page_title: Long Lake Provincial Park (Nova Scotia)
section_title: Park usage
hierarchical_section_title: Long Lake Provincial Park (Nova Scotia) / Park usage
caption_attribution_description: English: Changing colors of fall
context_page_description: Long Lake Provincial Park is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was initiated in 1981 by then Premier John Buchanan after Halifax's water supply had been shifted from the Spruce Hill/Long Lake/Chain Lakes watershed to the Pockwock Lake watershed near Hammonds Plains. The 2095-hectare park, formally established in 1984, constitutes the bulk of these former watershed lands. Other portions were deeded to the municipality of Halifax, and the area around the Chain Lakes is still administered by the Halifax Regional Water Commission, since the Chain Lakes remain the city's emergency water supply.
context_section_description: 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 southwest 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, paddle boards and canoes.  This is not as popular an activity as it could be, due to the scarcity of boat-launching places.  The new kayak launch on Old Sambro has helped improve this access. 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  hunting in the area. Though, hunting is permitted on the Crown land outside of the park boundaries so long as legal safety distances are maintained.
  Trapping: Trap lines were
caption: Long Lake in fall 2012
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