STATUS & TRAIL CONDITIONS

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February 26, 2024

UPDATE ON TRAILS AND LAKES

ALL LAKES ARE CLOSED

ALL TRAILS ARE CLOSED

Our trail Station Larose from Laurel to Weir will be closed due to a loss of land right of way for the 2023/2024 season.  We are hopeful an affordable solution will be found for the 2024/2025 season.

Trail conditions equivalence : 5/5 = excellent, 4/5 = very good, 3/5 = good, 2/5 =fair, 1/5 = bad

JANUARY 2024 ~

We are announcing a partial opening of the following trails :

Lakefield Trail:Gore/Lakefield to Lac Louisa.

Tour de Lac:Lac Louisa to Pine Hill.

Goopie Trail: Pine Hill to Goopies bridge in Harrington. The trail to Lac MCDonald 317 remains closed due to water on the trail. It will be worked on early in the week.

Construction on the Laurel  Trail (Lac Louisa to Laurel) on the North side of Lac Louisa is completed and requires a lot more snow before it can be opened.

Volunteers worked on the second platform at Lac McDonald today. We hope to have it completed after next weekend and be able to open the trail.

Signage was completed Lakefield/Gore-Pine Hill-Harrington.

20/01/24 –

2023/2024: We will continue to attempt to find a solution to the closure of the trail from Lake Louisa to Laurel, but we foresee it being closed for at least the start of the season. If not, we are counting on financing from the MTQ to be available for the 2024/2025 season.

2023/2024: We have confirmation tonight (07/12/23) that the trail from Pine Hill north towards Lake Mc Donald on the 317, will be open for this season. Claude Baril of Hôtel du Chasseur has worked hard with a landowner to obtain the right of way for this season 2023/2024. This will now ensure that our Club has a route to the North meeting Club Diable et Rouges at Lac des Seize Îles.  Finally some good news for this season!

The directors will continue to work hard to open as many of our trails as possible.

2023/2024: Club Le Hibou Blanc would like to update our members and snowmobilers from all surrounding Clubs on our trail situation for the 2023/2024 season. The Club has a long history of over 50 years of providing quality trails to the Lower Laurentian region. We have experienced numerous loss of Rights of way this year. The directors have worked very hard to find solutions, but at this time it all comes down to our inability to access the funding required to construct new sections of trail.

The major issues that the Club is experiencing are trail relocations of the Laurel to Weir and the     Lac Louisa to Laurel trails.

The first issue is the loss of a right of way on the Laurel to Weir trail. A solution was found at a cost of $25,000 but as this trail is considered a local trail, it does not qualify for funding according to the FCMQ and will not be open for the 2023-2024 season.

The second issue is the  relocation of a section of trail off the North side of Lac Louisa towards Laurel/Lac des seizes Iles.The landowner has demanded that trail be relocated to the edge of his

property. The Club successfully rezoned a section of private land for recreational use at a cost of $ 2,000 to the Club to allow the relocation of the trail. The estimate for this project is over

$ 100,000. The Club filed the request for financing from the FCMQ in a timely manner in which they took until the Fall to notify the Club that the project’s cost was too high to qualify for the FCMQ financing. The Regional Liaison for the Laurentian region then presented the project to the MTQ for funding. However, as the response to the request for funding from the FCMQ was delayed, the deadline for funding from the MTQ was therefore missed for this season.

The trail from Lake McDonald to Laurel/ Lac Des Seizes Iles will be open for the 2023/2024 season with the completion of the second platform. This two year project that was started last season will be completed at a cost of over $ 25,000, again with no financial aid from the FCMQ.

Club Le Hibou Blanc feels that we have been abandoned by the FCMQ concerning financing for our immediate needs to keep the Club functioning for the 2023/2024 season. Without a creative solution to this situation, the heart of the Club’s trails will not open for the 2023/2024 season. Your Federation has not offered $1 to help Club Le Hibou Blanc with our required projects to ensure the continuation of one of the oldest snowmobile clubs in Quebec.

We will be approaching numerous local contractors with equipment to donate their time and equipment to complete the trail  relocation to ensure the continuation of a very important North/South route of the region.

The directors have worked very hard and done their jobs to find solutions to the trail issues. However, the FCMQ has not supported Club Le Hibou Blanc by providing financial aid required for these projects.

2022 – Club Le Hibou Blanc has experienced numerous losses of property rights of way over the summer. Our team of administrators has worked hard to find new landowners that will allow the use of their land for the construction of alternative trails. Most issues have been resolved for the start of the 2022/2023 season. The Lac Fawn/Lac McDonald trail has been the most difficult area. We have been working on this problem since last spring and believe we have found a solution. The new trail requires the construction of two bridges with minimal trail construction. We are hoping that the trail can be completed by the end of January or early February 2023. We are awaiting final confirmation for the project by the Municipality of Harrington. New trails are also being constructed in the Wentworth Nord on the Laurel trail and Lac Carling/Pine Hill regions. The annual loss of land usage rights has become an enormous problem in our region. Our administrators continue to work hard to find alternative trails to ensure the continuation of our trail network.

2021  Our Club experienced a terrible weekend with off trail riders on private land.   On the Laurel Trail (Lac Louisa à Laurel)  we have one main land owner who has created a nature reserve, this trail at the start of the season was extremely fragile. Snowmobilers have left the trail riding all over this property. The property owners are understandably irate over these actions. The Lakefield Trail power lines continue to be a serious problem as well. We were also informed of large groups leaving the trail in Gagné’s Pit, Laurel area and a large group off the trail at Lake McDonald on private property starting fires. when asked by one of our Directors to please stay on the trail in the Gagné’s Pit area,he was just laughed at. Club Hibou Blanc has reached out to FCMQ and SQ for additional serveillance in our club. We have three major trails that are in immediate danger of being closed due to these events. This would mean our Club is closed, all access north would be lost. All snowmobiliers must get involved in educating the few causing the trouble of the consequences of their actions.

2020/2021 The land under the H-Q power line between Laurel and Lake Louisa is privately owned.  The right of way is fragile.  Please do not go off-trail under the Hydro-Québec line.  Our patrollers will fine violators!  Thank you for your collaboration.

2019/2020 The land under the hydropower lines on the Lakefield/Gore trail is private property. The landowner has requested that snowmobilers do not ride off-trail. Snowmobilers found off-trail will receive a fine.

When entering & exiting lake Louisa, please stay on the marked trail & do NOT pass in front of the houses. Our privilege to use these accesses to the lake will be lost if snowmobiles continue to pass directly in front of these houses. The trail is very clearly marked-stay on it.