Hey Riders,

Last week we released our big master plan for Woolastook park. This week, the plan is being put into action. RVC is proud to share the news that Dig In Trail Building & Design has broken ground on the main connection between what will be Woolastook’s front-country and the new back-country trails that will come next year. RVC’s first professionally built trail is underway!

Ernie and Ian of Dig In bring a very impressive trail resume and we are so psyched to be supporting growth in our local trail industry. They’ve got some impressive skill with both hand-building and using a mini-ex machine and these guys have recently completed projects like the new Fox Trot trail at Poley Mtn., High Tide and Low Tide at Rockwood Park, as well as improvements on the Rockwood Classic MacKay Skyway. You can check out their work on their Instagram channel.

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They’ll be working on about 800 m of trail for the remainder of this fall targeting a solid ‘intermediate’ level difficulty and using the IMBA Canadian Guidelines for building. Now – you will see this under construction over the next few weeks as you are out fat biking. Please stay off. This is under construction until we announce that it’s open for riders but that will not be until the ground firms up next spring and Dig In can complete their finishing work. For now – it’s called T-22 because that’s how it was identified in our plan but we’ll come up with a better name. We’ve got all winter to think about it.

More value coming to Woolastook and the surrounding local communities from our Canada Community Building Fund Grant!

Cheers!

We are excited today to release a Trails Master Plan for Woolastook that will guide our construction efforts (both professional and volunteer) over the next several years as we develop the area into a top-caliber trailhead.

We wanted to do this right.

We invested some serious time and money into the development of this plan. That’s why we engaged Professional Trailbuilders Association member and local legend Matt Hadley to lead the development of this plan. Matt, and his team members at McElhanney had an impressive depth of experience to bring to the project. They travelled to New Brunswick on several occasions to walk the woods and to understand our goals. They brought ideas and valuable advice on how to develop a trail network sustainably, that’s got a lot to offer to all riders, and will stand the test of time.

This plan will:

• Reshape Woolastook to offer a far better rider experience. We’ll minimize confusing intersections and instead implement hubs where loops can logically stack together to offer enjoyable routes. Spend more time riding and less time checking a map on your phone.
  
• Offer a variety of experiences that cater to riders of all levels. Easier trails will be concentrated to the ‘front country’ adjacent to the trailhead and the further you venture into the ‘backcountry’, the more exciting the ride will get.
  
• Leverage naturally interesting terrain that we have available to us under our agreement with the Province. We’ll develop a dedicated climbing trail to the height-of-land near the popular look-off, and we’ll give you several interesting options to get back downhill.
  
• Provide trails that are enjoyable for our hiking, running, and other non-motorized friends that share our space while minimizing conflict with ATV users who have their own trails in close proximity to us.

We hope you’ll take the time to read through this, and let us know what you think. You can send us messages, email, or engage us on our social channels. We want to hear from you!

We need to make a few acknowledgements. This plan wouldn’t have come together without expertise of Matt Hadley and his team – that is for sure. Locally, we need to also acknowledge folks like Norm Siebrasse, Bev Bunker, and Adam Hadley, who spent many days walking the bush in Woolastook over the last year. We want to thank Sam Bosence, Mountain Bike Atlantic, and local ambassador Scott Debreuil who’ve helped raise the profile of the park. We want to thank Des as great neighbor and partner at the Woolastook Park Campground for all of his support in developing the area. We also have to acknowledge that this plan was funded – in full – through RVC’s grant under the Canada Community Building Fund. Finally, the whole club owes some thanks to Mike Hutchinson. Mike conceived this project from the start, and he’s running it as quickly as he can towards success.

You’ll learn more very soon about the partnerships we’re striking to start the construction, and having this plan puts us in a great place.

Like it – Share it – Join RVC!

This weekend there’s some exciting work getting started at Woolastook. The popularity of this place took a big step up this year and it’s getting some new bells and whistles as a result.

We’re excited to say that RVC was recently awarded a $6,500 grant through the Province’s Trail Infrastructure Fund. That grant, coupled with some remarkable equipment and time donations from JIL Engineering ,Treecologic, and incredible local volunteer trail builders, are leading to some nice upgrades.

• The parking lot beside the highway is getting expanded to create some more spots.
• A short gravel approach to Shorline West (a.k.a. Turbowolf) is being installed (no gravel is being put on the trail).
• A few holes are being dug for a proper trailhead kiosk which will be built over the winter and installed next spring .

This is going to make for a much nicer trailhead experience at Woolastook and should be appreciated by locals and travelling riders alike. We’ll be working on a map and signage over the winter.

That’s not all! There’s going to be some more exciting announcements coming up regarding the trails at Woolastook too. We’re working on a plan to make the start of the Woolastook loop a little more strait-forward and less reliant on trails that are shared with motorized vehicles – but more on that later.

Over the weekend please be prepared to plan your route around the construction. Remember – freshly built trails are extremely sensitive to freeze-and-thaw cycles this time of year. If you find something that is fresh and you haven’t heard that it’s been opened for riding you shouldn’t be on it.

Thanks for your cooperation!