News
Annual General Meeting: April 6, 2024 at 1:00pm
All current Kawartha ATV Association and Kawartha Off-Road Motorcycle Association members are invited to join the Board of Directors for the 2024 AGM on April 6, 2024. Registration in advance is required by March 29, 2024.
Join us for a meet and greet and light lunch at 12:00, followed by the Annual General Meeting. Bring your questions and concerns to our attention.
Register here.
Trail #50 is Closed as of September 16, 2023
As of September 16th, Tail #50 will be permanently closed at the request of one of the landowners. The trail will be deleted from the online mapping found within Polaris Ride Command. Future versions of the printed KATVA trail map will be updated and trail signage related to Trail 50 will be removed. The landowners are in the process of installing gates and cameras at both ends of the trail. All motorized users are asked to respect the landowner’s wishes and not attempt to enter this trail. Entering this trail after September 16th could result in trespass charges. The landowner has graciously agreed to allow us to use this trail once a year for our annual KATVA Poker Run. On behalf of the team at KATVA and our membership, we thank the landowners for the use of this amazing trail over the years.
It’s with great disappointment that we have to announce that Trail #50 in the 5 Points will be closed PERMANENTLY to all trail users including ATVs, SxS and snowmobiles as of September 2023.
One of the landowners along the trail has decided to close off the road that leads to the trail out of frustration with people going off the trail and trespassing on his property. Please note that this portion of the road is privately owned, so he has the legal right to do so as long as he allows the other landowners access to their own properties.
I also want to point out that this is not just an issue with motorized vehicles and sleds, he’s also having a lot of problems with hunters and the general public trespassing. Cottagers are driving in and dumping garbage on his property. People were even cutting the locks off of his gates and taking the gates down. There is no way for us as a club to be able to stop these things from happening. We’ve done the best we can over the years but until these types of people start showing more respect for the trails and the landowners, all clubs in Ontario will continue to lose access to trails.
You will see signs going up in July warning that the trail will be closed in future and eventually a construction crew will be going in to built new gates to keep people out completely.
We will continue to try to work with this landowner to come to some resolution to keep the trail open but we can’t make any guarantees. We’ll keep you posted if anything changes.
Carolyn Richards
KATVA President
***Important Notice***
While tomorrow, May 1st, is the official opening of our trails for the season we will be keeping Trail #50 in the 5 Points closed for the time being at the request of the landowners. We have had record amounts of rain the last couple of days and it’s supposed to continue for part of the coming week. The trail is already a very soft wet trail and it just needs a little more time to dry up. We’ll keep you posted.
Also a reminder that the Millenium Trail (Trails #96 & 99) will remain closed until June 1st as they do every year. Again this is a very wet trail so it needs more time.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Unfortunately some riders made the choice to ride this weekend and found out there are consequences for riding when the trails are closed. The consequences being municipal fines.
The KATVA and KORMA bylaw team was out patrolling the trails and it became an expensive weekend for some riders.
We made a commitment to the municipality and the community to enforce the laws on the trails when they voted to keep the trail in Fenelon Falls and the north ward of Lindsay open at two recent council meetings. We will do what’s required of us to keep our promise and to keep access to the trails for our members who are following the rules.
Please stay off the trails and don’t ruin it for everyone else.
Enforcement is out and will lay fines.
Where to begin…
As everyone knows there was a very important council meeting on Tuesday where there was discussion about closing an important section of trail to our members.
I’m happy to say that the recommendation to close that section of trail was removed from the motion to accept the Trails Master Plan. What this means is that this particular recommendation will not go to council for a vote on April 18th and the trail will remain open to ATVs.
First I want to say thank you to the community of Fenelon Falls for speaking up to protect the shared use of the Victoria Rail Trail. The outpouring of support from the businesses and residents was astounding to us. We’ve never seen this kind of support from a community to protect our access to the trails. I honestly don’t think there is an example of this anywhere else in Ontario. This was not just about protecting ATV access to a trail, it was also about a community standing up for themselves and something they feel is a part of the community culture.
Thank you to those who took the time to write letters, sign petitions and call councillors to discuss the issue. Most of all, thanks to those who did deputations. Doing a deputation before council can be very intimidating for anyone and we were lucky enough to have a few people who were willing to stand up and speak their minds in support of leaving the trail open, including some who don’t even own ATVs or sleds. Unlike those who spoke against ATVs, you all spoke with respect and facts. You didn’t make up or embellish stories as others felt the need to. A special thank you to Greg Arkwright for speaking as a resident of Fenelon Falls on behalf of KATVA.
The biggest and most heartfelt moment for us was when Isabella Lowell got up with her dad and spoke. She did so with tremendous confidence and grace. This beautiful and articulate young lady is 13 years old. She saved up her own money from working for her parents business and bought her first ATV last year. She took our youth safety training course right away and has been enjoying the trails with her dad ever since. This is the first time someone so young has done a deputation to any council to support the ATV trails in Ontario. This young lady and others like her are the future of our sport both in Kawartha Lakes and all of Ontario. Thank you to the Lowell family and Log Chateau Park for always supporting our riders.
Now the real work begins. As discussed in the council meeting, there will be a local committee formed on which we will be discussing ideas and implement plans to reduce the conflict on this section of trail. We acknowledge that we have a responsibility to the residents to listen to and address their complaints. While we don’t respect those who embellish complaints to get there way, we do know that we have further work to do to make sure the trail is safe and enjoyable for all users. We will be looking at implementing the following as well as other possible changes:
- Possible new bylaws such as a ban on after market exhausts and other noise control measures
- Increased enforcement on all trails, including this section
- The installation of additional gates and speed control measures
- Increased dust control applications
- Additional signage for the speed limits along the trails with speed enforcement
Speed and lack of enforcement were the two most common complaints and they will be our main focus this year.
As riders, you have a responsibility to police yourselves and your riding buddies and peers when on the trails. If you see a problem and can’t address it yourself, please report it to us. Some may not like to hear this but it’s the only option we have if we want to keep our trails open. This goes for all of our trails. It only takes one incident involving a pedestrian, cyclist, pet or other ATV/dirt bike and we could lose access to trails. Accidents happen but responsible riding will reduce the chances of it happening.
Respect the other trail users and take the high road if you encounter a “Karen” on the trails. Do not get confrontational, just be polite and move on. If the situation warrants it, take photos or video and report the incident to us. This is especially important because as you can see by their deputations they like to create narratives about being threatened by ATV riders and feeling unsafe. I truly believe these were just embellishments as there were children involved in each story and I want to believe that no one would cross that line in front of a child. It’s a commonly used narrative against us. Regardless just avoid the situation all together or if need be report it to us so that if someone contacts us about it we will have all the facts.
I know this is a lot of information and some won’t be receptive to it but we have a responsibility as trail stewards.
Again, thank you for everyone who take the time to reach out and help us be successful at council this week. I want to thank the Fenelon Falls Chamber of Commerce, The Somerville Forest Tract Committee and the Kawartha Lakes Snowmobile Club for stepping up and having our backs.
A special thanks to the councilors and staff who supported us when making their decisions. The majority of this council is new and what impressed us was the time that many of the new councillors took to do their own research into the issue. Councillor Perry’s speech was one of the best I’ve ever heard in this type of situation.
We look forward to working with this new council in future.
Carolyn Richards,
KATVA President
***Important Announcement***
In a recent City of Kawartha Lakes council meeting, a bylaw was passed to appoint some members of our volunteer trail patrol as Municipal Law Enforcement Officers for the purpose of enforcing bylaws on the trails. We want to thank the mayor, council and manager of municipal law enforcement for their faith in our organization by partnering with us in this endeavor.
These individuals are not employees of the City of Kawartha Lakes but do report to the manager of Municipal Law Enforcement for the CoKL. Any tickets issued will be processed through the Provincial Offences office in Lindsay.
The goal is not to replace the city municipal law enforcement staff or OPP patrols, but to assist the city by adding additional enforcement to the trails. We have nothing but respect for current law enforcement on the trails and will continue to partner with them as we always have.
With Covid, all trail systems in Ontario have seen a much higher volume of all types of users which has put added pressure on us as trail stewards. We feel this is an important step to continue to show the community that we are committed to maintaining safe trails for all users to enjoy. The majority of riders follow the rules and ride safely but it’s the small percent that don’t who the local residents remember and they can cost us the trails.
These officers will be patrolling the VRTC from south of Bethany all the way to Kinmount as well as the Somerville Forest, including both the single track and double track trails.
As always, if you have a municipal complaint you should still file the complaint through the City of Kawartha Lakes website.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
We’re happy to announce that Trail #55 is now open again!!
Thanks so much to Ken Hoeverman, Scott Kerr and the team at Happy Trails Construction for their hard work in getting this repair done for us so quickly. The delay was the delivery of the culvert but as soon as it arrived these guys got right to work.
This repair was a joint project between KATVA, KORMA, BDSC and the OF4WD. Thank you to all of our 5 points trail partners for their contribution and for the time spent planning this project. This is the definition of trail stewardship, working together for one common goal, to make the trails safe and enjoyable for ALL trail users.
Happy Trails!
As a club, we are required to know who a trail permit belongs to and who our members are. So if you are planning to sell your ATV or SXS, please remove your sticker beforehand. We know it may not come off in one piece and that’s ok. If you are buying a new machine, just send us a photo of your old sticker and we will gladly send you a new sticker at no cost. Also, let us know the details of your new machine.
Please contact us to send photos and updates or, text to 705-328-4482 or mail to KATVA, P.O. Box 21, Lindsay, ON, K9V 4R8.
Please be aware that the OPP and other law enforcement agencies will be stepping up enforcement on the roads and trails this year. Please stay off the roads and trails until May 1st and once the trails open, only use roads designated for ATV use. We will be posting more information this week about the temporary road routes approved by City of Kawartha Lakes Council that open when the trails open May 1st.
***Important Information regarding ATV use on roads in the City of Kawartha Lakes***
This is the first of a number of posts we will be doing about the upcoming trial project allowing ATVs on SOME additional designated roads in the City of Kawartha Lakes. We will also be posting maps of the designated routes.
1. The trial project starts May 1st! Please stay off of the roads and trails until then.
2. The trial project is for 2 years but will be reviewed after 1 year by city staff and council. Data will be collected during the trial project to determine if it is a success and if the roads will remain open. All complaints made to the city or police will be reviewed by staff and council.
3. The trial project starts May 1st and ATVs are NOT allowed on any roads in the City of Kawartha Lakes until May 1st, to coincide with the current bylaw for the opening of the trails.
4. SxS are not included in the trial project as they are currently still in the trial phase for the trails. Only ATVs are allowed. SxS will be discussed with council and city staff when the trial project is over.
5. ONLY the roads identified by the maps and the bylaw are open to ATV use. You CANNOT ride your ATV from your house to the trail or to a connecting road unless the road you live on is on the list of designated roads or maps.
6. Aftermarket or “loud” exhausts are not allowed on the roads or the trails and there is already a bylaw in place to enforce this. Running with loud exhausts will endanger the success of this project as well as future access to the trails.
7. STAY on the designated routes and follow the speed limits as set out by ONT Reg. 316/03:20km/hour if the speed limit is not greater than 50kms per hour 50km/hour if the speed limit is greater than 50kms per hour.
8. ATVs are only permitted on the roads and trails from 7:00am to 9:30pm.
9. As with the trails, the following also applies:- you must wear a helmet at all times- you must have a minimum G2 or M2 license- to ride with a passenger the ATV must be a legal 2up machine – a passenger must be a minimum of 8 years of age- you must be plated and insured.
We did the hard work to get this trial project approved, now it’s up to the riders to make it a success. It’s also your responsibility to police yourselves accordingly.
MAPS: KATVA_Road-Maps_2022.zip
A Taste of the Kawarthas
Check out this issue of A Taste of Kawarthas Magazine! Our own president Carolyn Richards has a regular column in every issue where she talks about off-roading and the KATVA/KORMA trails but this issue is even more exciting because we received a shout out from the featured interviewees Elvis Stojko and Dean McDermott. We can’t wait to see them back on our trails in 2022.
Council to vote on Tuesday, December 14, 2021
During a Special Committee of the Whole meeting called by the mayor on November 16, a report was brought forward to Council regarding the remaining recommendations from the Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Task Force that addressed proposed ATV connection routes for the areas of Bobcaygeon, Cameron, Janetville, Omemee and Pontypool. Routes to link the following communities to the trails were brought forward during the meeting and will be coming back to Council on December 14 for further discussion and/or final approval:
Pontypool, Janetville and Omemee – Council recommended the proposed routes for Pontypool, Janetville and Omemee as written.
Cameron– Council requested that amendments be made to the proposed route for Cameron.
Bobcaygeon – The proposed route for Bobcaygeon was not recommended for approval. We will let you know what our plans are to go back at this at a later date.
Lindsay – Council recommended the proposal of adding Kenrei Road and Thunder Bridge Road.
To see maps of the proposed routes please click on the following link: https://icreate7.esolutionsgroup.ca/…/Proposed…
To view the November 16th meeting and watch the debate regarding these routes as well as the deputations against them please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmqgsF9JQXc&t=3127s…
Once again, we need your help. Please take the time to email council and ask them for their support on this Two Year Trial Project. Please send your email to council@kawarthalakes.caAs always please be respectful and positive and remember that they will be voting on this Tuesday December 14th so please make sure you reach out to council by Monday.
Once again, thank you for your time.
The KATVA Team
We want to remind everyone that the ATV route through Lindsay that was passed by Council last month does not take effect until May 2022. It would be disappointing to lose the privilege before we even have a chance to get started, especially after putting in so many years of hard work.
It will only take one or two photos of ATVs riding through Lindsay between now and May for this trial project to be shut down. Once the trial period starts it will be important that riders follow the rules and stay on the designated routes. There is a level of hypervigilance by the anti ATV group looking for people to break the rules either by mistake or intentionally so that they can build a case to shut this route and all other road access down. This route is also not an open ticket to ride from your home to the trail. It’s a very specific route being used to test the ability of ATVs and other vehicles to share the roads in the town of Lindsay. If the trial period is successful then we will work with council and staff to try and open up more roads, but we have to police ourselves and hold ourselves accountable first.This is also a reminder that no roads other than those already open and the designated routes passed by council will be opened up to ATVs. That most definitely includes Highway 35 as it is a provincial highway and will never be open to ATV use in the City of Kawartha Lakes. You are also never allowed to ride in the ditch or grassy shoulder of a road in Ontario. If the road is open to ATV use you must first be on the shoulder if it’s safe to do so, or on the actual road.
We do appreciate all the messages we received about the post. It shows us that many members are taking this seriously and are prepared to help us make this a success. Mistakes happen so we all need to work together to educate our riding community.
If you have any questions please feel free to PM one of the admins if you aren’t comfortable posting them publicly.
The swing bridge in Fenelon Falls has now been turned but this is a reminder that ATVs are not allowed on the bridge or in Garnet Graham Park. Please respect the residents who are using the park by staying out of it with your ATV. The bridge and paved pathways are for non-motorized use only however it’s part of the snowmobile trail in winter.
We want to thank Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club crew Larry Hulsman, Mark Johnson, Steve McCaughey, Bob Simpson, and Steve Pillsworth for taking the lead on replacing a culvert on trail 47 . This project’s cost was shared by TMSC, KATVA, and OF4WD.
Exciting News!
The 2 year trial period for a proposed route through Lindsay passed at today’s council meeting by a vote of 5 to 4 in favor. This has been 10 years in the making and we’re finally here thanks to the hard work by the members of the ORV Task force and the councilors who voted in favour:Councilor Pat DunnCouncilor Tracy RichardsonCouncilor Kathleen Seymour FaganCouncilor Ron AshmoreCouncilor Emmett YeoIf you click on the link below it will take you right to where the issue is discussed at council. Something important to note is that it was really the emails that our members and visiting riders sent to council this past weekend that made the difference for some of the councilors and you’ll hear that in the meeting.
It’s very important that you understand that this is not opening up ALL the roads in the town of Lindsay, only a designated route and although this has passed through council it does not take effect until May 1st, 2022.
It’s incredibly important that you understand and comply with this. We here at KATVA need this time to work with city staff on signage, safety awareness and public education so that we can make sure this trial project is a success. In the meantime please stay off the roads in Lindsay. We will provide our members with a map of the route that and other important information well before the opening of the 2022 riding season.
We made this happen, now it’s up to you to make sure it becomes permanent. Stewardship and self-policing will be the keys to our success.
Hunting Season is Open.
Wear bright colours, stay close to the main trails and ride with a buddy.
Always ride safe!
#hunting #kawarthalakes #ridesafe #trails #atv #sxs #dirtbikes #KATVA #KORMA
As previously mentioned, the City of Kawartha Lakes has hired consultants to review the Trails Master Plan which was last done in 2006.
A lot has changed in those 15 years, including our sport. The growth in ATV riders and the introduction of SxS has presented some challenges to everyone from city staff and KATVA to all trail users, both motorized and non-motorized. We know there will likely be a move by local residents during this process to ban ATVs and snowmobiles from the section of rail trail from Thunderbridge Rd to Ken Rei Road in Lindsay as well as the section from Fenelon Falls (Garnet Graham Park) to Northline Rd.
We will be a part of this process and as always we will do our part, but it’s important that you do your part as well. If you follow the link below you will see that there are several ways to participate in the process including a survey, discussion board, question tab and interactive map. Please complete the survey in the very least but also the discussion board as you will soon see that almost every comment in the discussion board is against ATVs already. Please do not waste any time arguing with those who have already posted comments. You will never win an argument against people who are so biased, instead please post your own positive comments about how you enjoy the trails with your family and friends. If you use the trails not only for ATVing but other activities such as walking and cycling please make that known. If you ride an ATV because you can’t enjoy the trails any other way for physical reasons or riding is important to your mental health as it is for some of us, please make that known as well whether it’s through the discussion board or a private email to the consultants and city staff. Their emails are on the page. There is also an interactive map where you can drop pins to mention your favorite parts of the trail. Make sure you make it known how much you enjoy riding into Fenelon Falls on the trail.
Please no matter what be respectful and take the high ground. We have a great working relationship with the municipal staff and have a tremendous respect for them. They have a tough job and will never make everyone happy so let’s show them our respect for what they do for us and their hard work because they have always been respectful dealing with us. Sell them on keeping the trails open to EVERYONE as it should be. Give us something to work with on your behalf to save our use of the trails and possibly open up access to more trails in the future. We will be sending this out to all our members via email and we will post it on our business page for you to share as well.
The KATVA Team.
Work has begun resurfacing the VRTC from Burnt River north to the Crego Creek bridge. As you can see there is lots of heavy equipment on the trail so please try to avoid the area until the work is complete. We’ll keep you posted.