Pinawa Trail
Pinawa ’ s section of the Trans Canada Trail spans 27.5 kilometres , from the Seven Sisters Falls Hydro Dam in the south , to the historic Old Pinawa Dam Heritage Park in the north . The trail travels through boreal forest and over granite outcrops of the Canadian Shield . Along its length it follows both the Winnipeg River and the Pinawa Channel , and connects the communities of Seven Sisters Falls and Pinawa .
Improved signage was completed to guide visitors to The Great Trail , The Suspension Bridge , the bathrooms and the Channel Float exit as well as a new Highway sign .
Trail Tread Maintenance
Permanent toilets were added to the Suspension Bridge area along with expanded parking .
Trail tread work was minimal this year because of the Covid 19 virus and the trail that needed additional tread , was too wet for equipment . A new dump buggy was fabricated based on the ones borrowed from Conservation / Parks . Having this buggy will improve the ability to spread material when the trail is sufficiently dry . The buggy fabrication was afforded by the generosity of The Pinawa Friends of the TCT .
Trail Use Statistics
Due to Covid 19 there has been quite an increase in trail users . Numbers in 2020 were markedly higher overall ( 17 out of 22 weeks ) especially in spring and fall . Overall use was 1.49 times higher in 2020 than in 2019 . Much higher counts were recorded near the west end of the Heritage Trail in 2020 ( 2.79 times higher than near the east end ), reflecting the importance of the suspension bridge as a visitor attraction .
The Pinawa Friends of the Trans Canada Trail is a local non-profit Pinawa organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the Trans Canada Trail .
There was a plan to celebrate the 50 th Birthday of the Centennial Trail in conjunction with Manitoba ’ s 150 th Celebrations and hosting 2 hikes in June and October . Unfortunately , COVID and the delays in signage have postponed this now to possibly 2021 .
Treaty 3
The signage project includes the installation of 6 kiosks with maps and interpretive information at Alfred Hole Goose Sanctuary , Telford Tower , Telford Pond , Bear Lake , McGillivray Falls and Caddy Lake . Junctions at each point on the main trail from Alfred Hole Goose Sanctuary to the Eastern Trailhead just west of PTH 312 will provide information on the distance to the next junction and access point on the highway . Highway access signage will also be installed on Hwy 44 . Cairns and limited signage mark the way on the trail built by the Scouts and Guides from the Eastern Trailhead to Hanson ’ s Creek including the Telford Pond and Telford Tower accesses .
Parks advised of possible petroforms ( ancient stone forms that have deep meaning and healing power to those who know how to “ read ” and work with them ) in the area and due to this concern , the logo , which previously featured cairns , had to be redesigned . The new logo now features Manitoba ’ s Provincial Tree – the white spruce . Parks has now prohibited the building and repair of cairns . Unfortunately , 32 cairns were destroyed on the 1.5 km section from McGillivray Falls west to the junction of the Centennial Trail and Blue Highway .
There were 17 trips to the trail with the help of Cindy and Bill Reynolds and Thomas Bishop to completely GPS and mark all existing cairns , signage , areas requiring signage and maintenance . The inventory revealed 1048 cairns , 1161 existing arrows , 385 TCT and cobranded signage and 48 historical Scouts signage .
A maintenance grant from the Trans Canada Trail provided the funds to purchase trail maintenance equipment such as a brush cutter and pruning tools . The Centennial Trail group purchased a small wagon to assist with the transportation of the maintenance tools .
Annual Report-2020 Year in Review 19