Squirrel Hills Trail Park nearing finish line

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At this time of year, the trails at Squirrel Hills Trail Park just outside of Minnedosa are softened with a carpet of fallen leaves, and the scent of autumn fills the air as sunlight filters through tree limbs still sending leaves spiralling to the ground.

Valley Life Recreation has been hard at work developing the recreation area, located 52 kilometres northeast of Brandon, to accommodate a world-class mountain biking, hiking and snowshoe trail network, in addition to the cross-country ski trails and hiking system.

The committee for Valley Life Recreation is now seeking platinum sponsor donations of $10,000 and over; gold ones at $5,000 and over; silver at $2,500 and over; bronze at $1,000 and over; and friends, $100 and over to support the project’s financial goals.

“We’re in kind of the final push … so hopefully we can raise the remaining money we have left that we need to get,” said Dave Ternier, chair of the Valley Life Recreation committee, adding the group plans to have a trailhead built in the spring. “We’ve got contractors lined up, we’ve got this and that, we’re just $200,000 shy for building the dream that we all envision.”

Trail construction officially wrapped up at the start of September, and it amounts to around nine kilometres of new trail added to the existing ones. A new road extension and parking lot has been built.

All that’s left is to create the trailhead, which will facilitate park entry, and welcome community members and those visiting the region. It will feature a nature lay area, pavilion with views of the valley, areas for snacking before and after hitting the trails, and a walking loop with a mountain bike skills development area.

“The trailhead is going to create a remarkable experience itself,” Ternier said.

Seeing so much of the project come together is surreal for Ternier, he said.

“It’s really incredible. We’ve spent a lot of time in long meetings, and there’s been a lot of time given to this effort,” he said. “It’s exciting to see it actually come to life, actually materialize on the ground beneath your feet, as opposed to pretty pictures on a computer screen or a piece of paper.”

The Valley Life Recreation committee is filled with incredible people who have been working to make their dream for the trail park come true for three long years, Ternier said. Although some board members have rotated out, and new people have joined, everyone who has been a part of the effort has been integral in getting the project to where it is now, he added.

“This is how the health of volunteer led boards are maintained over time, so I’m just really stoked about the wide variety of talent and experience that we have on our board. It’s really remarkable,” Ternier said.

The response Minnedosa has had – which has been shared by communities in the surrounding area – has also been exceptional, Ternier said, and has been felt in a number of different ways.

“We had one woman comment that she thought you had to go to national parks to get trails like this, and we’ve had other people from Saskatchewan and from Winnipeg who couldn’t believe there was a hidden gem out there,” he said.

Within the wider mountain biking community, many across the province are saying that the trails at Squirrel Hills have some of the best flow in the province, which Ternier translates as meaning a trail that comes naturally towards the rider as opposed to forcing them to put their bikes through the paces, though it does contain plenty of challenges, he added.

“The comments have been extremely exceptional,” Ternier said.

The location of the trails system is also helping to make it more popular and for word about it to travel, he added.

“Even before we have a finished product, even before we market it, they’re hearing about it through the grapevine and going, ‘I can’t wait to stop in Minnedosa on my way between Point A and Point B, so it’s pretty exciting, because that’s drawing more people in to the community.”

For anyone wishing to experience the trails for themselves, Ternier said autumn is the perfect time to do so, since the falling leaves and barer limbs of trees allow for more opened-up views of the valley below.

“That’s really one of the things that makes this area incredible, is the diversity of viewpoints that you get. One minute you’re walking along this enclosed forest trail, and everything is quiet. And the next minute you’re up on this viewpoint where you can see for miles and miles, and it’s just a really incredible feeling,” he said, adding that more announcements about the Squirrel Hills Trail Park will be coming soon.

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