Long Lake Provincial Park (Nova Scotia) - Park Usage

Park Usage

The park is used by a number of overlapping groups, including:

• Mountain bikers, who developed most of the trail system between 1994 and 1999. However, the number of bikers has declined significantly since about 2001, when trail systems began to be created elsewhere in the area. Still, as of fall, 2008, there are a significant number of mountain bikers in the park - but almost exclusively in the small northernmost portion discussed above.
• Hikers: folks simply out for a walk in the woods. Most hikers again use this same small portion of the park, but some make use of the older network of old roads and trails in the much larger southern portion.
• Dog walkers. Despite a regulation prohibiting un-leashed dog walking in provincial parks, Long Lake Provincial Park has become a mecca for off-leash dog walkers in the Halifax area. The vast majority of them use the area within a 20 minute walk of the park's only parking lot, mentioned above.
• Swimmers: the lake is deep, the water quality is excellent overall, and there are a number of excellent spots for swimming. As with other lakes in the region, the water is warm enough for swimming from June through September. Virtually all the swimming in the lake takes place in the small area discussed above (i.e. the portion north of Long Lake), plus there is a good swimming area just west of where a small stream known for its scenic waterfall enters the lake, near the SW end. There is very limited trail access to the lake outside of this area but for those adventurous enough, two small sandy beaches offer secluded swimming on the south side. At the other end of the park, there is swimming spot on the earthen dam at the north end of Pine Hill Lake, where Harrietsfield children swim.
• Cross-country skiers: most of these use the trails and old roads just north of Long Lake.
• Geocaching: an active and long-established geocaching tradition exists in the Halifax region, and the area within the park is particularly popular, perhaps due to the varied terrain within park boundaries,
• fishers: the lake is not stocked, but it is reported that there is still good fishing from a few spots on the lake,
• boaters in kayaks and canoes. This is not as popular an activity as it could be, due to the scarcity of boat-launching places. Use of motorized vehicles of any kinds, including boats, is prohibited within park boundaries, as with other provincial parks in Nova Scotia, so park planners have not made provisions for an easy place to launch boats, out of concern that power boats might also be launched.
• Birdwatchers and other naturalists: the park's terrain is quite variable and there are many excellent habitats for bird watching. Access to many of the best habitats for birds is still limited, but this is seldom a barrier to the most eager of birders!!
• Photography: The park offers a great wealth of opportunities for scenic and natural history photography, from scenic vistas around the lakes, to the many large glacial erratics (boulders dropped by the melting glaciers as they retreated, about 14,000 years ago), beautiful old trees, and a surprisingly wide variety of flora and fauna.
• Groups on organized field outings: Youth groups of various kinds, hiking clubs, cross-country runners, field naturalists, hiking associations, school groups and others often make use of the park's extensive trail system for outings of both the educational and recreational kinds.

In addition to the legal activities detailed above, illegal park uses include:

• Off-road vehicles: as discussed elsewhere, this activity occurs exclusively in the large northern portion of the park, and has caused considerable environmental harm, especially to wetlands.
• Hunting: This is not a serious problem in the park, fortunately, but it does occur nevertheless. Mostly, deer are the target of illegal hunting in the area.
• Trapping: Trap lines were occasionally reported in the park until around the year 2000, but not since then.
• Camping and squatting: This is a periodic problem, especially when trees are cut for firewood and for use in shelter and "camp" building. No camping is permitted within park boundaries, and no camp grounds are included in the current management plan.
• Party use, usually by youth: this is a serious problem because of the fire hazard involved, and because frequently-used party spots become trampled clearings which both encourage future use and would take decades to recover if left alone. Litter and potential wildlife disturbance are also factors to consider, plus the safety hazards associated with parties in semi-remote areas involving extensive alcohol usage. The two largest islands in Long Lake and the island in Withrod Lake have been considerably damaged by party-related activities.
• Marijuana growing: Not a serious or widespread problem, but over the years a number of small plots of marijuana have been found within park boundaries.
• Off-leash dog walking and dog walkers refusing to pick up after their pets.