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Almaguin Trails


YupIDoo

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Good morning all - don't post often, but am hoping someone out here can help.   I have tried the obvious avenues to answer these questions, but emails have gone unanswered and I've not been able to get a straight, definitive answer from anybody up there.  

 

Rumor has it that the Almaguin Club, which is the south end of D11,  will be closing some significant sections of trail for this winter - namely the D123 from Seguin through Burk's Falls and the club trail 305 in it's entirety.   This effectively cuts off the west side of their system and those who ride from there.   Those around the Burks Falls / 3 Mile Lake / Doe Lakes have limited choices, especially early before lakes freeze.

 

Do any of the members here have the same ... or conflicting information?   Thanks for any info -

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Why the pm? something going on the rest of the forum shouldn't know

 

D123 isn't in my district, so I don't know what is going on there. I like riding it though, so I decided to send a PM to YupIDoo to ask about the trail.

 

I put the "pm sent" comment so he would see it in the thread, just in case he missed the tiny little icon telling him I'd sent him a message.

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C123 is  mostly on private land with dozens of landowners, and any unresolved landowner issue has the potential to shut down the entire trail, as well as 305.  There are issues to resolve almost every year. Like many areas in Ontario,  speculation and fear regarding Bill 100 have presented even more challenges this year.  Almaguin District Snowmobile Club is working hard to retain all of our trails.  Since these are delicate ongoing negotiations we'll just have to be patient for a little longer until we know whether we've been successful.

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Thanks for some info W.E.

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  • 1 month later...
On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 5:40 PM, whits-end said:

C123 is  mostly on private land with dozens of landowners, and any unresolved landowner issue has the potential to shut down the entire trail, as well as 305.  There are issues to resolve almost every year. Like many areas in Ontario,  speculation and fear regarding Bill 100 have presented even more challenges this year.  Almaguin District Snowmobile Club is working hard to retain all of our trails.  Since these are delicate ongoing negotiations we'll just have to be patient for a little longer until we know whether we've been successful.

Any updates?

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Sorry Away Moose Hunting, ADSC does not close any trails unless they can no longer be groomed safely groomed due to terrain, Land owner closures or other factors beyond the control of the club. It is highly likely that D123 will not open in its current location any longer due to such circumstances. We are in the process of rerouting D123 through Kearney for this season as we see very little hope of solving the issues that are closing it one being land owner closures and the other being trial base which has eroded to the point of no longer being groomable. As of the introduction of More On The Snow  by the OFSC there will be very little or no infrastructure money available in the up coming years for trail maintenance which will have drastic affects on the trail system in the future. As we are right now the trail through Burks Falls and Katrine will no longer exist along withe most of the ADSC 305. As winter comes closer you will see multiple closures around the province due to the above mentioned reasons

We will post any changes if they occur

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I was talking at the show to one of the guys who work at Rickwards in Kearney and he said the trail through Katrine would likely become a club trail 300 series and they will be relocating the D123 trail.

Hope the Katrine access stays. Been riding out of there for 20 yrs. 

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Sad that these trails are going to be closed.  The worst part is these problems have been the same  for some time now.  The reality is the suggestions to this club have been ignored and shut down because of the old boys club and inner politics that exist.  I ve attended meetings there and I was embarrassed at the bickering and waste of time.  It was very apparent that the upper directors of the club are very concerned with the D trail and pay little attention to club trails.   Further last year was a bad season for snow however , there were times when this particular club claimed to be out grooming and it was very obvious this was not the case and on one particular occasion the groomer was going so quickly with the drag up that nothing was being accomplished anyway.  I know for a fact that there have been requests not only by myself but with others in my area offering volunteer hours and they too have fallen on deaf ears.  This year I have decided along with my buddies to support some other clubs.

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  • 1 month later...

Update: 

There will be a trail from the Seguin north thru Katrine and Burk's Falls to Pickerel Lake this year.  The detour near Jack Lake is almost complete, and other landowner issues have been resolved (at least for now).  This was formerly known as Trail D123 and will now be Almaguin Trail 306.  Many thanks Armour Township, and to the volunteers that made this happen.

 

The D123  name has been reassigned to a trail that runs from Kearney (behind Fetterly's Garage, formerly parts of 302 and 303) to Pickerel Lake, where it rejoins the old D123 and continues north to Sundridge.

 

That's the good news.  Now the bad news: Almaguin Trail 305 (Bob's Way) will not be open this year.

 

 

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Thanks for the update Whits End.Glad to hear the trail thru Katrine and Burks Falls to Pikerel lake will be open. Sucks that the 305 will be closed. Usually saw lots of deer on that trail. Just to let people know a little history that the 305 was named "Bob's Way" after the death of one of the biggest Supporter/Volunteer's that the club had back in our clubs early years. His name was Bob Smith and he was a great asset to the Almaguin Club. He spent countless hours getting the trails built,opened and groomed by using an Alpine. Bob and his wife Laurie also owned Edgewater Resort on Sand Lake for many years. 

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Thank you for the news,  whits-end.

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Absolutely right, Snowchopper.  'Big Bob' spent countless hours on the trails  with 'Alpine and bedsprings' for many years after they sold Edgewater.  In fact, Bob and Al Symons (from Pickerel Lake Lodge) were the nucleus to connect Sand Lake and Pickerel Lake and create a club in the early 70's.  Then merging with the Katrine club to create 'Knights of Armour Snowmobile and Ski Club'.  This was the basis for ADSC as we know it today.........Your history lesson for today.

 

Personally, I hold out hope that 305 may be re-opened.  But it will require considerable widening on a number of private properties.  Right now, we just don't have resources for a project of that size.  And the uncertainty of dealing with that many private properties makes it a risky investmentarrow-10x10.png.

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Loved Bob's Way, even got a little muddy on an early season ride once. Like snowchopper said, usually always saw deer on that trail. Hopefully it can be reopened. Usually prefer using the 300 series trails instead of the main trails.

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16 hours ago, whits-end said:

Update: 

There will be a trail from the Seguin north thru Katrine and Burk's Falls to Pickerel Lake this year.  The detour near Jack Lake is almost complete, and other landowner issues have been resolved (at least for now).  This was formerly known as Trail D123 and will now be Almaguin Trail 306.  Many thanks Armour Township, and to the volunteers that made this happen.

 

The D123  name has been reassigned to a trail that runs from Kearney (behind Fetterly's Garage, formerly parts of 302 and 303) to Pickerel Lake, where it rejoins the old D123 and continues north to Sundridge.

 

That's the good news.  Now the bad news: Almaguin Trail 305 (Bob's Way) will not be open this year.

 

 

Good to hear about the D123 or the now 306. Tough news about 305, was one trail I enjoyed too and can remember to 20 years ago riding it as my parents had friends on deer lake. Hope to ride the Almaguin trails by around boxing day while im at the cabin and the weather stays good and some can open.  

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ill miss the 305 as well

 

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  • 1 month later...

This was posted on the ADSC website (www.adsc-snow.org) dated Jan. 22:

 

"306 formally D123  through Burks Fall along with ADSC 305  will not be reopening due too impossible terrain with no current or future OFSC infrastructure funding many other trails across the province will suffer the same fate. We understand that this will be a huge burden on business and sledders in these areas but have absolutely no choice other than to close them. Also still closed is the 304, North portion of D123 and East portion C104D into Sundridge due to impossible terrain."

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  • 8 months later...

306.jpg

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Good news!

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Such good news. So many fond memories on this trail. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Great news!  I'm sure the business community in Burk's Falls will benefit greatly.  Nice to see cooperation between the municipality and the club, as well.  Thanks to everyone who worked on this.

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