south. The middle crossing is about halfway through the east and west trails and the north crossing is at the top, or north, end of both trails.
The east trail begins in Herald Park, off the Upper Canyon Loop. The figure eight shape of the trail system provides several loop options, ranging from 10 to 20 km. Mountain bikes can only access and exit Herald Park on the east side of the Margaret Falls Parking Lot. A shorter 10-km loop is also possible from the middle crossing to the north crossing by using the Bastion Mountain Forest Service Road access to the middle trailhead.
A total of $194,700.00 of the Community Parks Area C 2024 draft budget was identified for this project, with $187,200.00 of the project being funded by a Destination Development Fund grant and the remainder coming from reserves.
Electoral Area C Director Marty Gibbons offered enthusiastic support for the project.
“This is an incredible jewel of our community,” he said, noting the benefit the trail system provides in terms of economic development. “It’s well within budget and I look forward to getting it off the ground.”
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