Hundreds of Albertans are going head-to-head to come up with the best name for a new trail that connects Calgary to Cochrane.
The winner of the Name the Trail contest will not only earn bragging rights and a legacy trail-head marker, but they’ll also be treated to a one-night stay in a Canmore inn, breakfast included.
More than 300 name ideas have already been entered to the namethetrail.com contest.
Phase 1 of the estimated $20-million project, which is spearheaded by the local Rotary Club, will traverse across Treaty Seven Territory and connect with the existing Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and Rotary/Mattamy Greenway Trail in Calgary through Cochrane — once a bridge is built over the Bow River.
Rotarian and project spokesman Dan Kroffat said support for the trail is immeasurable and more excitement is building each day.
He announced a $100,000 donation toward the project and said, “there’s more money pouring in.”
“We are well on our way, but I don’t have an exact number.”
Kroffat said original plans called for three years in fundraising, but that timeline will likely change.
“If the money keeps rolling in as it is, we believe that’s going to really shorten our plan,” he said. “We may have shovels in the ground much, much earlier than expected.”
The Calgary to Cochrane trail has been made possible in part by land contributions from some of Alberta’s founding pioneer families, including the Haskayne, Harvie and Robinson families.
The next big hurdle for the steering committee behind the trail is the approval of the bridge, which would come from a provincial level.
“Once we’ve got that in place, then we’re able to have an engineer draft us a trail to the bridge,” he said. “We’re very optimistic about the bridge approval.”
The plans for the trail, a decade in the making, were first unveiled Nov. 30 at the Cochrane RancheHouse.
"This won't only enhance tourism in Alberta," Kroffat said then. "We are creating recreation value."
Cyclists, hikers and weekend strollers would be able to take to the trail that Kroffat hopes will eventually join up with the Legacy Trail in Canmore.
The trail from Cochrane to Calgary would be about 38-kilometres in total, with much of the groundwork already having been laid through Glenbow Ranch and Haskayne Park reaching from the west side of Calgary.
Eventually, the Rotary's vision is to see the trail form a loop that goes through the Tsuut'ina Nation lands, West Bragg Creek, Sibbald Flats and into Canmore, or coming back through Stoney Nakoda First Nation lands.
For those interested in supporting the project or entering the contest, visit namethetrail.com for more details.
