08/28/2026
We are incredibly proud of our field team here at the GCTA this summer. Our first season on the ground and they’ve done a whopping 280 kms of ground truthing!
280 KM OF ASSESSED, HARD DATA COLLECTED. OUR CORRIDORS ARE TAKING SHAPE.
A trail of this scale does not begin with construction.
It begins with evidence.
During the 2026 field season, the Great Coastal Trail Authority has completed approximately 280 kilometres of field-based route assessment across the Great Northern Peninsula — a significant step in moving the Great Coastal Trail from a regional vision toward a defined, evidence-based trail corridor.
The yellow sections on this map represent areas where our team has been on the ground examining potential alignments and documenting existing conditions.
This work is about much more than identifying where a trail could go. It identifies where the trail needs to go.
Route assessment considers the physical landscape, terrain and topography, existing trail infrastructure and traditional corridors, community connectivity, environmental sensitivities, coastal conditions, accessibility, constructability, safety, long-term maintenance implications and opportunities for cultural and heritage interpretation.
Field observations are combined with GIS mapping and spatial analysis to build an increasingly detailed understanding of the corridor and identify where existing infrastructure can be incorporated, where rehabilitation may be required, and where new trail development may ultimately be appropriate.
Just as importantly, this work allows us to identify constraints before significant capital investment occurs.
For a trail system ultimately intended to extend hundreds of kilometres through highly varied coastal environments, that groundwork is vital.
Good trail development is not simply about building kilometres.
It is about determining the right alignment, in the right landscape, for the right reasons — and ensuring that what we build can be environmentally responsible, technically defensible and sustainable over the long term.
Approximately 280 kilometres have now undergone field assessment this season.
Every kilometre adds another layer of information to the emerging Great Coastal Trail corridor and strengthens the evidence required for the next stages of planning, environmental review, engineering, costing and investment.
There is considerable work still ahead.
But the picture is becoming clearer.
The Great Coastal Trail is moving from concept, to data, to a defined corridor — one kilometre at a time.
Built by many. Linked as one.
