Submitted by Robert Burcher
“Well done”, “Fantastic”, “About time”, and best of all, “Can we donate to you guys?”
These were all comments heard as we took on the job of building a substantial boardwalk at the west end of Muir St. down in the Bighead River Valley. This was to overcome the monstrous mud-hole that had developed over several decades. The trail and boardwalk follow the original road dating to the 1850s that accessed the Trout Family sawmill from the east side of the valley.
The Trout Hollow Trails Association organized a group of volunteers to help with the work.
During the COVID shutdowns, the trails were heavily used and the new owners of the land, the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, weren’t equipped to take on trail repairs. A sizable grant from the local Regional Tourist Organization (RTO#7) for COVID recovery projects in the Tourist Sector gave us the cash to hire TREADscape (trail design and implementation) and buy the material for the crucial boardwalk.
Now anyone can access the trails of the east side of the Bighead River from Muir St. without getting mud-caked shoes. This will now be the best option for all-season access.
Just to clarify, the land in the valley that was owned by Stanley Knight Limited was donated to the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy. This is a land trust organization dedicated to keeping natural areas in the public domain. The Grey-Sauble Conservation Authority continues to own the land upstream from Beautiful Joe Park as far as the old dump site.
If you wish to volunteer to help in our next project contact us at trouthollow.ca
