ATV Clubs in the Southeast will begin to close down the trails for the winter after a great season.
Gary Hora, President of the Woodridge Sandhogs and the ATV Association of Manitoba, mentions that traffic was slow during the spring, but the rest of the season has been quite busy.
“Through the summer it was amazingly busier than normal. The fall has been incredibly busy for ATV traffic out there and so then of course, managing trail work and getting your volunteers out to do that and not really be in the way of the riders, that's always a bit of a challenge, but it's come along pretty good actually.”
He notes that despite the few heavy rains we've experienced this year, the Eastman trail has experienced some erosion and minor flooding, but he believes it wasn’t too severe and could have been worse.
Strong winds have also impacted the trails by causing some trees to fall.
“We try to get out and get them cleaned up as fast as possible and let the riders out there know to be aware of hazards. The worst seems to be areas where previous fires may have been, where there are burnt standing trees or dead standing. They're very stressed and they're falling now because they're rotting. The base that's been probably the bigger challenge in the last 3-4 weeks.”
Hora says heading into late fall, the trails are still looking good, and they have been spending time grooming and shaping up on the trails.
“I know the Eastman Club to the north of us, they've been out pretty much all week with the crew really trying to get a lot of the fall work done, brushing and some gravel work and stuff. I think the trails are probably in the best shape they've been in a long time amongst the clubs in the province. They've really put a lot of time and effort in the last while. So, I think they're doing pretty good. And this extended warm weather we're getting is really lovely, so that's always good too.”
He explains that the Woodridge Sandhogs typically close down the ‘Little Bigfoot Trail’ in the second weekend of November.
“It's more just to prepare the trail to shut it down for the for the season. The Eastman ATV Club, to the north of us, they'll do the same right around that same timeline because they have some shared trail sections with the Snowmobile Club. So out of respect, we also want to let them have their season as well.”
Hora thanks all the volunteers who work hard each season to prepare and to clean up at the end of each season.
“It's been a really busy year because now that we have the funding coming in, the trail work list is long and if it wasn't for the volunteers, it wouldn't get done. And again, I think any organization without a good volunteer base, you're not going to succeed as well as you would like. So it's been a challenge, but at the same time, it's been really rewarding because now you can see the ‘fruits of your labours’ with what time you put in through the year and looking forward to next year.”
He teases that they already have big plans for next year.
“There's going to be some changes, and I think all clubs are looking forward to growth and improvements onto the trail system, that's the goal of the funding, is to keep improving what we have.”
With files from Adi Loewen