BC trail signage and direction

[dirtyboy]

While on a trip to BC a while ago I thought I'd snap some pics of the signage that was there. It was interesting to note that the areas are being mapped and trailhead signs are going in. These trails are called "registered" trails and are inventoried, mapped, marked and maintained (yes maintained by BC government money hiring contractors). It is way different than a designated trail in that you can ride on it with the appropriate equipment but you can also ride on other establish trails.

These pics were taken near Kelowna where the Okanagan Trail Riders Association do most of the maintenance there. The Inks, Chewells Mtn, and Greenstone areas are also undergoing the same transformation.

There is a lot of barbed wire fencing near the staging area to keep people from hill climbing near the staging area. It's a work in progress but it looks like it's coming off pretty awesome. All the signs are metal in the area except for the trailhead signs that are a resin of some sort.

The real difference is that they seem to be smart about it in BC. They allow riding on a lot of trails and in a lot of areas so that the maintenance is lower. In Alberta they seem to be restricting access to very small areas with few trails that get over used by a growing population and then the issue of trail conditions come up due to overuse.

[Hendrix13]

Nice find DirtyBoy

We can do this here. We just need the will and the Government support to do this

[Dobi]

That is excellent. I love all that barbed wire at the staging areas That would be a great way to reduce the hill degredation at the middle staging area of Mclean.....

[crazy2wheeler]

Last week at the National Trail Leaders Round Table I met the fellow from the BC government who engineered and choreographed the revamping of off-road motorcycle trails in the Okanagan area.
(including Bear Creek I believe)

I understand it was a difficult process, but that the results have been very positive. His experience is certainly something I will be drawing on, as we continue to deal with our access issues and area closures. Note that the inital and default government solution to the uncontrolled motorized OHV problem was an outright ban for OHV's.

BC is also just in the process of implementing a new province-wide standardized signage initiative, which I am told is an excellent signage plan/strategy.

I'm happy to share info about the Round Table if anyone is interested, and I have also prepared a brief report which is available on the web for anyone to see.

D.

[gdg530]

Wow that is definitely nice to see,i`m from northern BC and it went from being able to ride on most trails like old mining trails years ago to motorcycles not allowed anywhere in the forrest these days.I think it helps to have a good organization looking after riding areas and keeping the environmentalists at bay.