Greater Vernon to become ‘Trails Capital of B.C.’

While Kamloops is the Tournament Capital of Canada, Vernon could soon become the "Trails Capital of B.C."

The Ribbons of Green Trails Society is registering "Greater Vernon – Trails Capital of B.C." as a trademark.

Society president Kim Young said the initiative is to recognize the effort in the last 20 years to develop the trail network in the area.

"We have a tremendous trail network in Vernon, it's amazing when you actually look at it," Young said.

On July 6, politicians at the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee agreed to spend $5,000 on making the proposal a reality.

So does Greater Vernon really have more trails than elsewhere in the province?

Young wouldn't speculate on how many hundreds of kilometres of trails the area has but said it's not about volume it's about scope.

"Vernon has got multi-use pathways that connect Okanagan Lake to Kal Lake to Swan Lake and it's… surrounded on two sides by the Grey Canal trail," he said.

From the "granddaddy" trail that is the Okanagan Rail Trail, the region has a wide variety of trails for multiple uses.

Young points out that the private development of Predator Ridge has included plenty of public hiking and biking trails, and SilverStar also has a tremendous trail network.

Sovereign Lake has developed an array of nordic skiing trails, and the North Okanagan Cycling Society has developed mountain biking trails in Kalamalka Provincial Park and Ellison Provincial Park along with elsewhere on Crown land.

His own organization has also worked on 100s kilometres of trails around the region.

Young said Vernon adopting the trails capital of B.C. slogan would work in the same way Kamloops calls itself the Tournament Capital of Canada and Squamish the Recreation Capital of Canada.

Currently, Uxbridge, Ontario has the trademark for the Trail Capital of Canada, but Young said Greater Vernon has far better and more diverse trails.

"They can be the trail capital of Canada and we are going to be the trail capital of B.C.," he said.

Young said he hopes the designation will lead to publicizing all the trails in one place and expects it will be used in marketing the area to tourists.

It could even lead to the trails capital of B.C. slogan being used on the welcome to Vernon highway signs.

The trademark will go to the directors at the Regional District of North Okanagan later this month for final approval.

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