Paudash Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club has just over 300 km of amazing trails extending from Gooderham to near Bancroft and from just north of Apsley to the south end of Algonquin Park.
Our trails connect to other great trails going in every direction.
There are services available through our club area (gas, food snowmobile dealers and accommodation) so you can be assured of an enjoyable ride no matter where you go.
Watch for club events like the cookout during the sledding season as well, where you can enjoy a BBQ’d delight and a drink.
Trails Update December 15
We continue to pack trails and we are seeing lots of snow in many areas. Looking ahead, we see a couple of warmer days a bit later in the week, which won't do any real damage to the trails but will cause us to suspend grooming activities. The longer-range forecast looks good and we should be making good progress before and after the warm spell.
We have one groomer temporarily out of action but expect to get it fixed shortly as it needs a technician with a computer to tell us what's going on.
We have completed one more project, which was some improvements on the 612 Baptiste Lake trail, right near the lake. Armed with an MNRF permit, we were able to improve and straighten the access to Baptiste Lake itself, which will increase everyone's confidence as they approach it from the lake side.
We also expect that the work on the E109 bridge at the old Martin Mill will be completed this week and look forward to posting some pictures of that project.
We'll let everyone know when we are ready to make changes to the ITG.
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Landowners are Very Special Supporters
We know everyone is getting excited with the cold temperatures and snow and we are getting things started. Groomers have been out for the past couple of days packing trails. As soon as we have some changes for the ITG, we will let everyone know.
In the meantime, we want to call out the important contribution of landowners. In the province of Ontario, there are over 15,000 individuals that volunteer the use of their land every year. Paudash Trail Blazers has well over 100 landowners that generously volunteer their land for snowmobile trails.
Landowners do not get compensated for allowing their land to be used for an OFSC trail. In this sense, they too, are an integral part of the voluntary system that makes organized snowmobiling work for our club and across Ontario.
We have many different kinds of landowners including residents, farmers, cottagers, resorts, hunt clubs, wood lot operators, municipalities and others. By agreeing to allow a snowmobile trail to cross their property these landowners contribute to their local clubs and their home communities.
The club’s Landowner Coordinator obtains a signed land use permission from each landowner. This permission is for exclusive use of a trail corridor through their property only during the winter. This signed permission also allows the club volunteers to start trail preparation in the fall and to close up the trails in the spring.
The process of putting together a trail is very complicated as a club needs to obtain permission from a multitude of landowners. For this reason snowmobilers are asked to respect the trail by staying on the trail as marked and only using the trails when they are marked as available on the Interactive Trail Guide as each landowners has the right to refuse us entry.
Please respect our landowners by doing your part to show appreciation for the use of their land for snowmobile trails by remembering that/to:
1. Stay on the trail.
2. Leave stakes intact.
3. Leave gates and fences alone.
4. Respect equipment and property.
5. Avoid farm animals and pets.
6. The trail is for snowmobile use only.
7. Permission has been given only for winter use.
8. Use only when the trail is open.
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Another Trail Improvement Completed
The club has just completed some work on the 616 trail on the east side of Chandos Lake (in Winters Bay) that goes to Glen Alda. It was always a bit tricky coming on and off the lake with both natural and man-made obstacles to get around. We have moved the trail a bit, onto a municipal road allowance. making it much more straight-forward to ride on and off the lake.
We want to thank the Chandos Lake Property Owners Association for the financial contribution towards the cost of doing this project. This is great support by a community-spirited organization and helped to make this improvement possible.
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We’re evaluating what the recent Ontario Government funding announcement means for our club, how it will flow through the districts, and what it may provide to the Paudash Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club. While the OFSC has indicated that the 5,000 km of removed trails will be restored, we will only consider reopening the few trails we closed where and when we can do so safely, sustainably, and with proper grooming support.
Signage on those trails has already been removed, landowner agreements have not been renewed (with one permission now revoked), and our club lost a groomer through the earlier trail reduction process while also taking on new District grooming responsibilities. These factors require thoughtful evaluation before any decisions are made.
Paudash Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club has worked hard preparing for this season. We’ve completed important trail reroutes, including the reconnection to Gooderham, and have made significant upgrades and repairs across our network. Our Committee Members, Groomers, and Volunteers are well-positioned to operate our current trail system optimally. We are eager to open the gates and paint the ITG green, and we’re proud of the quality and readiness of the trail network we have built in Trail Blazers Country!
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