Announcing the Salish Sea Marine Trail.
The BC Marine Trails Network Association is proud to officially unveil plans for the future Salish Sea Marine Trail, a 257-km paddling and small boat route connecting Vancouver to Victoria. It will be officially part of The Great Trail, the new name for the Trans Canada Trail, and it will be completed on July 1, 2017 – the date of Canada’s 150th birthday and the official grand opening of the national trail system.
There is a lot of work to be done before then! Plans include interpretive programs covering everything from Coast Salish history and culture to environment and ecology. The environment and ecology will be handled by our Salish Sea Marine Trail partner, the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea. In addition we’ll be creating new marine trail sites to fill the gaps, and we’re undertaking a comprehensive launch site strategy for southern Vancouver Island. The result will be a comprehensive and cohesive launch site plan involving all southern Vancouver Island municipalities and the Gulf Islands. This will formalize kayak and cartop boat launches where historically it has been launch where you can when you can — if you can find somewhere.
Tentative plans for the grand opening include a contingent padding the route from Vancouver to Victoria to converge on Kilometre Zero of The Great Trail on its opening day and on Canada’s 150th. Stay tuned for that as it develops.
The result is going to be a focal point for paddlesports on the BC coast in a world-class adventure route spanning two major urban centres. How lucky to be here in British Columbia where we can have this on our doorstep!
You can read more here. You can also become involved by volunteering or by donating. And help us get the word out by sharing our post on Facebook. Thanks and we’ll be seeing you soon on the Salish Sea!