ATV TRAILS IN THE KAWARTHAS

from A Taste of the Kawarthas - ATOTK magazine Winter 2021-22

by A Taste of the Kawarthas ATOTK

VETS corner

By Carolyn Richards, President, Kawartha ATV Association katva.ca

Connecting Communities through Trails

Some people call KATVA a special interest group and others call us lobbyists. What we really are is a community-based group of volunteers that not only enjoy the beautiful trails our area has to offer, but we also give back to our community. We may have members whose primary homes are outside of the Kawartha Lakes but when it comes to off road riding, they call the Kawartha Lakes their home and they are invested in the well being and success of our community.

“We are a community based group of volunteers”

Building stronger, healthier, more connected communities through trails is at the heart of what we do through trail maintenance, volunteer recognition and partnerships. Our goal has always been to work with partners of every type, from landowners and other trail users to municipal staff and public officials.

For the last several months we’ve been working with the City of Kawartha Lakes ORV Task Force to try to find solutions to connect the ATV riders in the outlying communities with the existing trail systems throughout the municipality. This is a twoyear trial project to determine if it’s suitable for ORVs to have access to designated public roadways to connect with the trails. Many rural towns and villages such as Janetville, Pontypool, Omemee and Bobcaygeon have seen a tremendous growth in ATV ownership amongst their residents. It has become common for real estate agents to include the proximity to ATV and snowmobile trails in their listing because there’s a large group of new home buyers who are looking for homes based on their proximity to the trails.

With this influx of new residents comes riders new to our trail systems. We’ve had the pleasure of hosting a few familiar faces on our trails over the years. In 2019 we introduced Actor/Comedian Jonny Harris of Murdoch Mysteries and Still Standing to our trails in the 5 points. He was gracious enough to take the time to film a short promotional video of the trails for KATVA. In 2020, World Championship Skater Elvis Stojko and Actor Dean McDermott also enjoyed riding the trails.