Download Recreation Mapping Project in PDF format.
At Springer Creek Restoration and Preservation Alliance (SCRAPA), our mission is to promote a convergence of community development and environmental stewardship. In 2014 we decided to pursue this mission by exploring the huge recreation potential of the lower Springer Creek area. To this end, in the first phase of our Mapping Project we obtained a donation to map the recreation trails of the Springer Creek Canyon area. We included the new maps on our website, and began publicizing them.
In the second phase we are seeking means of making this valuable recreation information even more accessible to the public. In early 2015 we received funding towards printing costs. Since then we have been fund-raising (and submitted a grant application) for three purposes: to print more map copies, hold public information meetings about the Project, and build information kiosks that will make the maps publicly available at two separate outdoor locations.
Phase I of the Mapping Project (2014)
With the generous support of the Columbia Basin Watershed Network (CBWN) and in collaboration with Selkirk College Geospatial Research Centre (SGRC), we created the three high-quality maps available on our website (https://springercreekrestoration.wordpress.com/maps/). Two are designed as large scale maps (3 feet by 4 feet), one of the entire Springer Creek watershed, and the other featuring recreation in the Village of Slocan area. The third is a Trail Map brochure.
To create the maps we first learned GPS data collection and simple mapping skills at a workshop conducted by SGRC. Then SCRAPA volunteers walked and hiked approximately 30 km of recreation trails in the lower Creek area, collecting GPS data, photos and written descriptions. Barry McLane of SGRC then combined our information with publicly available data to create the three maps.
The maps illustrate very clearly an interesting relationship between the Village of Slocan, the recreation trails of the Springer Creek Canyon area to the east, the Slocan Valley Rail Trail along the Slocan River to the west, and the Park and Beach on Slocan Lake to the north. What emerges is a Village ideally positioned to promote itself as a destination for outdoor recreation. The maps also suggest that recreation values in the Village might be enhanced by creating recreation trail corridors that better link the three areas, and by informing users of each area about recreation at the others.
Phase II of the Mapping Project (2015)
With the financial support from both Nelson and District and Kootenay Savings Credit Unions we currently have enough funds to print the two large maps needed for the kiosks, plus 500 of the Trail Map brochures. Currently we are fund-raising and applying for a grant to be able to print additional brochures and to build the two kiosks that will house these materials.
Kiosk Features
The kiosks are simple to build and will be constructed with volunteer labour. They will resemble the one shown below:
The kiosks will feature the large-scale Village of Slocan Recreation Areas map (see page 4), a panel beside the map with information needing more frequent
updates, and a container to hold copies of the Trail Map brochures.
We are currently seeking private donations, and have applied for funding through the Columbia Basin Trust’s CIP/AAP program, to create these kiosks. Should we receive the complete grant we have requested, we will use any private donations to pursue our long-range goals of promoting protection of Springer Creek Canyon and fish habitat restoration of the Creek’s outflow into Slocan Lake.
Our goal is to produce an additional 5000 copies of the Trail Map Brochures. This will be enough to stock both kiosks for two years, and also to send copies to Tourist Information Centres, Museums and outdoor recreation businesses throughout the Columbia Basin, promoting recreation in the Village of Slocan and surrounding areas.
Ideally, we would also like to raise funds to hire our mapmaker to make some minor corrections to the maps, as well as additions, such as the new Screech Owl Habitat Interpretive Walk, and the Old Highway Trail. We plan to hold public meetings to present the current maps and get community input into additional items that could be added.
Kiosk Locations
We would like to place one kiosk on Highway 6 where it crosses Springer Creek. Here there is a pull-out already used for parking. We have applied to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for a permit to build a kiosk here. If we can raise additional funds, this will also be an excellent location for a park bench in the shade near the Creek.
For the other kiosk, we have sought permission to place it on the Slocan Valley Rail Trail near the Gazebo. We have so far been unsuccessful in obtaining this permission.
If these two locations are possible, it will allow trail users on either side of the Village to learn about recreation opportunities on the other, and to pick up a single brochure which features both areas.
However, if neither preferred location proves possible, we will consult with the Village of Slocan Council about other Village locations, perhaps at the Beach on Slocan Lake, the Community Garden near W. E. Graham School, or the Campground and Tourist Information Office.
The two preferred locations are shown below on a smaller version of the map we will use for the kiosks:
Summary
Completing Phase II of our Recreation Mapping Project will achieve several important results. First, it will increase public awareness of the recreation possibilities in the Village of Slocan and Springer Creek Canyon areas by placing large-scale maps outdoors directly in the recreation environment. Second, by siting the two kiosks on either side of the Village, it will provide a place where trail users of either area can learn about the other and get handy Trail maps showing both locations. And finally, by making users aware of the ideal location of the Village of Slocan as a recreation destination, and by promoting local recreation throughout the Columbia Basin, the Project will supplement existing measures that encourage a central role for recreation in the economic and community development of the Village and the Slocan Valley as a whole.
Springer Creek Restoration and Preservation Alliance 