Upcoming Trails Summit big step for aspiring Niagara Geopark

With a little more than a year to go before UNESCO assessors arrive to take stock of its offerings, the team behind the aspiring Niagara Geopark are already busy preparing for their visit. 

First up is the Niagara Geopark Trails Summit, taking place at Niagara College on June 2. The purpose of the summit is to bring together key stakeholders responsible for all of Niagara’s publicly-accessible trails and routes. These include the likes of the Bruce Trail, the Wine Route, the Greenbelt and the Greater Niagara Circle Route.

“We’ve always had this network of different trails across the region,” explains Ian Lucas, the aspiring geopark’s municipal outreach coordinator. “We’re trying to pull together the knowledge and cooperation of all the different trail stakeholders to create a cohesive network of trails across Niagara.”

The goal is to make it easier for Niagara residents and visitors to the area to build their own experiences based on the trails. Whether they want to hike, run, bike or kayak and whether their aim is to have a picnic, see the sights or learn more about Indigenous history, they would have the ability to curate a self-guided tour that encompasses the many different trail systems across the region. 

“We’re offering the Niagara Geopark as a kind of umbrella for trails to be properly networked and categorized,” Lucas says. “It will be easier for people to figure out where they want to go depending on the kind of experience they want to have.”

Partnerships have already been formed with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, the Bruce Trail Conservancy, Greenbelt Ontario and others. 

“And there are numerous Indigenous trails across Niagara as well,” adds Perry Hartwick, a Niagara-on-the-Lake resident and chair of the geopark’s geology working group. “They’re not all well-known or even understood. The Iroquois Trail, for example, goes right through the Niagara Regional Native Centre. We want to weave these all into the trail network, as well.”

The full day summit at Niagara College will feature panels of experts and representatives from the different trail systems. One of those panels, moderated by Phil Davis, chair of the geopark’s Indigenous working group, will focus on that network of Indigenous heritage trails.

Other topics for panel discussions include restoration and conservation, technology and resources, sustainable economic benefits and healthy living and healthy visiting. 

“If people are active, eco-conscious respecters of nature,” explains Lucas with regard to that last panel, “we want them to be able to select their experience based on trails that suit their various interests. If they love bird watching, there are various trails that are suitable. Or they might be into butterflies, or fishing. We want to categorize those experiences.”

As Hartwick points out, there are a number of trails that are very well-known and very popular in the region. The Niagara Glen and the trails at the Balls Falls Conservation Area come quickly to mind. 

“But there are so many other nooks and crannies, at Decew Falls, for instance, that are lesser known,” says Hartwick. “The geology there is incredible. It’s an absolutely beautiful place, with beautiful views of the escarpment and trails all over the place. There’s so much more to Niagara.”

Beyond the trails, another goal is to bring together businesses and other organizations within Niagara under the geopark banner. That would mean that someone would be able to more easily combine a trek through a portion of the Bruce Trail with, for instance, an Indigenous walking trail in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and also visit the bed and breakfast locations, wineries and restaurants nearby.

A visit to the geopark’s website (niagarageopark.com) reveals a number of local wineries who have taken the pledge, as well as art galleries, adventure clubs, museums, eateries and retail outlets. 

“We’ve built up a membership of around 100 businesses committed to sustainable operations,” says Lucas. “They have to sign a pledge to that end to become members of the geopark initiative. These businesses will be highlighted as to where they are in relation to the trails.”

The idea is for it all to be downloadable via the Niagara Geopark’s website using any device, to find themed trails, interconnections, points of interest, special events, sustainable businesses and services nearby. Lucas envisions popular apps such as Strava, MapMyRun, RideWithGPS and Runkeeper all seamlessly connecting with the website.

Organizers of the Trails Summit first reached out to representatives of local chambers of commerce, municipal governments and destination marketing organizations to invite them to the June 2 event. Once those spots were taken, the invitation was extended to everyone on the aspiring Niagara Geopark’s mailing list, and the spots were filled within 15 minutes. 

The summit will also include a talk by Hartwick and Lucas, along with Darren Platakis, founder and chair of the Geopark’s education outreach working group, that will focus on examples of impressive trail networks in other parts of the world. Hartwick recently visited all three UNESCO geoparks in Ireland and plans to share his discoveries. 

Platakis is responsible for the genus of the Niagara Geopark idea, considering a push for a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) designation as far back as 2017. He first approached Niagara regional council in 2019, but the pandemic slowed down the group’s progress for some time. 

Canada currently has five UNESCO-designated geoparks — one each in B.C., New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec. In contrast, China hosts 41 such areas, while Germany has eight. 

Hartwick and Lucas expect to submit the Niagara Geopark’s final application for UNESCO designation some time this fall. 

“We’re building our website, adding more information and improving our interactions through that platform,” says Hartwick. “We need to get our submissions into Paris UNESCO in September or October. We’ll field some questions from them over early winter, and make some changes. If all goes well, inspectors should be visiting us in the next 12 months.”

To prepare for the process they are getting some trail signs made, ramping up the organization’s activity on social media and holding the summit next week. It’s all about acting as a geopark even before receiving official designation. 

Objectives over the next year include assembling a working group to develop the connectivity with specific apps, publishing two major trail routes within a chosen framework, defining the process for adding new trails to the network and updating the existing trails, and engaging with one or more DMOs to build a model for itineraries and to assess the potential costs of the project. 

“This is a big deal,” says Hartwick. We’ve come a long way. This thing is going to happen. And it’s going to be much, much better if we start to get some buy-in from various groups. We need everybody on board for this.”