EMILY HSUEH
LADYSMITH Nov. 25, 2020
After two months of planning, prepping and working, the snowmobile trails in and around Ladysmith are nearly ready to be traversed.
Gerry Bimm was one of the organizers behind the project to restore the Ladysmith trails, some of which hadn’t been maintained for three years. In September he called a meeting with local snowmobilers to organize clean-up efforts to prepare the trails for use in the upcoming winter.
“We’re not finished yet, we’re still out putting up signs and pickets, it’s an ongoing thing,” said Bimm. “But the nice part about it is . . .
that we’re saving … rough estimate, eight or nine kilometres at least of trails that used to be on roads [and getting them] back into the bush where they belong.”
There are two branches of the trails: one heads out towards the Danford Lake and Cayamant area, and the other branch heads over towards Otter Lake and eventually goes down to Campbell’s Bay.
Much of the trails go over private property, and the main concern was to get all of the landowners’ permissions to allow snowmobilers on their land. According to Bimm, they were able to secure nearly all of the landowners’ approvals, and even if they didn’t, they were able to create detours to keep trails functional.
“There have been a couple property owners up here that have really gone out of their way to help us. It’s been really good,” Bimm said. “The other ones to thank are the volunteers, they came out of nowhere when we needed the help. They said, ‘Yep, we’re snowmobilers, let’s get this thing done.’
Bimm urged all snowmobilers to get a trail pass before breaking out their vehicles, as driving a snowmobile on many roads is illegal in Quebec. He encouraged riders to “get on the trails and do it properly.”
“All we need now is some snow and everything should work out well.”
