5 Best New Years Day Hikes In Halifax

2016


    A polar bear swim isn't the only new years hangover-curing outdoor experience.  Check out these suggestions of places to help you recover from the sins of last night/year.



Charlies Lake Lookoff
5) Charlies Lake Trail.  New Year's redemption can be found overlooking Charlie's lake. A short, but rugged 1km hike from the parking lot at Maskwa Aquatic club, leads to a spectacular place of rejuvenation. Re-fill your lungs with certified fresh organic 2016 oxygen along the steep rocky shoreline.

4) Shubie Park.  If you're in the Dartmouth area, heading to Shubie Park is your best option for a place to be seen being "just great, thanks!" (as your grimace turns into a smile).  Sure last night was a rough one, but you're still out getting exercise and seizing the new year!  ( Check out the map to find a route length that accommodates your stomach condition).

3) Point Pleasant Park. Get off on the right foot by raising your pulse in Halifax's heart.  Give a fist bump, or subtle wink and nod to any fellow party revellers who also opted for nature over nurture for the first day of 2016.

2) Long Lake Provincial Park.  If you want to get away, but just far enough that no one will notice that you look like an extra from "The Walking Dead",  explore Long Lake Provincial Park.  You can find plenty of places off the beaten path to ponder all of the amazing things you will be accomplishing in the new year once you get your voice back.

Herring Cove Lookoff
1) Herring Cove Provincial Park. Sure it might be a little chilly and snowy, but we are in Nova Scotia and nothing rings in a fresh new year like some fresh, cool salty ocean air.   It's a rugged coastal hike, but exploring this place is just easy enough that you don't have to worry about starring in a survival story when you realize your ambition doesn't match your current physiology. Check out a 360 View Here!

Happy 2016!

Outdoor Recreation Is Blooming In Clayton Park

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Dog parks, walking trails, sports fields, and active transport.

The Halifax Mainland Common, located in Clayton Park, has been recently upgraded.  Back in January, the city moved to replace off-leash dog facilities from Africville Park to a different location.  After consultations with a very engaged public, the Halifax Mainland Common was chosen as the site for the new facility.  Off-Leash parks are a rarity in Halifax so it was a gap that needed to be filled.  Not only does this site fill that gap, it has now become the centerpiece of an area blooming with recreation options.  From the design of the entry gates, to the fresh water dispensers the dog park gets an "A" grade in just about every aspect.  Separate fields for large and small dogs, a wooded trail section, a sheltered area, bag dispensers, garbage cans and a large parking area are reflections of a well executed plan.  

The dog park is only the newest addition to the Mainland Common.  The walking trails have been around for years, and have been constantly improved upon, thanks to the Halifax Northwest Trails Association.  They have spearheaded efforts to add interpretive signage, as well as improving and maintaining the trail with boardwalks, foot bridges.  The main loop is now lined with soft mulch, making it as aesthetically pleasing as it is soft on the feet.  A boardwalk and look-off in the unique bog habitat provides a great area to spot many different types of plants, wild flowers, insects and birds.  Chock full of pitcher plants and huckleberry bushes, there are plenty of plants and birds which are rarely seen in an urban setting. Recommended:  "Trees and Shrubs of the Maritimes", "Birds of Nova Scotia" and reading the interpretive signs along the way.

Activities don't stop with nature walking.  There is a very well maintained, dirt infield, public baseball field as well as the BMO Soccer Centre and Canada Games Centre.  The Common is also accessible via the Halifax Mainland North Linear Parkway, an active transport route that connects it to many other parks and places of interest.  The Lacewood bus terminal currently under construction will also help the accessibility.  When you look at the larger picture of how the various ball fields, parks, trails and facilities tie into each other you can start to see a cohesive active transportation and recreation area that the city could use a lot more of.   
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Getting to know Hemlock Ravine Park

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Chances are if you've never visited Hemlock Ravine Park, or been there once years ago, you are in the majority of HRM residents.  Everyone knows and loves Point Pleasant Park, and the Public Gardens, but Hemlock Ravine is their unassuming, lesser-known cousin.  Most people (like myself) know very little about the park. Some likely don't know of its existence, others may know it exists but are un-sure exactly where it is.  My knowledge stopped at the heart-shaped pond, and the old white round building off of the Bedford Highway. The round house has always had a mystique to me since I was a youngster, perhaps because it is in such an odd spot, or perhaps because the only history I knew of it was that a man once went insane in there because he could not find a corner to pee in (my mother's idea of a history lesson).   I don't think I'm alone in my lack of knowledge about Hemlock Ravine Park, and only recently have I become well acquainted with what is one of the most naturally beautiful parts of the city.  Allow me to (re)introduce you to Hemlock Ravine Park:

Part 1: History: what is that little round white house on the Bedford highway, and who built the heart-shaped pond?

In 1780, Nova Scotia's Lieutenant Governor, John Wentworth resided on the grounds.  Wentworth happens to be the same man who built the current Goverment House on Barrington Street. In 1794, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent arrived in Halifax to command the garrison.  Wentworth then lent the estate to him, where he and his French mistress, Julie St. Laurent lived.  Edward turned the grounds into heavily landscaped pleasure gardens, built ornamental temples, waterfalls, a grotto and a pond (originally larger than the current one, and oval shaped).   The retreat was the social center of the colony for the local elite, and activities included garden parties, picnics, concerts, and winter skating parties on the pond after sleigh rides from Halifax. In 1800, Edward and St. Laurent left Halifax, and the grounds were turned over to Governor Wentworth, who moved out shortly, and the grounds fell into disrepair but remained popular with locals for its natural beauty and ideal setting for a country picnic.  When Prince Arthur (Prince Edward's Grandson) arrived in Halifax in 1869, he re-shaped the pond into its current heart shape, in dedication to the 27 years that Prince Edward and Julie St. Laurent spent together.   By the 1950s, all that remained of the original estate was the muddy pond, and one decorative temple; the round music rotunda.

Part 2: What is so good about it now?

After learning the history, you may think that there is no reason to go there now, as it may have been spectacularly beautiful when it was built, but all that is left is a couple of small reminders.  However, if you want to witness some spectacular gardens all you have to do is visit Halifax's amazing Public Gardens.  If you want to witness some beautiful old, untouched nature, there are very few places in the entire province that you can do this, let alone in the city.  The reason Hemlock ravine is so beautiful now isn't because of anything that The Duke of Kent did, it's what he and the early settlers of Halifax didn't do that make the park the gem it is today.  Since the grounds were protected from the early settlement of Halifax, the trees were not cut down to supply the garrison, unlike the rest of the city (excluding Point Pleasant Park).  While virtually every wooded area in the province has been cut down and re-grown generation after generation, Hemlock Ravine is one of a handful of places where this hasn't happened.  As a result, 300 year old, 80ft Hemlocks can be seen in the park, as well as numerous other flora and fauna that you are unlikely to see elsewhere around the city.  Halifax is known as the city of trees, but to see genuine old growth forest is a rarity throughout the province.. You can visit Hemlock Ravine, quickly forget you are in the city, and be re-acquainted with nature all within a 20 minute drive of most of the HRM. 

Part 3: Nature

The city of Halifax has owned the 200 acre grounds since 1977.  The treasures contained in the park include 300 year old Hemlock trees which grow along the banks of the Ravine.  The Eastern Hemlock tree can live up to 450 years, and can be identified by their droopy, feathery, dark green, flat needle foliage in flat sprays of branches and their unusually small cones.  It was once dominant throughout Nova Scotia, but extensive logging greatly reduced their numbers and all but eliminated old stands. Fortunately, when given the chance, they do re-generate easily.  Hemlocks are considered a soft wood, but are actually incredibly hard.  Natives made a poultice (a medicinal, warm compress) from the inner bark, and early settlers made hemlock tea to induce sweating (not to be confused with the poison that Socrates drank, which is from an un-related herb.)

The undergrowth of the park is not typical of an old-growth forest, there are however small pockets of climax conifer forest of the quartzite barrens.  Look for painted trillium (endangered, do not pick)  in the mossy carpet of the spruce trees in June. Hobblebush grows here, as well as elderberry in the fall. In the northern part of the park, which has been hit by numerous fires in the past, there is a growth of red maple trees. Recommended reading: "Trees And Shrubs Of The Maritimes" 

Animals include red squirrels and white tailed deer. flying squirrels, raccoons, red foxes and owls have also been sited.

Part 4: Go there, explore, enjoy, relax, appreciate, contemplate and be sure to look upward.

Hemlock Ravine Links:  Photos , Videos, Park Info

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