Transfer of management of Lakeview Trail

A brief history of trail management at Long Lake

In 2015 Long Lake Provincial Park Association (LLPPA) adopted a 10-year management agreement with the Crown (NS Department of Natural Resources, NS-DNR) for a trail and parking lot at Long Lake Provincial Park. The facilities associated with the Lakeview Trail were constructed under this agreement and opened in 2016.  A second shorter trail section that links to Dentith Road was added a little later.

The alignment of the trail and its name come from a management plan for Long Lake park that was created by LLPPA and NS-DNR working together almost 20 years ago. The plan was published in 2008.

The 10-year management agreement expired in October 2025 having been completed satisfactorily. During this 10-year period, the trail has become very popular and is widely appreciated for its natural surroundings and accessibility.

Agreement renewal and the waste-management issue

Discussion between LLPPA and NS-DNR about renewing the management agreement began in October 2025 and continued on and off through the winter into April 2026.  Most aspects of a new agreement were not contentious, but with one exception. Given ten years experience of managing wastes in the parking lot and along the trails, LLPPA requested provincial help with waste management, particularly with disposal of wastes and associated costs. LLPPA operated on a leave-no-trace policy, but some visitors had other ideas. In practice, wastes included not only normal litter (such as beverage cups) but also bags of dog excrement and household garbage, residues from overnight camping, picnic remnants, and even some demolition waste. Cleaning this up is a heavy responsibility for a volunteer group. LLPPA agreed to assist with this but not to carry the entire burden.

Several options for a successful resolution of the waste management problem were examined but no suitable resolution could be found. In light of this, another group entered the conversation. Spryfield Business Commission has a storage trailer in the Dunbrack Street parking lot and had been involved with LLPPA in park management. After discussions to which LLPPA was not privy, a trail and parking lot management agreement for a five-year period has been made between Spryfield Business Commission and NS-DNR. It came into effect in mid-April 2026.

Future role of Long Lake Provincial Park Association

In light of the above, effective April 2026, LLPPA is no longer involved with the operation and management of the Lakeview Trail and the associated parking lots. After thorough consultation with the DNR park directors, LLPPA has developed alternative plans for its activities in the next few years. We will expand our interests to the provincial park as a whole (see map here), improve our connections with related community groups, put more effort into gathering information and creating educational materials, encourage park-related scientific research and monitoring, develop more activities for park users (such as interpretive hikes), and try to improve interpretive signage of significant natural and historical sites in the park. These activities are consistent with the formal objectives of LLPPA when it was created in 1987.

Park opening and closure

Many park visitors comment on closure of the gate at the Dunbrack Street parking lot. Gates to parking lots at day-use provincial parks in Nova Scotia are generally closed during the winter, typically from mid-October (Thanksgiving) to mid-May (Victoria Day). LLPPA had negotiated special dates for the Dunbrack Street lot of April 22nd (Earth Day) and November 18th. This was agreed by NS-DNR as an experimental special case, specifically for this parking lot. In 2026, gate-openings and closures have become the responsibility of the Spryfield Business Commission as regulated by NS-DNR.