The town of St. Paul gave the go ahead to the Regional Trails Masterplan Project, which is a 10-year tourism development strategy lead by STEP Economic Development Alliance for the Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay.
It was approved at the May 26 council meeting, and aims to boost tourism by improving trail quality and accessibility throughout the region. The project is funded through the Alberta Community Partnership grant and subcontracted to Travel Lakeland Destination Marketing Organization, which assessed the trails in the area.
“Throughout North America, there’s hundreds of communities that are implementing trail tourism to bolster their economy,” said Marianne Janke, manager at Travel Lakeland. “However, there are some that have been extremely successful, in that hose changes have literally transformed and reinvigorated their entire communities.”
Cumberland B.C., was used as an example where trail development turned a small town into a mountain biking destination. Janke said that the St. Paul plan focuses on improving trail quality and accessibility, encouraging longer tourism stays and exciting development through outdoor activities like hiking, biking and winter recreation.
“We just don’t want them to come and stay overnight,” she said. “The idea is to also use the trails to encourage tourists to visit other places in the Lakeland.”
Though the project wrapped up in July 2024, formal presentations to municipal councils were delayed because of scheduling. The plan will be presented to the Town of Elk Point, the county of St. Paul, and the Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay in the coming weeks.
Once all four municipalities approve the plan, STEP will start to work with partners on executing the project.
