FREDERICTON TRAILS COALITION
ABOUT US
This website was created in 2009 by Carol Randall of Fredericton Keepsakes and last updated on
May 28, 2010
In the early 1980s a vision of abandoned rail lines converted to walking trails emerged in Fredericton, the Capital City of New Brunswick.
Fredericton Trails Coalition, a volunteer organization dedicated to building trails in our beautiful city, was incorporated and we opened our first trail, the Gibson Trail, in 1993. About this time, the larger vision of a Trans Canada Trail was born with a natural route through our city. The stars were all in line when the Irving Corporation generously donated 377 KM of abandoned line including the CN Railway bridge to the Province of New Brunswick. With this gift, the Trans Canada Trail in New Brunswick could follow south along the St. John River crossing at Fredericton on its proposed route to Saint John. The first section of the Trans Canada Trail was completed in Fredericton in 1996, followed the next year by the bridge opening. Crossing the river in the centre of our beautiful city, lookouts from the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge provide great views and has been the meeting place for Frederictonians and their friends ever since.
Fredericton, with a population just over 50,000, claims more than 80 km of non-emmisioned multi use trails, which are accessible to pedestrians, wheelchairs and cyclists. In the winter months many of these trails are groomed for cross-country skiers, snowshoers, as well as walkers. Our trail network, including the Trans Canada Trail, has the superb advantage of following waterways, creating a quiet restorative place to walk, bike or just sit and enjoy at one of our strategically located sheltered picnic sites, while other sections travel through residential areas. Periodically we get a peek at muskrat, beaver, deer, bald eagles, and osprey while enjoying the trails and boast of Canada’s only amphibian conservation area at Hyla Park.
Today the Fredericton Trails Coalition, with its dedicated volunteer base:
a) Works closely with the New Brunswick Trails Council;
b) Manages an Adopt-A-Trail program where hundreds of school children and volunteers acknowledge the 'ownership' of their section of trail by having a Trail Cleaning Day.
c) Produces a yearly Trail Guide in partnership with the City of Fredericton that is distributed through many outlets around Fredericton, tourist bureaus and our Trail Visitor Centre, as well as at trade fairs to our United States neighbours as far south as Boston;
d) Volunteers and assists the staffing at the Trail Visitor Centre on the north end of the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge;
e) Offers a promotional presentation to groups throughout the Greater Fredericton Area, entitled "Oh What A Feeling" (a 15-minute DVD of photos and music), followed by an overview of our organization with a period for Questions-Answers. Contact us if you would like to book FTC for your next meeting.
f) And most important, enjoys a close partnership with the Department of Parks and Trees of the City of Fredericton to enhance the trails and work to fulfill our vision of a superb trail network in our great city.
Did You Know?
The CN Bridge, renamed the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge in 2008, at 581 metres (1906 feet) is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world converted from a railway bridge.Hyla Park on the Gibson Trail, Canada’s first amphibian park, is home to 4 of 5 species of frogs, two of these living in their most northerly location.The Trans Canada Trail Pavilion was erected on the south side of the Bill Thorpe Bridge and presently has over 3000 names inscribed on its tablets. The Trail Visitor Centre was built by members of the Fredericton Trail Patrol in 2002 as a replica of the last Train Station that stood in South Devon (now part of Fredericton North).A non-profit, voluntary, public service organization dedicated to the preservation, development and promotion of green spaces. Fredericton's trails are maintained for both summer and winter use
(pedestrian and cross-country ski use).
