History of the trails

For a complete and different history of the Summerstown Trails, the booklet Tales from the Trails, written by Kevin and Cathy Cooper, was published in 2021. On sale for $20 at the FOTST Chalet, located in the main parking lot, winter weekends only.

Before FOTST:  

Local residents have been cross-country skiing in the Summerstown Forest and adjacent Crown Land for more than half a century.  In the early 1970s, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) cut and groomed cross-country ski trails in the Forest. With government cutbacks in the late 1970’s, the job of maintaining the trails fell to a group of people who volunteered their time to do all the work. These volunteers supplied or made the equipment, provided the gas, groomed the trails, and asked skiers and other partners such as the Townships of Lancaster and Charlottenburgh (later South Glengarry) to support their work. They formed the Jack Rabbit Ski Club that later became the Friends of the Summerstown Ski Area.  Over the years, many of these early volunteers became discouraged and gradually the group dwindled until there were only three or four stalwarts who continued to maintain the trails.

FOTST:  

By 2008, the ski trails were being maintained only sporadically and conditions were deteriorating.  Following an appeal in The Glengarry News by Martin Bowman, a longtime skier in the Forest, a number of people came forward to work to keep the ski area open throughout the season and the Friends of the Summerstown Trails (FOTST) was organized.  In November 2008, FOTST became a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to green recreational use in the Summerstown Forest and adjacent crown land.

new activities:  

SNOWSHOEING:

In 2011, two snowshoeing enthusiasts, Gilles Parisien and Pat Clark, took it upon themselves to cut a snowshoe trail so that they could do their favourite activity in the Summerstown Forest; initially, there was a single trail only going from the trailhead to the power lines. Over time, more trails were added so that the snowshoeing network now comprises 8 km of dedicated snowshoe trails and 9.5 km of multi-use trails (snowshoeing and fat biking). The first annual Summerstown Trails Dion snowshoe race was held in 2014; the race attracts local participants and visitors from surrounding cities such as Ottawa, Montreal and Kingston.

FAT BIKING:

In 2018, FOTST was approached by the Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) who proposed a partnership agreement. The RRCA wished to groom some of the trails at Grey’s Creek for fat biking and wanted to purchase a snowdog for that purpose. We were to contribute to the cost of purchasing the snowdog, and in exchange, the RRCA staff would come and groom some of our snowshoe trails. After a few years, the RRCA decided to stop grooming the trails at Grey’s Creek and donated the snowdog to FOTST. Eventually, more trails were added so that the multi-use (snowshoeing and fat biking) network of trails now extends over 9.5 km. The first annual winter fat bike race was held in 2024.