- Difficulty: Easy (distance-dependent). No steep grades but steady incline/declines (view elevation profile).
- Signage: Interpretive panel at First Chain Lake, kilometer markers & distance signage.
- Features: The longest paved trail in Halifax (7.3km). Alongside 4 lakes. Access to parks, shopping areas & food establishments. Active transportation route with winter maintenance. Part of the Rum Runners Trail from Halifax to Lunenburg.
The Chain Of Lakes Trail
Part of a 123km route extending down Nova Scotia’s South Shore, connecting Halifax to Lunenburg, known as the Rum Runner’s Trail, the Chain of Lakes section is 7.3km one way.
For over 100 years (from 1848 until 1977), First Chain Lake was the main water supply for the city of Halifax. It’s still maintained and protected as an emergency backup. In 2011, the Chester Rail Spur, which ran alongside First Chain Lake, was converted into the Chain of Lakes Trail.
Parking & Access
The only dedicated parking for the trail is located off of Chain Lake Drive in Bayers Lake, near the midpoint of the trail. Another trail-dedicated parking lot is located at the Westernmost end of the trail, where it meets the BLT Trail parking lot in Beechville. There’s trail-adjacent parking at Crown Drive Park, near First Chain Lake, just under 3km from the trail’s Easternmost starting point.
For many years prior, people have parked on the shoulder of the small section of road before the entrance to Ashburn Golf Course (making sure not to block it) and in the large parking lot at Superstore on Joseph Howe Drive. These options are used at your own risk, as it’s possible to be ticketed and towed.
Public Transit – Bus Stops
There are bus stops (marked on my trail map) along Joseph Howe Drive near the Easternmost start of the trail, in Bayers Lake near the midpoint, and on St. Margaret’s Bay Road near the Westernmost end, a short distance from the BLT Trail parking lot. Check out this page for tips on how to load your bike onto Halifax Transit buses.
Multi-Use Active Transportation Trail
The unique aspect of the trail is that it’s the longest paved trail in the HRM, which makes it ideal for a variety of activities. On a nice day, you can expect to see a busy trail with a diverse array of users. Families with strollers & small children on bikes, walkers, cyclists, joggers, & rollerbladers all share the trail. With this array of users, use caution and proper trail etiquette with the use of a bicycle bell when passing, and keep your ears tuned for the “ding” of others doing the same.
There are signs posted along the way (including km markers) as well as plenty of benches to sit and take a break. Wooden guard rails also line some of the steep shoulders (great for keeping the kids safe). This trail has steadily improved and evolved since its beginning, making it into one of the city’s best assets. Whether for commuting or recreation on the city’s longest paved trail, it’s well used by an array of people.
Winter Maintenance
As an important link in the city’s active transportation network, the Chain of Lakes Trail is one of the few trails in the city with winter maintenance. The trail is regularly cleared to maintain a (mostly) ice and snow-free experience all winter long. If you spot any issues, you can report them by phoning 311.
Points of Interest
As the name suggests, the trail follows along 5 different lakes. Starting from Joseph Howe Drive, you’ll travel 2km of wooded trail with wooden rails guarding against areas of sloped drop-offs. Benches are regularly placed along the trail, more or less, every 500m.
200m from the Ashburn golf course entrance, by the Dunbrack Street underpass, you’ll arrive at scenic First Chain Lake. This spot is the most popular stopping point with two benches overlooking the lake. An information panel discusses the trail’s railway past, as well as the historical importance of the watershed as a water supply for the city of Halifax. During World War I, the northeastern side of the lake was fortified to protect the city’s water supply and major road junctions. This fortification, known as Chain Lake Position – Locality 2, included trenches and machine gun emplacements.
The underpass of Dunbrack Street at First Chain Lake now has a paved greenway trail that leads from the Chain of Lakes Trail toward Hail Pond, terminating across the street from an entry point to Long Lake Provincial Park‘s Lakeview Trail. This new connection makes for easy, protected access to and from Long Lake, as well as direct access to Crown Drive Park (an open field), and a loop trail around Hail Pond.
Continuing for 1.5km along a mostly wooded section of trail along First & Second Chain Lake, you’ll pass a couple more benches before reaching an underpass of Highway 103. Shortly after the underpass, there’s a portable toilet and sitting area before crossing 4 lanes of busy Chain Lake Drive. Worth a nearby stop along Chain Lake Drive is the Bayers Lake Mystery Walls.
Continuing past Chain Lake Drive the trail enters the Bayers Lake Business Park and alongside Bayers Lake itself. A lookoff area enclosed with a railing provides another good stopping point just under 1km from Chain Lake Drive. Further down the trail, alongside the lake are 2 more benches, which the lookoff doesn’t offer.
After passing Bayers Lake, you’ll cross Horsehoe Lake Drive and have a straight run of 800m until passing by Black Duck Pond & Lovett Lake. 400m beyond the lake you’ll cross Lakeside Park Drive and onto the trailhead parking lot for the B.L.T. Trail. From here the trail changes from asphalt paving to a compacted crusher dust (gravel) base.
Chain Of Lakes Trail Photos
Trip Tips
The Chain Of Lakes Trail is great as an active transportation route, or purely for recreation. As such, it’s an often-busy, popular trail used for many different activities. Great for training for a new personal best with your GPS smartwatch, a family outing with strollers, and bikes in tow, or a long, flat, smooth rollerblading adventure. With this mix of trail users, it’s important to be equipped with a bicycle bell to safely pass others, and helmets are the law. It’s also a good place to have a rearview safety device to see what’s going on behind you before you change lanes to pass.
As the trail continues on as the B.L.T. trail and the St. Margarets Bay Trail, it turns to a crusher dust base, so don’t plan on rollerblading to St. Margarets Bay just yet. Biking, however, is ideal. With connections to Cleveland & Queensland Beaches, it makes for a direct biking route of 47km from Halifax. Graves Island Provincial Park is a great place to camp, another 26km beyond the beaches.
First Chain Lake is a popular spot for local anglers. The lake is known for populations of Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass and Yellow Perch. As part of a protected watershed legacy, the lake offers a quiet corridor for local wildlife right on the edge of the city’s urban business parks.
The linear fashion of these rails-to-trails routes means you have to plan your halfway point ahead of time so you have enough energy for your return trip. At 7.3km one way, it takes roughly 30 minutes (1hr return) by bike. Sometimes using two cars at your planned starting and ending points is the best plan for longer trips, or arranging for a pickup from a friend. City buses are also equipped with bike racks. When planning your route, using an average moving speed of 14km/h will give you a good ballpark estimate for any distance along the entirety of the Rum Runners route.
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