Halifax Running: Point Pleasant Park

Almost every city in Canada has a great park and I’ve been lost in most of them (possibly not a good claim to fame as a running tour guide, but I’ve also found my way out all the while discovering so many wonderful sights). Vancouver has Stanley Park and Pacific Spirit Park; Calgary has Fish Creek Park; Montreal has Mont Royal Park, to name a few.  And Halifax has the wonderful Point Pleasant Park, which I recently explored.

The first time I ran in this park, several years ago, I barely scratched the surface (and mostly got lost), but this last time – in October 2017, I explored extensively. And there is a lot to explore!

Both times I visited this park, I started my run in downtown Halifax and wove my way past the enormous view-blocking grain elevators on the appropriately named South Bland St. and along Young Ave. through some upscale neighbourhoods with gorgeous homes, before arriving at one of the multiple park entrances.

This mostly forested park covers 75-hectare at the Halifax Harbour entrance. There are 39 km of trails and roads and a multitude of historic British-owned forts (Fort Ogilvie) and batteries, armaments, monuments and spectacular sights. Because of its location, the area once formed the front lines of Halifax Harbour’s defense.

A fun fact is that the park is leased by the city of Halifax from the British Government for 1 shilling (about 10 cents) a year, with a 999-year lease. With the diminished need for military protection and with the increase in leisure activity in the area the British Government offered park to the city in 1866. At first, this was for a 99-year lease, but this was changed in 1879 to the much longer term. Um, seriously, why not rent to own?

Thankfully there are wonderful large maps throughout the park, with well-marked road and trail signs and this time I did not get lost. Plus I had plenty of time to explore. And what better way to do that, but by running.

One of the most spectacular buildings in the park is the round Prince of Wales Tower. It was built in 1796 by Captain James Straton and was used as a redoubt and a powder magazine. It is apparently the oldest Martello tower in North America. I had a lot of fun running around this intriguing building and reading all the interpretive signage.

There are numerous military monuments in the park, including the quite spectacular Sailor’s Memorial or Halifax Monument which commemorates soldiers of the Canadian Army, Merchant Navy, and Royal Canadian Navy who lost their lives at sea. It is very moving to circle this monument reading the names of more than 3,200 women and men who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars.

Another smaller monument, which I came across completely by surprise as I ran through the park, pays tribute to the Canadian Merchant Navy ship SS Point Pleasant Park. The cairn and plaque marks the 9 lives lost when the ship sank in 1945 off the coast of South Africa after being fired upon by a German U-boat. This steamship was completed in 1943 Lauzon, Quebec and named after the Halifax park, as was apparently the tradition of naming Park ships after Canadian wilderness and recreation parks.

On the waterfront, overlooking the Harbour entrance is a large ship’s anchor from the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure serving as a monument to the men and women who died while serving the Canadian Navy during Peacetime. When I was there, in late October, on a beautiful fall day, several red poppies adorned the plaques, perhaps in preparation for the upcoming Remembrance Day.

There is much more history to this park than monuments and trails, much of which is sadly not recognized. Apparently, this whole area was once Mi’kmaq territory and there were wars fought for it, including Father Le Loutre’s War (1749–1755), also known as the French and Indian War. Unfortunately, none of these defenses constructed during that war remain. And I did not see any reference to any of the sites on the maps nor demarcated anywhere in the park. I stand to be corrected; perhaps I just missed them.

As much as I searched, I could not find a source that told me the derivation for the name of the park, other than the obvious: it is located on a point and it is pleasant! This was especially true on the beautiful fall day that I visited. Please fill me in if you know the source of this park’s name.

You can run for hours in this park, stopping and enjoying the views and the monuments as well as the flora (primarily maple, birch, and pine as well as ferns and other shrubbery, plus I bet there are some wonderful spring flowers… just about to burst forth any April or May day). The trees are making a nice recovery after Hurricane Juan decimated most of them in September 2003. Plus this was not the first tree flattening event in the park. They were completely eliminated during the Halifax Explosion in 1917.

Throughout the park, there are hills and flat areas, plus paved roads, gravel trails as well as single track trails for the adventurous runner. When I was there, I also watched a couple of women running wind sprints on the grassy area near the ocean. Go ladies!

Speaking of the ocean, I stopped a while there, breathed in the wonderful salt air and listened to the waves move the smooth stones in and out.  I also dipped my toe in the Atlantic Ocean, just to metaphorically complete my journey from my home province of British Columbia – from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

In case you are wondering all photos were taken by me on an iPhone 6, on an unexpectantly lovely Fall day.