Island Trails adding civic addresses to make paths easier to find for users and first responders

It's tricky to describe where exactly the Dromore South Trailhead is on P.E.I.

"We're east of Charlottetown, west of Souris. We're just off of 48 Road," said Mike Salter, the president of Island Trails. 

"Of course 48 Road being one of the longest roads on the Island that doesn't help you much." 

Fortunately, there is another way to figure out its location.

"21 High Bridge Rd. is the civic address for this area," he said. "If you put it on Google Maps it will take you right here."

Island Trails is calling for more civic addresses on P.E.I. trails. It recently acquired two, one for the Selkirk Forest Walking Trail and the other for the Forestview Woodland Trail in West Prince. 

"Before then we were trying to explain to people how to find the trailhead — it was between this road and that road and so there was a lot of questions going back and forth," said Salter. 

"But now, if people want to find it, they just pop in the civic address."

According to the province though it's not just a matter of better directions to your leisurely hike — having a civic address can also be vital in emergencies. 

"We always say that 'we can't help you if we can't find you,'" said Tanya Mullally, P.E.I.'s provincial emergency management co-ordinator.

"If you happen to be at a place where you don't have a civic address ... 911 would make a request, 'Where are you located, can you tell me anything that you can see as an identifier to where you are so we can better locate you.'"

While a civic address is legally required on all properties that have a structure, Mullally said areas like trails should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

Mullally said about a decade ago the province worked on an initiative to mark reference points on the Confederation Trail in case of emergencies. 

Still, there are important factors to consider.