The Voyageur Hiking Trail is a public

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

between

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

and

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The name honours the early European fur traders of the region who travelled largely by canoe and were known as 'voyageurs’ and ‘coureurs des bois’ (runners of the woods) The trail is used by all ages and levels of experience, from the day hiker and

trail runner Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and fell running (also known as hill running). Mountain running may, h ...

to the hardy backpacker.

Overview

The trail dates to 1973, and is a work in progress that has involved hundreds of volunteers, private sector and government supporters. It is designed for foot traffic in summer and snowshoe/ski traffic in winter Over half the linear trail has been completed (some 600 km) plus numerous side trails. The hiking trail crosses the vast privately and publicly owned forests of this rugged wilderness. The largest city on the completed trail is

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

, situated between two of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

–

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

and

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

– and bordering on the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The route parallels these two great bodies of water, frequently touching on the shoreline or affording glimpses from distant promontories. The trail passes through many other communities along the route including Spanish,

Elliot Lake Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since ...

, Iron Bridge, Wawa,

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

Terrace Bay Terrace Bay is a township in Thunder Bay District in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Thunder Bay along Ontario Highway 17, Highway 17. The name originates from a series of lake Terrace (geology), ter ...

, Schreiber,

Rossport Rossport ( ga, Ros Dumhach; also known as ''Rosdoagh'') is a Gaeltacht village and townland in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is within the barony of Erris and parish of Kilcommon. It lies close to the mouth of Broadhaven Bay on the headl ...

and Nipigon. While most of the trail has been built and maintained by volunteer members, portions within Provincial and Federal Park lands have been included with the consent of those agencies. The Voyageur Trail Association was created as a not-for-profit entity consisting of a collection of individual clubs; members are responsible for the footpaths within their areas. Each active club is represented on an elected Coordinating Council that oversees the affairs of the Association. Clubs offer scheduled outings as a way to meet fellow hikers and explore new trails. The Association is one of 27 formal hiking organizations across Ontario represented by

Hike Ontario Hike Ontario is a non-profit organization founded in 1974 devoted to promote hiking and walking activities in Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in Mississauga, and it was previously based at ''The Gate House'' of the Seneca College King Campus ...

, the provincial voice for hikers. Portions of the trail are part of the Trans Canada Trail. A trail guidebook provides trail users with up-to-date maps and descriptions of the available trails. In addition, digital maps that can be downloaded to

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

units for on-trail navigation are available.

Early history

Planning of the Voyageur Hiking Trail began on March 23, 1973 when the then Commissioner of Parks and Recreation for the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Harold Brain, convened a meeting of ‘persons interested in establishing a hiking trail along the precipice of the Cambrian Shield’ from Gros Cap on

to Hiawatha Park, just north of

. One of those in attendance, Dr. Paul D. Syme, a Sault Ste. Marie forest research scientist and member of the

Bruce Trail The Bruce Trail is a hiking trail in southern Ontario, Canada, from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory, Ontario. The main trail is more than long and there are over of associated side trails. The trail mostly follows the edge of the Nia ...

Association, immediately saw the possibility of extending this concept to extend northward to Thunder Bay and eastward to Espanola, then south across Manitoulin Island to link up with southern Ontario’s Bruce Trail. The vision has since evolved to link eastward with trails in the Sudbury region. Dr. Paul Syme was the leader of the group, which on October 24, 1973 chose the name “Voyageur Trail Association (VTA)” for their newly established group. He was the first elected president of the VTA. Syme met with officials of the Bruce Trail Association, seeking advice and trail building training, and bringing that knowledge back to the Sault visionaries. The group adopted the southern Ontario model of dividing the trail into sections and assigning responsibility for trail building, landowner relations, maintenance, public hikes, promotion, etc. to local Voyageur Hiking Trail Clubs. A draft constitution was presented on November 15, 1973. On this basis, an interim

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

was installed (President, Paul Syme; Vice President, Ralph Yanni; Treasurer, Ralph Wood). Ian Morrison acted as general secretary at this meeting and was elected general secretary shortly thereafter. On July 3, 1974, the association was formally chartered as a corporation without share capital. Dieter Ropke was the longest-serving member of the board of directors, holding the position of treasurer for over 30 years. The Rainbow Section (now abandoned owing to the folding of the local club) near Espanola was the first hikeable Voyageur Trail Section in 1973. In 1974, George Morrison, a teacher in Espanola, invited guests to hike the trail, which became the first organized outing on the Voyageur Hiking Trail. The Saulteaux was the first Voyageur Hiking Trail Club formally established in 1974 and the Saulteaux Section officially opened for hiking at a ceremony on September 21, 1975. The trail system continues to be a work-in-progress, with new development centring around communities. The Voyageur Trail News, a regular newsletter for members and landowners, was first published on January 15, 1975.

References

External links

Voyageur Trail Association

Coureurs de Bois Section

Casque Isles Section
{{coord, 48.348948, N, 86.176758, W, display=title Hiking trails in Ontario Sport in Northern Ontario

Overview

Early history

Further reading

References

External links