As Ontario moves out of lockdown and into the three-step plan to reopen the province, the Bruce Trail Conservancy has updated its return to hiking plan for its 9 member clubs. (Note that the plan will be amended if the government introduces additional guidelines. If changes occur, we will inform our members.)
The Toronto Club will resume its hike program once the province moves into Step 1, and will design its hikes to follow the guidelines outlined below. Watch the hike calendar on the TBTC website for details.
Note that in Step 1, the hiking program is restricted to members. Step 2 allows members and their guests. In Step 3, when the limits on outdoor group sizes are increased or lifted altogether, we will open the hiking program to everyone, members and non-members.
Here is the criteria that the BTC has developed for each of the 3-step government opening stages:
Step 1:
- Hiking program can reopen in all Club sections with a limit of 10 hikers per hike, including the hike leader and sweep (8 hikers, 1 hike leader, and 1 sweep)
- Hikes are restricted to members only
- No car shuttles or bus hikes are permitted – all hikes must be out and back or loop hikes
- Hikers must keep a distance of at least 6 feet from each other
- Masks are recommended to be worn
- Hike Leaders and Hikers can carry hand sanitizer, but should not be sharing it within the group
- Individual End to Ends of the entire Bruce Trail can resume and will be acknowledged
Step 2:
- The limit on group size increases to 25 hikers
- Hikes are restricted to members and their guests
- No car shuttles or bus hikes are permitted – all hikes must be out and back or loop hikes
- Hikers must keep a distance of 6 feet from each other
- Masks are recommended to be worn
- Hike Leaders and Hikers can carry hand sanitizer, but should not be sharing it within the group
Step 3:
- Hikes will be open with no capacity restrictions, unless outdoor capacity limits are put in place by the Province for Step 3
- Car shuttles and bus hikes may resume
- Group end to end hikes may resume
- Event hikes may resume