Category: Oro Medonte Club

Blog Posts for Oro Medonte Club News & Events

Oro-Medonte Club Dissolved

Posted on by Campbell Britton

Unfortunately, we received an email yesterday from the Oro-Medonte club president that the club leadership decided to dissolve the club. The club no longer has sufficient support to organize a hiking program and/or continue to maintain the 18 km of Ganaraska Hiking Trail that the club looks after.

The good news is that the Line 4/5 trail and the Vasey Rd/Peter St sections are in good shape. Both have been maintained twice, and the growth of the spring has been cut down. The blue blazes of the side trail in Copeland Forest have been refreshed, and a few have been added as well.

While we are looking to find a solution for the ongoing and future maintenance of the trail, current Oro-Medonte club members can choose to move to another club. The Orillia, Barrie, Midland, and Mad River clubs are all close by and have great hiking schedules.

We also would like to thank the outgoing leadership members of the Oro-Medonte club, and all volunteers who in the past have led hikes, helped at trail maintenance work parties, or took on a leadership role, for their commitment to the Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc. and the local Oro-Medonte GHTA club.

Frieda Baldwin
President, Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc.
705-245-1005

2025.12.03 – Simcoe County Interactive Map Updated to Show Current Ganaraska Hiking Trail

Posted on by John Sloan

For those of you that use the Simcoe County Interactive Map (https://opengis.simcoe.ca/public/ ) we are happy to announce that the map has been updated to reflect the current Ganaraska Hiking Trail, including all side trails. Our thanks to Victor Tolgyessy for working with the Simcoe County GIS team to get this done.

2025.05.24 – Oro-Medonte Trail Ice Storm Status Update

Posted on by John Sloan

The Ganaraska Oro-Medonte Club has advised that their trail is now open end-to-end (Maps #21 and #33 of the Trail Guide map series). Our thanks to the hard work of all the volunteers that helped to clear the trails.

A caution reminder – All trail users should remember that even though the trails themselves are clear there may still be risks in forested areas due to overhead broken branches or leaning or weakened trees due to the ice storm. Hike with caution and watch for overhead and nearby hazards, especially if there is a strong wind or wind gusts. All trail users must accept personal responsibility for their own safety.

Ice Storm Restoration Update

Posted on by Campbell Britton

 As per our announcement of April 3, 2025, following the ice storm of March 29/30, the entire 500 km long Ganaraska Hiking Trail was officially closed. Meanwhile, our club volunteers have been busy assessing and restoring their sections of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail and as a result of their hard work, we hope to be able to “open” up some sections very soon. Stay tuned for further announcements, hopefully by this coming  weekend. 

Our volunteers have already cleared a lot of the fallen debris, put caution tape around some dangerous hazards and/or created a small reroute, all this in an effort to make the trail “passable”. Trail Closed signs are being installed on those sections of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail, which are still considered impassable, or where we have not been able to even start or complete any restoration.  In the most affected areas, such as many of the Simcoe County Forests in Oro Medonte, salvage efforts are scheduled by the landowner. These logging operations may last well into the summer, but will open up the forest access roads, and make it easier for our volunteers to access the trail for restoration efforts.  

As we cannot enforce physical closure of trail access, we ask that persons traversing the trail be guided by the following principles:

  • As is always the case, even under normal circumstances, HIKE AT YOUR OWN RISK. It remains the individual’s own responsibility to decide what their own risk tolerance is. 
  • There are still a lot of overhead hazards such as tree branches hanging above the trail, or leaning trees near the trail, which we plan to deal with in due time. Several of our volunteers  have taken chainsaw training to help tackle the situation.
  • Consider the wind. Higher wind speeds and gusts can dislodge the overhead hazards or topple leaning trees.
  • Leave a hike plan with someone (i.e. where you plan to hike, when expected back, etc.)
  • Hike with a buddy

Enjoy the hiking season, but stay safe out there!

Frieda Baldwin

President, Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association Inc.

Safe Hiker Course April 26 at Tiffin Centre for Conservation

Posted on by Campbell Britton

On Saturday April 26, 2025 Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association will be offering a Safe Hiker course for members and non-members. The course is built on the Hike Ontario Safe Hiker course, but will include other topics such as information about safe hiking after the ice storm, protecting from ticks, carpool etiquette, planning for a hike, navigation tools, What3Words, what if you get lost/injured, weather, etc.

Following the course, there will be a 1 to 1.5 hour hike on the beautiful Tiffin CA property. Both the course and parking are free on April 26.

Address: Tiffin Centre, 8195 8th Line of Essa, Utopia, Ontario on Saturday April 26 at 12:30.
Park in the large parking lot by the green Administration building and proceed past that building via the covered boardwalk to the Learning Centre.

To sign up for the free course, enter your name and email on the following link. Your email will only be visible to the instructors and will be used in case of a change or cancellation.
Safe Hiker Course Registration

Temporary closure of section of Oro-Medonte trail in Copeland Forest.

Posted on by John Sloan

A portion of the Oro-Medonte trail in Copeland Forest will be temporarily closed due to spring seasonal wet conditions. The trail section is just north of the Oro-Medonte and Barrie trail junction near sign post 5 and continues north to sign post 4 – approximately 1 km in length. There is an alternate trail that can be used to the east of the Oro-Medonte trail (see attached map).

Signs will be installed at the end points of the closed section (sample attached). Please do not try to use the closed section – walking around the wet sections on the trail can cause damage to environmentally sensitive areas in the forest. We are lucky to have access to the Copeland Forest trail system so let’s do our part to make our trail system sustainable. 

There will be a follow-on notice when the trail is re-opened. 

TRAIL ALERT IN THE COPELAND FOREST!

Posted on by Heather Briant

Oro-Medonte Hiking Trail Section in Copeland Forest.

There has been a water surge in Copeland Forest creating a major washout of a small section of the Oro-Medonte Ganaraska Hiking Trail.  Anyone walking the trail will have to make a short detour to connect to the other section.  Hikers will not be able to walk the trail in the destroyed area near the small pond midway between P1 & P2. 

2021.09.23 – Logging complete on Oro-Medonte Trail between Lines 4N & 5N.

Posted on by John Sloan

Update 2021.10.01 – BLAZING AND TRAIL MAINTENANCE NOW COMPLETE! ENJOY THE TRAIL.

The logging on private land between Lines 4N and 5N on the Oro-Medonte trail is now complete (reference the posting dated June 7, 2021). The trail is useable but needs to be re-blazed – scheduled to happen by the end of September. Our Ondago app will keep you on the trail until the blazing has been refreshed. It is great to have the Oro-Medonte trail once again available from end-to-end. Enjoy the fall hiking.

Oro-Medonte Trail – Caution About Logging Operations (June 2021)

Posted on by John Sloan

June 2021 – Logging operations are currently active on private property between Lines 4N and 5N on the Ganaraska Oro-Medonte trail. The duration of the logging operation is unknown. Avoid using this section of the trail until a notice is posted that the logging is finished.