March 2023 Meeting Highlights

This month we discussed tourism on public lands and ongoing trail initiatives.

It was a busy Community Hall as we welcomed 26 partners in person and 3 online for this month’s meeting . Many thanks to the Nordegg Community Association for providing the use of the hall once again.

5 years of improvements

We talked about the improvements our region has seen over the last five years, including parking lots enhancements and the addition of outhouses, garbage bins and, most recently, blue signs at trailheads and camping areas. The area has also seen increased enforcement and trail maintenance, as well as improved winter access. There is still work to be done, but this is a great starting point in terms of infrastructure and we can now look at building more products and growing our destination.

Black Mountain project

Dennis and Hannah Landon from the Nordegg Off Road Cycling Association were invited to present the Black Mountain project, which involves the building of new, and the resurrection of old mountain biking trails on Black Mountain just west of Nordegg in the Snow Creek area. Around 50km of trails of a wide variety of levels are expected to be ready for use by mountain biking enthusiasts in the next three years.

The historic Nordegg Golf Course
Lisa Lima from Travel Alberta presenting on the Ultimate Travellers

Government updates

Blake Christianson, Recreation Management Specialist with Alberta Environment & Protected Areas was present to give us an update on upcoming projects. A major update is the closure of the Crescent Falls Provincial Recreation Area, which will take effect June 1 for a full year. Blake also discussed some upgrades to camping areas and trails to be completed this summer in the Bighorn Dam area. We talked about the need for better communication between government bodies and tourism stakeholders to ensure the latter can proactively adapt their plans when such closures are scheduled to be put into place.

Annette Svederus and Jason Ariano from the Nordegg Trails Society then discussed the current work being conducted by the society regarding trail building & maintenance in the Nordegg area, with lots of projects in the works.

 

Table discussion

We ended the meeting with table discussions on what the priorities are for each of our partners. Time ran short, so the questions will be sent via an online survey so that everyone can communicate their thoughts in detail.

Updates:

More Stories on Destination Development

June 2023 Meeting Highlights

Two meetings this month. On June 7 the Black Lung Ultra folks presented their plans for an ultra marathon in summer 2024. On June 19 we hosted Clearwater County Council for a tour of the area, followed by a meet & greet with the partners in the afternoon.

May 2023 Meeting Highlights

This month Matt Martinson from Clearwater County discussed the opening of the newly redesigned Nordegg Discovery Centre and Mine Site tours this spring.

Improving Tourism on Public Lands

Looking ahead at the improvements that would have the greatest impact on the visitor experience and local operators.

February 2023 Meeting Highlights

Discussing ongoing events, destination packages and the Travel Alberta Tourism Investment Program
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