Today was a special day for Long Lake Provincial Park Assoc. and all those involved in the new parking lot and trail system at Long Lake Provincial Park. The trail and parking lot officially opened today on Earth Day with a ribbon cutting and unveiling of the Provincial Park sign. After years of planning by The Department of Natural Resources, Polycorp., Atlantic Developments and the Long Lake Provincial Park Assoc, long lake has finally opened it’s first phase of trails. We wish everybody Happy Trails and hope you enjoy this new trail for all to enjoy.
Long Lake Provincial Park Association
Long Lake Provincial Park
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Long lake Provincial Park is a Pack In – Pack Out area, please take anything you bring into the park back home with you.
I hope that these new “trails” work out very well in the long run. I still feel that nature was mowed down and graveled for the benefit of PolyCorp without taking nature into account. There really is no need at all for the huge width of the paths. Two cars could pass each other on them. I don’t see how that was taking the “pristine beauty” of the park into consideration. It served Peter Polly’s purpose as a place to dump his rock and soil from his new subdivision across the highway and also as a sales tool to sell those properties. I am very, very disappointed.
I appreciate easier access to the lake to paddle, but the “trails” aren’t anything I would consider worthy of hiking. They are called gravel roads everywhere else.
The path size is absolutely not big enough for two cars, that is quite an exaggeration. I walked the whole path today with my boyfriend and my dog, and we were passed by a cyclist multiple times which pushed us to the edge of the path. It is absolutely a comfortable size for walking or biking traffic to flow in either direction at the same time. And also a good size for an ATV to come in and retrieve a person who may become injured and can’t get back out.
Come now. Let’s be in the present but think about the past. As a person who grew up in Spryfield when Long Lake was watershed and forbidden territory, how wonderful is it that now there are paths that can be walked and biked and strollered at the same time without someone having to jump into to ditch to let someone else go by. Now all that is needed is a big swath of grass to extend to water, with some nice picnic tables so one can enjoy the water. Having to travel down St Mgts Bay Rd regularly, it is really difficult dodging cars and people parked along side the highway. Look at Lake Banook, how about something like that! No one over there is complaining about lost wilderness. So a company is profiting – that is capitalism. Many, many people will benefit from this wonderful project.
I walked on the trail yesterday and measured the lengths of the trail at a few locations. The gravel part of the trail is about 12 feet (my shoe size) and the rocks at the two sides of the gravel part is about 4-5 feet. So the trail is about 16-17 feet. It is a bit wider than the other trails I see. For instance, the trails in the nearby Hail’s pond park by Walter Havill Drive, the Chain of Lake Trail and the McIntosh Run Community Trail are all narrower I think. I hope future trails built in the Long Lake park can be a bit narrow to save trees.
I walked the trail as well and am pleased that there is now public access. I was was quite disappointed to see the excessive width and gravel surface. I hope this is not the standard for future trail development.
I wonder of the the gravel surface surface will be a barrier for wheelchairs.
On bicycle use I don’t have a mountain bike and wouldn’t use my bike on that surface whereas I do use the COLT and BLT trails on my bike. I see there are bike racks but i don’t see a safe and easy access point for bikes to the park. No parent is going to let their child venture on NW Arm drive with high speed traffic to use the park with a bike. Its a park that you must drive to unless you live in Long Lake Village.
I also thought there would be access to the lake for my kayak. I don’t see it.
So I’m glad the lake is opened up but I’m very disappointed with the overall design.
Hi Mike
Thanks for reaching out to us, The Trail width was required by Natural Resources as an Active Transportation trail, we had the design done by engineers in consultation with Natural Resources. If you are in there on a busy day you will notice that many people can pass each other while walking or biking in both directions.
We are currently looking at the larger gravel situation, hopefully we can get this fixed soon. We were advised not to use crusher run because of the hills and uneven elevations as it would washout during rains, unlike flat trails like BLT. We are looking at getting the parts with large gravel covered with a smaller grade similar to the sections around the Witherod section.
As far as Kayak and boat launch, we are in the design stages now for phase 2, a park at the old Pump house site on Old Sambro Rd, this will have parking, picnic areas, and an area to launch canoes and kayaks.
We are also hoping to create small back country trails on the other side of Long Lake which will be narrow hiking trails, this is not in the design stages yet, but has been discussed by our board.
Cheers Mike H
As you mention : ” The Trail width was required by Natural Resources as an Active Transportation trail ” I assume it’s because it can be marketed as such since it connects Old Sambro road to NW Arm drive/Cowiehill rd/Peter Saulnier dr, fair enough … What was the thought process behind changing what was supposed to be a “walking trail” (that could have been the same type as McIntosh Run CommunityTrail ) around Withered lake to the same active transportation highway ? Is the go forward plan to have the same type of “trail” go all the way to the Ragged lake business park ? I was among the people very much happy about the development of this system, but floored when I saw the actual highway built in that beautiful Park. The crusher issue wouldn’t have been one if the grade of the hills had been different. I heard mention of this supposed to be wheelchair accessible as well, which would be absolutely great, however the surface and steepness of hills make me wonder ! Had this trail been 1/3 of it’s width (trail + rocks on either side + clearcutting lines of sights) and asphalted (like the rails to trails) it wouldn’t have been such a shocking gash in the park ! It’s a shame the beautiful idea became what it did. I hope the committee steering the “small back country trails on the other side of Long Lake which will be narrow hiking trails” don’t have the same “vision” !!
Thanks Mike H for your response to my comments. I know this all takes enormous volunteer effort and I appreciate it. It couldn’t be done without volunteers. As DNR was advising you on trail specifications I hope they have wheelchair access in their standards. Not all trails can be or need to be accessible but this one could and should be. I look forward to further work on the trails.
How do I become a member of the Association? Mike Arthur
Gravel is far too big. I’m hobbling on a twisted ankle this morning. Hope it can be fixed up. Cheers!
As a resident of the Spryfield area for the last 23 years I was very excited to hear about the creation of a trail system in the large Provincial Park that has remained very undeveloped. Upon driving in the main entrance area, I was impressed by the good parking lot, large bicycle rack, bathroom, benches and garbage pails. However, once my husband and I started walking on the trail, I became VERY disappointed. As the parent of a wheelchair bound son, I can assure you that the very coarse gravel surfacing excludes wheelchair users as well as families with children in strollers. Frankly I am appalled that a trail system developed in a Provincial Public Park could be approved, despite being so exclusive of these people. As well, although the trails are wide enough to accommodate both bicyclists and walkers, most bicyclists would find it very frustrating to try to ride on such coarse gravel. My husband and I were wearing comfortable walking sneakers and we found the surface to be very uncomfortable and probably will not return unless the surface is changed. I know of no other walking path in HRM that has such a surface.
It just strikes me as very odd that so much effort was put into announcing this trail system, and so little thought was put into the impact of using such very coarse gravel as surfacing……..
I talked with DNR staff last week about the lack of wheelchair access, that I wouldn’t bike there, no access to the park without a car., etc. I asked for a copy of DNR trails standards and am waiting for a call from a DNR landscape architect who managed the project. I will try to let you know what I find out. It is irresponsible to build a public trail like this so close to a large population.
As several people pointed out that it is impossible to ride one’s bike to access the trail system, as the NW Arm Drive traffic is way too fast for bikers (although I do occasionally see some people biking on the road and I always admire their brevity!). If the speed limit for NW Arm Drive from its intersection with Walter Havill Drive to its end at Old Sambro Road can be reduced to 60 km (or even 70 km) it will be much safer for people to ride bikes to come to the park. Moreover, it will greatly reduce the loud noise in the park. It would be ideal if the shoulders of the highway can be paved to make bike routes, as we see on the nearby St. Margaret Bay road or Bedford highway. Then people in Armdale, Fairview, Spryfield or even Halifax will be able to bike to the Long Lake park.