Did you know that Sackville is home to many amazing biking and walking trails? These trails are the perfect way to escape the hustle and bustle of life, while not having to travel a far distance.
The Sackville Business Association has been working with Bike Nova Scotia and the Sackville Rivers Associations, and is proud to announce that there will be new bike racks installed at three locations along Sackville Drive: Sportwheels, Freeman’s and KFC.
“We’re so fortunate to have these amazing trails right in our back yard.” says Michelle Champniss, executive director of Sackville Business Association “We hope the installation of these bike racks with help encourage others to do the same.”
The Great Oak trail and Second Lake trail are two great multi-use trails that fall within each other’s paths. The Great Oak trail is a three-kilometre loop that contains views of First Lake, while Second Lake trail is five kilometres out and back along Second Lake. Second Lake can be easily accessed at the halfway point of Great Oak trail and can be followed out and back, before returning to the Great Oak loop back to the parking lot. The two trails comprise the Sackville Lakes Provincial Park, and across the street from the main park entrance the First Lake Glen Slaunewhite trail can be accessed. This trail is a total of 7.7 kilometres.
The Sackville Greenway trail is a paved active transportation trail extending from KFC on Sackville Drive to Glendale, totaling a distance of 1.5 kilometres. This multi-use trail is designed for all ages and abilities, and is used by residents for jogging, cycling, roller blading, skateboarding and children on push scooters. The parkland along the Greenway attracts photographers, birdwatchers and fisher folk. While on the Greenway, visitors can see and hear its wildlife and view the native vegetation, all while being nestled in a quiet river valley. The parkland is used as an education centre for students to release fish and learn about the natural history of the river.
All of these trails are shown on the accompanying map, along with other useful resources, such as businesses that are bike-friendly certified. Bike-friendly certified businesses support bicycle commuting, bicycle travel and bicycle tourism experiences in Nova Scotia.
“Convenient bike parking and welcoming attitudes are the cornerstones of the Bike Friendly Certified Program. We have been truly impressed by the Sackville Business Association’s enthusiasm for promoting these values and their efforts to help us grow the Bike Friendly Certified Business Network.” says Ben Buckwold, Director of Bikeways and Blue Route Implementation with Bicycle Nova Scotia.
If you are a business in the Sackville area and would like to stand out as a leader in providing services for customers or employees that want to arrive by bike, visit http://bikefriendlyns.ca and sign up your business to aid in making Sackville an accessible area for cyclists.
This article appeared in the Halifax City Voice.
