A 10-year plan designed to protect the City of Medicine Hat’s 92-kilometre treasure for the future

Leisure Trails System Future Development Plan

Stretching along the South Saskatchewan River Valley, the city’s trail system is a 92 kilometre attraction to visitors and a treasure to the community’s 60,000 residents. To continue to meet the growing city’s recreational needs and remain a long-term asset, its many leisure trails need to be expanded. Our first step was to work with the City of Medicine Hat to update its obsolete leisure trails system future development plan from 1990.

We started out by designing and implementing a public engagement process that included traveling public engagement sessions, design charrettes with selected groups of stakeholders, and online surveys. Future trails and connections to communities and amenities were identified and prioritized, and existing trail networks and guiding documents were considered and built upon.

A new leisure trail future development plan was born from the path we took. Within it are planning and guiding principles which are helping to set a new standard and establish an overarching tone for the future of trails in the city over the next ten years. With our help, the city is now on the right path to enhancing its cherished asset.