Eastern Shore

For the purposes of the book, I decided to consider the Halifax Regional Municipality in three distinct districts. I labelled these as Halifax/Dartmouth (although this includes several trails just outside the urban core), Central/South Shore (which includes Bedford/Sackville, everything toward Lunenburg County, Waverley and Grand Lake, and the Musquodoboit River Valley), and Eastern Shore (from Cole Harbour to Guysborough County). None of these areas provided better, or more challenging walking than the Eastern Shore.

Because of the superb beaches along this coastline, the province has created a number of provincial parks. Several of these, such as Clam Harbour, Lawrencetown, Martinique, and Taylor Head, are wonderful walking destinations. Some, particularly Martinique, provide a walk less along a developed trail than over long stretches of sandy beach, but are so scenic that few will be disappointed. Taylor Head, on the other hand, boasts an extensive trail system that should permit a full day's exploration for even the most experienced trekker.

With the creation of several wilderness protected areas among the rugged granite ridges of the eastern shore, and the supportive policies of the Department of Environment, the possibility was created for the development of new, outstanding hiking trail networks. Three of the the trails I selected for this book from this district, Crowbar Lake, Gibralter Hill, and the Admiral Lake Loop, fit this description. All developed by volunteers, these challenging routes are traditional narrow footpaths that work through the rugged, rocky slopes of the Atlantic interior. All three require fitness and determination to complete; all three will be among your favourites, as they are for me.

Two of the trails selected, Salt Marsh and Shearwater Flyer, have been created along the abandoned rail-line that extends from Dartmouth to Middle Musquodoboit. (You also walk portions of this in Lawrencetown, Admiral Lake, and Gibralter Hill). These are wider, level, and far gentler experiences than those in the wilderness protected areas, but no less scenic. Indeed, the Salt Marsh Trail has become an icon of the shoreline scenery of the province, and was the first trail outside the US featured by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in their magazine.

Finally, there is the short backcountry trail at Abrahams Lake, deep in the wooded interior of the Liscomb Game Sanctuary near Sheet Harbour. This is one of the oldest privately managed routes in the province, having been developed by a forest-industry company in the early 1970s. Abrahams Lake is also almost the only managed trail in this corner of the HRM.

These ten locations will all be profiled in the upcoming edition of "Trails of HRM". Most will be featured in their entirety. Others, such as Taylor Head and Crowbar Lake, will only outline a route that remains within the 10-km limit of the book. Taken together, these are an excellent mix of experiences, coastal and interior, easy or challenging. I hope that you are able to try them all.