With Winter well underway, many feel the need to pack it in for the hiking season. But, for the well dressed out there, that simply means that we have many areas to ourselves.
Provincial Parks still encourages people to cross the gates and use the park during the winter months. There are a number of parks in the Halifax area that offer not only a great hike, but a few geocaches along the way.
Oakfield Provincial Park is such a location. 5 kms from the Enfield exit along the 102 highway, this day-use beach park becomes a great location for walking your dog, or to explore the wonderful forest trails. A specific geocache that is along one of the trails is Gizzy’s Oakfield Park Walk GPS (N 44° 55.159 W 063° 35.159).
Another great location, this time along the Eastern Shore is at Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park. This geocache is located near the picnic area and offers a great view of the ocean; it is called Life’s a Beach GPS (N 44° 43.616 W 062° 53.447). Another great spot to walk along the frozen beach sand with the dog.
But it’s not only Provincial parks that get the attention, there also other parks that deserve mention.
The area to spend a few hours exploring is Victoria Park in Truro. This is a local gem for any outdoor enthusiast wanting to enjoy some solitude during the cold months. The park offers many kilometers of trails on either side of Lepper Brook – which feeds into Salmon River nearby. The park offers a great selection of old growth trees and includes some interesting geological features. A geocache that is worth spending time on is Holy Well Section GPS (N 45° 21.133 W 063° 16.338).
The last location is Sandy Lake Park in the community of Bedford. During the winter months this park becomes an off-leash dog area. This is a 130 acre wooded park, with green space and beach area. Many of the trails were established by local mountain bike riders, but they have since left for other areas. This has left many well marked trails inside & out of the park boundaries for the casual hiker. This area is perfect for Snowshoeing along non-maintained trails for that backcountry feeling. A nearby geocache would be Farmer’s View GPS (N 44° 44.218 W 063° 41.681)
[notice class=”approve”]Originally posted on novascotiablogs.com[/notice]