Skip to content

Trail’s beauty being destroyed

Peace is disturbed by the sound of dirt bikes ripping up the KVR Trail

Google the Trans Canada Trail and you will see all the beauty Canada has to offer, with pristine lakes and breathtaking mountains and clean air for those who love to enjoy Mother Nature. Designed for the exclusive use of hikers, walkers, cyclists and horses, tourists using the trail from all over the world used to carry fond memories of the beauty, peace and tranquility of our wonderful country back home.

What an experience it was to sit at Little Tunnel overlooking the Okanagan’s bountiful orchards, hillside and lakes. Now the peace is disturbed by the sound of a dirt bike ripping up the KVR Trail, rocks spewing everywhere. Watch out. Jump out of the way. The roar of a quad or the straight pipes of a motorbike make you wish you had brought your earplugs. Exhaust spewing along the trail spoils the beauty of what once was a peaceful experience. We Canadians must seem like barbarians when tourists see what is happening to our trail.

There are hundreds of miles of trails and logging roads around the Okanagan where these quads and motorbikes can cruise as much as they wish. The Summerland to Princeton route is a disaster, it is impossible to cycle this trail in safety. The destruction of the KVR Trail by quads and motorbikes is polluting the Naramata water system.

I belong to a group of 80 cyclists; how will the RDOS feel when one of these seniors is in a motor vehicle accident on this trail? The Okanagan should be the cycle capital of Canada. May, June, September and October are perfect cycling months.

Too bad irresponsible RDOS politicians have so little respect for their residents that they do not care about preserving this wonderful treasure. I made a presentation to the RDOS on preserving the KVR Trail within their jurisdiction, using Penticton and its responsible bylaws which protect the trail as an example. It was a waste of time.

Rod Hollett

 

Penticton