Driving and parking
A parking lot was built specifically for visitors to The Bluff Trail. The civic address is 2890 St. Margaret's Bay Road (Route 3), Timberlea.
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Take Exit 4 from Highway 103
Turn onto the Bay Road (Route 3) heading back toward Halifax.
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Go 2 km to Bay Self-Storage on the right
The Bluff Trail parking lot is immediately afterward. Civic number 2890.
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Walk onto the BLT rail trail and head west
About 350 m. The trailhead for The Bluff Trail is on the left shortly after you pass through the Highway 103 underpass. The sign-in book is a little further on, at the Pot Lake Loop junction — please sign it.
Parking rules
No trailers in the parking lot, and no overnight parking. There is no parking on the Bay Road within several metres of the lot, so that sight lines stay clear. If you are staying out overnight, have someone drop you off and arrange a pickup — that way someone knows right away if you do not come back on time.
By bus
Take Halifax Transit route #21 or #123. The 123 runs on weekdays during peak hours only. Both buses end their run in Timberlea on Forestglen Drive at the intersection with Fraser Road, and the BLT rail trail crosses Forestglen right at the bus stop. From there it is about 2 km on the rail trail to The Bluff Trail trailhead.
Check current times on the Halifax Transit routes and schedules page before you set out. Build the return trip into your daylight plan.
By bike
There is a bike rack at the trailhead where you can lock a bike while you hike. Two ways in:
- On the road. Cycle up St. Margaret's Bay Road (Highway 3) toward Timberlea and Tantallon. Stay on the Bay Road until you reach the parking lot — about 14 km from the Armdale Rotary.
- On the rail trails. Pick up the Chain of Lakes Trail across the street from 3627 Joseph Howe Drive, ride it to the BLT Rails to Trails whose trailhead is by the Coke plant on Lakeside Park Drive, and follow the BLT to The Bluff Trail trailhead.
Bikes are welcome on the rail trail and at the rack. They are not permitted on The Bluff Trail itself, which is a narrow footpath through sensitive barrens.
Canoe access and portage routes
The remote loops are all reachable by water, and this is the reason a good number of the maintenance and photography trips start with a paddle. Although it might take six hours to reach well into the fourth loop on foot from the trailhead, going by boat via Hubley Big Lake can cut that to less than an hour. The trail system is designed so that each of the last three loops is reachable by canoe for a day hike.
Cranberry Lake → second loop (blue: Mi'kmaw Hill Loop)
Put in on Cranberry Lake at the trailhead, parking in The Bluff Trail lot on the Bay Road and portaging your canoe from the lot down to the lake. Paddle to the south end of Cranberry Lake to meet the second loop.
Frederick Lake → third loop (red: The Bluff Loop)
Public access to Frederick Lake is more complicated. Drive into Lake of the Woods on Silver Birch Drive until you reach house number 199 on the right. On the left-hand side of the road is a telephone pole, and about 20 feet to the right of it is a small ravine running perpendicular to the road down to Black Point Lake run. Just to the right of that ravine is a well-used path that goes about 100 m to the run. Follow the run to the right to reach Frederick Lake. This is a 66-foot right-of-way on Crown land that the public may use. The carry is relatively short; the only hard part is finding the path.
Hubley Big Lake → fourth loop (orange: Hay Marsh Loop)
Put in on Hubley Big Lake at the end of Hubley Big Lake Road, where Birch Hill Lake feeds into Hubley Big. Paddle to Paradise Cove; the portage from there goes to Upper Five Bridge Lake, where it joins the Hay Marsh Loop.
WRWEO maintains a Google map with every access point and portage marked as points and GPS routes.
If you paddle in
The lakes are shallow and, like the barrens, littered with glacial erratics, so they must be canoed with care and are not suited to motorboats. We discourage camping on the Bluff Trail — but if you must camp, please leave no trace that you were there. See camping.