Group : Town Tourism Committee

Program Coordinator/s: Walking Trail Planner

Contact Person: ????

Outline of Activities Involved
Assist with tasks necessary to develop and maintain walking trails.

Training
Volunteer must have at least one year combined training and or experience working with groups developing or maintaining walking trails.

Information Materials
Any materials such as books, video tapes, etc. will be made available through the local development association.

Dates of project activities.
June - September 2003

People have been living in Newfoundland and Labrador for close to 500 years. John Guy and Henry Crout in their journals describe a path they followed from Cupids to Trinity Bay in 1612 as part of an attempt to make contact with the Beothuk Indians to establish trade. The Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation developed the Crout's Way trail in 1998, by looking for landmarks described in the journals.

Before highways and motorized autos, the main connecting routes between communities were the cart paths and walking trails. Residents travelled on foot along the coastline through areas where wild berries, animals and birds could be found.

In the days of the Newfoundland Pony many cart paths for hauling firewood, building materials or fish were in constant use. Today many of these walking trails and paths are being lost because they need yearly maintenance. With the out-migration and aging population local residents are not able to fulfil this role.

With the demise of the ponies and extensive road building, the trail/path systems have become overgrown with trees and unusable with lack of maintenance.

Volunteers are needed to work along side local people to rebuild and maintain these hiking paths and trails.