A illustration of the planned recreational lakeside trail between Summerland Lower Town and Trout Creek.
Image Credit: Contributed/Trail of the Okanagans
May 16, 2016 - 10:00 AM
SUMMERLAND – The Trail of the Okanagans (TofO) Committee has created three new board positions to better support pathway extensions and to enhance collaboration with local governments and volunteer organizations. The positions were created at the committee’s annual general meeting April 12 in Summerland.
Peachland resident Dianne Hayley and Summerland resident Ellen Woodd were elected to serve in two of the positions as liaisons in the central and south Okanagan respectively. David Gregory from Summerland will represent historical interests in the third board position.
“Now that Phase One of the Summerland-to-Penticton section of the pathway is complete and attracting users, we are focusing on Phase Two, which will extend the pathway from Trout Creek to Penticton,” says re-elected chair Henry Sielmann. “We’re very excited that an engineering study for this phase, jointly funded by the Province, RDOS, Penticton and Summerland is about to get underway. And, there’s a lot of support building for Phase Three that we hope will connect Summerland and Peachland on the historic Fur Brigade Trail, recently honoured with a Heritage B.C. award.”
By connecting Penticton with Summerland and Peachland, the TofO Committee intends to close the gap between trail systems that are currently under development in the south and central Okanagan. The highly anticipated Okanagan Rail Trail between Kelowna and Coldstream will eventually provide a connection to the expanding trail system in the north Okanagan and Shuswap regions.
TofO is a volunteer group of trail enthusiasts and representatives from local governments, tourism offices and the wider community collaborating to develop a world-class recreational pathway between the Shuswap region in the north and Osoyoos in the south. TofO’s most recent event, “Tea at the Top of the Fur Brigade Trail” on Mother’s Day, attracted nearly 100 hikers and cyclists.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016