June 10, a group of four cyclists arrived in St. Walburg after riding the established portion of the Trans Canada Trail that bisects the district as it winds its way toward the west.
The chairman of the board for the Trans Canada Trial, Jim Bishop and his wife, Sharon, along with Cathy Watts and her husband Trent, representing "Trails of Saskatchewan" stayed overnight at the Farmhouse Inn in St. Walburg. Mayor Tony Leeson, an enthusiastic "Trial supporter," engaged the visitors in an evening discussion about the tourism potential of the general area attractions, and the trail's future as it becomes a homogeneous feature by 2017.
The next morning the group was off on their cycles again, heading westward, visiting the Imhoff Museum, and other attractions as they made their way along the already established route to Paradise Hill, before continuing to Frenchman Butte.
At the Frenchman Butte Museum the group met up with Wayne Brown, to be guided through the museum, the Frenchman Butte National Historic Battle Site and other local features before concluding the day at Lakeview Bed and Breakfast on Peck Lake.
During the evening, conversation centered on the tourism potential, with Bishop commenting on what he was experiencing on this ride. A resident of North Vancouver, he found our "corner of Saskatchewan" to be "big", in the broadest sense of the word.
Not only in distance he said, but in attractions that can make tourism flourish in the future.
"I'd never heard of this area of Saskatchewan prior to this ride," he said, and the area has tourist attractions "coming out your ears." He said it appears little to nothing is done to market these riches outside Saskatchewan.
"You have a superb tourist guide magazine (Circle the Northwest) as an example, but it goes no where outside your own region. You really need to expand your marketing vision; drastically."
Shaking his head he continued, "You are so rich in potential, it's dripping off you, and you gotta get with it."
The Trans Canada Trial will be completed by 2017 and along with it will be an extensive marketing initiative.
At that point, Cathy Watts, representing Trails Saskatchewan, described the role of her organization.
"We are an umbrella group which co-ordinates all of the different trail initiatives in the province; including hikers, snowmobilers, ATVers, cyclists, bringing them all under one roof, so we can make the most of the potential our province has in developing public travel and tourism. With the trails I believe, if you build it, they will come."
Bishop explained the Trans Canada Trail is actually two entities. One is the working section. They construct and market. The other is the Trans Canada Trial Foundation, the fundraisers. The foundation was provided seed money from government last year, however they must also augment that with other funding sources. Parks Canada provided $10 million, yet this is only a small portion of the total needed to complete this coast to coast project by 2017.
The next morning Brown guided the group to explore the last portion of Saskatchewan's trail, the distance from Frenchman Butte to the Alberta border, a stretch that has not as yet even been designated. Both Bishop and Watts were amazed at the scenery, the facility at Fort Pitt with its rich history, the potential of Fort Pitt Farms as a unique stop and possible bad weather haven for trail travellers and commented on the limited amount of effort needed to develop this route.
From the Meridian (Baynton) Bridge westward the group envisioned connecting to the renowned Iron Horse Trail that already exists in Alberta, beginning at Heinsburg, utilizing the old CNR rail grade to continue to Elk Point, St. Paul and eventually to Edmonton and beyond.
