Newly named Xget’tem’ Trail officially opens

Nov 5, 2018 | 1:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — The trail formerly known as the Peterson Creek Multi-Use Pathway is ‘officially’ open, and it has a new name. 

The 1.7-kilometre long Xget’tem’ Trail has been accessed by cyclists and pedestrians for weeks, but on Monday (Nov. 5) mayor, council, city staff and community members gathered to cut the ribbon on the new path. 

The new name was decided upon after numerous meetings between the City of Kamloops and Tk’emlups te Secwepemc. 

“Xget’tem’ means the deep valley,” said Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Coun. Jeanette Jules. “If you’ve gone up and down through this trail system (you know) that it is a deep valley and the plants and shrubs and the creek and everything that is within there is there’s a lot of medicinal plants, plant foods that we ate, shrubs that we gathered to use for different medicines. It’s highly significant to us and it’s the trail system that we’ve utilized since time immemorial.” 

The path will be marked with placards naming the different flora along the way. 

The City has been keeping track of usage of the trail over the past few weeks and has been pleased with the numbers. 

“The peak day we had 511 users on the trail,” said Mayor Ken Christian, “but our average daily use is in and around 350 people a day. That’s without it even officially being open. I think this is an important part of the infrastructure for particularly active transportation in the city of Kamloops, allowing people to get to work, to school, to their place of residence and access downtown without having to venture down Columbia Street is a good measure.” 

AUDIO: How to pronounce Xget’tem’