Exploring Shubie Park Trail In Nova Scotia

Shubie Park is a wonderful 40-acre urban nature park with plenty of trails. Located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, it’s a great escape from city life without having to leave the city. This dog-friendly park offers plenty of interconnecting trails within its 40-acre area, including part of the Shubie Canal Greenway Corridor and Lake Charles Trail portions of the Great Trail (formerly known as the Trans-Canada Trail).

Walking/hiking through this park, you’ll find yourself along the Shubenacadie Canal and two of its locks (Lock 2 and 3). You’ll also find two lakes (Mic Mac and Charles), some wildlife, a few canine friends, and a wooded area around the trails. If you are in the area and looking for a great walk in the park, Shubie Park is a superb choice!

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Key Features Of Shubie Park

• Dog friendly park with both on and off-leash trails
• Paddling area with onsite canoe and kayak rentals
• A well-maintained urban park
• Features a historic canal system with bridges and locks
• Ideal for picnicking, birdwatching, and outdoor recreational activities
• Includes a supervised swimming area at Shubie Beach
• Part of the larger Shubenacadie Canal Waterway system

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Facilities And Services

• Fairbanks Centre is located at the entrance of Shubie Park (54 Locks Road, Dartmouth). This is the headquarters of the Shubenacadie Canal Commission. They offer guided tours of Shubie Park and a museum inside that is open to the public all year round.
• Lockside Canteen by Lemon Dogs is a great spot to get some refreshments before or after exploring Shubie Park. They offer various items such as tacos, popsicles, freezies, lemonade, smoothies, coffee, tea, and even homemade dog treats.
• Wildwood Watersports offers rentals onsite near the Fairbanks Centre. Here, you can rent canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards for $20 an hour and single kayaks for $15 an hour.
• Shubie Campground is a full-service campground located inside Shubie Park. There are 72 serviced campsites with clean washrooms, a playground, a tennis court, a canteen, a supervised beach, and a 24-hour staffed campground.

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Before You Start Hiking Shubie Park

Before you head out for your own experience hiking through Shubie Park, there are a few things we think you should know.

The first thing to note is that the park is run and maintained by the Halifax Regional Municipality. Like the other large urban park in the city (Point Pleasant Park), Shubie is well-maintained (even in the winter months, though to a lesser extent) and is largely dog-friendly.

So expect lots of dogs when coming to Shubie Park for a walk. There are off-leash trails/areas on the west side (Lake Mic Mac side) during designated hours (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. daily). Otherwise, our canine friend must be on a leash.

There is plenty of parking at the Fairbanks Centre, with additional parking off Locks Road (near the off-leash area) and John Brenton Drive (near the campground).

Parking is free (unless you’re parking your RV on the campground, of course), and admittance to the park is also free, so there is no need to bring money for the entrance. That being said, the Fairbanks Centre has plenty of paid activities and souvenirs, and there’s also a great camping ground if you’re looking to stay in the park for longer than a quick hike.

The trail is well-maintained and accessible friendly.

Other activities within the park include:

• Museum
• Guided tours
• Boat rentals (canoe and kayak)
• Camping
• Canteen

Here’s a picture of the accessible dock in the park on the Shubenacadie Canal and the rental area for kayaks and canoes.

As always, it’s important to keep an eye out for ticks and check yourself and your dog for ticks after hiking. We encourage you to bring a tick removal tool kit. To learn more about tick prevention, check out our article How To Avoid Ticks When Hiking.

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Our Experience Hiking Shubie Park

Having lived in Dartmouth and Halifax for several years, the Shubie Park trails have become very familiar. This is a great “walk in the park” for a quick stroll through nature without having to drive too far out.

We’ve gone solo, together, with parents and relatives, with and without dogs. It’s a great spot to check out for all ages.

The Halifax Regional Municipality is also very prompt in issuing any advisories. For example, blue-green algae is a common issue in the lakes and oceans around Nova Scotia. They’ll be sure to put up boards when there is a potential risk (see the picture below):

Though the park spans 40 acres and has plenty of interconnecting trails, it’s actually pretty easy to figure out where you are. The maps throughout the park make this task even easier!

There are also interpretive/informative panels throughout the park worth reading. They share information about the park’s history and the usage of the Shubenacadie Canal.

In terms of hiking, the Shubie Park trails are easy to traverse, allowing us to take in the scenery.

Though the pictures in this article are from spring and summer trips, the turning of the leaves in the fall is a sight worth checking out for yourself. We’ll let your imagination run while checking out our photographs.

The trails are, for the most part, wide enough to comfortably pass by the groups of people (and dogs) you’ll inevitably cross. We’ve always had pleasant encounters throughout the entire park (it must be part of the East Coast charm)!

There are plenty of trails to choose from, and it’s easy to make up your own trajectory, long or short, through the park (and change it up in all subsequent visits).

On some occasions, we’d follow the trails to Lake Mic Mac. You can see this lake pictured below:

Other times, we’d go to the other end of the park to see Lake Charles.

There are several bridges to cross the canal and continue hiking on the other side.

Our favourite part of hiking through Shubie is that we can get into nature without leaving the city. Even though the highway is nearby, you feel much deeper into the woods than you actually are.

The terrain is easy, and the interconnectedness of the trails makes it so that we’re never too far from the parking lot. This is a nice changeup from carrying heavy packs up and down the rock faces that define many other Nova Scotian hikes.

There are also plenty of squirrels, ducks, and other animals to grab our attention as we walk through.

Combine that with the dog-friendliness and popularity of the park, and there’s really never a dull moment, even though the trails are a relatively easy “hike.”

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Checklists And Recommended Gear

Even though Shubie Park is a short hike, we’d still recommend bringing some supplies with you.

• Water Bottle
• Comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots – Women’s // Men’s
• Camera/Phone
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent
• Cascade Hiking Poles (optional)
• Atlantick Tick Removal Tool Kit
• Swimming gear (if you plan on swimming)
• Camping gear (optional for those camping)

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Related Hikes

SIMILAR PARKS

• Point Pleasant Park (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• Hemlock Ravine Park -Governer’s Loop (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• Sackville Lakes Provincial Park (Sackville, Nova Scotia)