Rails to Trails: How Simcoe County transformed its abandoned rail lines into scenic walkways

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the abandoned rail line through Thornton and Cookstown could be used as a trail?” this question, posed to me by Glenn Dunne of Thornton, back in the last 1980s was all that was needed to spark my interest.

I learned that although there had been an unsuccessful attempt in Tecumseth to convert abandoned rail lines into trails, there were other places in Simcoe County (e.g., the Tiny Trail in Tiny Township, the Uhthoff Tra8il near Orillia, and the Georgian Trail near Collingwood) where successful rail-to-trail conversions had taken place.

Meanwhile, there was an effort by local Cookstown merchants to try to get the steam train from Tottenham to come to Cookstown. This coalition of local merchants even made presentations to the Ontario Inter-Ministerial Committee on Abandoned Rail lines. However, in the end, their endeavours failed, as it was deemed too expensive to put the railway tracks back in. Proponents of bringing the steam train to Cookstown, such as Gerry and Sally Robinson, and Petra and Alan Hewson, later became strong advocates for promoting the rail-to-trail conversion.

In the early ’90s, a County of Simcoe report recommended that abandoned rail lines be preserved for public use, as utility corridors or as trails. A new organization was formed to implement the recommendations of the study, and Huronia Trails and Greenways was formed in 1992.

In the mid-’90s, both Innisfil and Essa purchased abandoned railway right-of-ways within their boundaries. Essa and New Tecumseth, however, did not initially do so because of fear that trail users would bring diseases to farm crops, and that trail users would trespass, vandalize, steal, etc. (To this day, the Town of New Tecumseth still has not embraced the idea of a rail-to-trail conversion).

In 2000, the new Thornton-Cookstown Trans Canada Trail committee began raising funds, and volunteers worked with over 2,000 cadets from CFB Borden to put decking and railings on six old railway bridges, as part of the “Cadets Caring for Canada” program. The committee continued to fundraise and to date has raised $175,000 in cash, plus $250,000 in in-kind donations of services, materials, and volunteer hours. Over the years, the trails committee developed the old, abandoned rail line into a beautiful and scenic trail of 15.6km, stretching from Georgian Downs on Innisfil Sideroad 5, just north of Innisfil Beach Road, to two km south of Cookstown.

The trail can be used by hikers, cyclists, and skiers. Also, horseback riders can use the Innisfil section. Snowmobilers, too, have access to the trail, which is groomed by the Bonsecour Track and Trail Snowmobile Club. (Over the years this club has contributed many volunteer hours as well as funds to the development of the trail).

The trail now features a walkway to the Cookstown Central Public School, two Tree Spirits cared and donated by local artist Colin Partridge, a pavilion in Cookstown, trailhead sings and kiosks, as well as several parking lots. But best of all, the trail surface was improved in the fall of 2009, with limestone screens on the entire length of the trail. Along the trail are several scenic sections and points of interest, particularly where the trail goes over the Cookstown Creamery Creek, which it does six times!

Over the years, the following residents volunteered on the Thornton-Cookstown Trans Canada Trail committee: Petra and Alan Hewson, Willy and Len VanderPost, Karen Miller, Gerry and Sally Robinson, Frieda Baldwin, John Goodfellow, Daryl Grenville, David Cockburn, Isabel West, Gord Davis, Brian Baker, Shannon Martensson, Dave McColl, Sam Tarachio, Heather Snyder, Keri McMath, Wil Schouten, Innisfil Council member Lynn Dollin, Essa Council members Randolph Ianniruberto and Rick Newlove, Essa Parks & Recreation manager Diane Straus, and Innisfil Parks and Recreation managers Paul Wylie, Bob Browne, and Sid Armatage.

Written by Frieda Baldwin

From p. 78 Memories of Cookstown, Innisfil Historical Society. Copies of this book as well as others written by the Innisfil Historical Society can be obtained by contacting [email protected]