Bruce Trail Conservancy

Instelling

Bruce Trail Conservancy

• The Bruce trail Conservancy was formerly known as the Bruce Trail Association (1963-2009)

1963-

Raymond Lowes (1911-2007) joined the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club in 1959 and as the chairman of a conservation committee he submitted a proposal to build a walking trail along the Niagara Escarpment. The proposal went to the Federation of Ontario Naturalists in 1960 and a Bruce Trail Committee was formed on September 23, 1960 to do a feasibility study. The original Bruce Trail Committee included Raymond Lowes, Phil Gosling, Dr. Norman Pearson and Dr. Robert McLaren. A membership organization was started and incorporated in 1963 as the Bruce Trail Association. The goal was set to complete the project in time for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. It took from 1963 to 1967 to build the trail, and it opened in June of 1967. The trail runs the length of the Niagara Escarpment from Tobermory to Queenston a distance of 720 kilometres (432 miles). The Bruce Trail Association acquired a permanent headquarters in 1984 with the acquisition and restoration of Rasberry House on the grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens. In 2009, the Bruce Trail Association became known as the Bruce Trail Conservancy, which reflects of the association's mandate to conserve the land on which the Bruce Trail is situated. The Bruce Trail Conservancy is comprised of 9 regional clubs, each of which is responsible for a section of the trail: Niagara Bruce Trail Club (Queenston to Grimsby), Iroquia Bruce Trail Club (Grimsby to Kelso), Toronto Bruce Trail Club (Kelso to Cheltenham), Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club (Cheltenham to Mono Centre), Dufferin Hi-Land Bruce Trail Club (Mono Centre to Lavender), Blue Mountains Bruce Trail Club (Lavender to Craigleath), Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club (Craigleath to Blantyre), Sydenham Bruce Trail Club (Blantyre to Wiarton) and Peninsula Bruce Trail Club (Wiarton to Tobermory).

The Bruce Trail Conservancy is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization committed to the preservation and conservation of the land on which the Bruce Trail resides.

Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club (1963 -)

Created 07/04/2016 by Jennifer Dell

Iroquoia-Bruce Trail Association fonds finding aid. (2015). Hamilton Public Library, Local History & Archives.
Bruce Trail Conservancy. (2016). Bruce Trail clubs. Retrieved from http://brucetrail.org/pages/trail/bruce-trail-clubs
Ontario Trails Council. (2016). Bruce Trail. Retrieved from http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails/view/bruce-trail