Cycling to Lee Valley Tools

In search of a relatively flat cycling route that would show us an interesting cross-section of Halifax, we found our way to the Chain of Lakes Trail this afternoon. The trail runs 7¼ km, starting on Joseph Howe Boulevard and ending on Beechville Park Drive. It’s a completely separated-from-car-traffic paved trail that starts off urban, becomes park-and-lake intensive, and ends up in an industrial area.

We had out bikes loaded into the car, and parked at the Atlantic Superstore on Joseph Howe; the trail starts right across the street.

There were two highlights along the way:

• The 5K Cafe—yes, it’s almost exactly 5 km from the start of the trail—serves coffee and pastries, has a pleasant outdoor patio, and shares a space with 3 Mile Outfitters, which sells shoes, stoves, packs, and other outdoor gear.
• Lee Valley Tools, just a few hundred metres off the trail, is, well, Lee Valley Tools, selling all manner of interesting things. Who knew you could cycle there!?

It’s remarkable that such a well-maintained, separated, well-signed active transportation trail can wend its way through a cross-section of the Halifax landscape that you would never imagine would include such a thing. It’s a model for how things will be in the future.