Long Lake Provincial Park (Nova Scotia)

Long Lake Provincial Park
General view
Location in Nova Scotia
Type	Provincial park
Location	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Established	October 9, 1984 (1984-10-09)
Public transit access	Halifax Transit bus routes 14, 22, 23, 32, 402

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 park itself constitutes the bulk of these former watershed lands - about 2100 hectares. 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 are still the official back-up water supply for the city.

The lands included within the present park boundaries have had a long history of human use, including logging, several farms and many small granite quarries which provided the stones for many of the 19th century buildings in downtown Halifax. As part of its development as Halifax's watershed lands, in the early part of the 20th century an earthen dam was erected on Pine Hill Lake, greatly enlarging it. A long concrete and earth dam was constructed on Long Lake, again significantly expanding its area. A pipeline was built connecting the two lakes, and to the adjacent Chain Lakes. The entire area has been logged extensively in the early part of the 20th century, but a few scattered old growth trees remain. The north eastern side of Long lake featured world war I barracks location, extensive trenches and machine gun battle emplacement which protected movement from the St. Margaret's Bay and Prospect bay roads into Halifax. This fortification is known as Chain Lake Position - Locality 2

The lands were part of Halifax's old water supply system. In order to protect the water quality, about 16,000 acres of land was left "virtually untouched" into the 1970s. In the years leading up to the 1977 commissioning of the new Pockwock water supply system, concern began to mount over the fate of the old watershed lands, which were considered to have high ecological and recreational value. Residents feared that the area would be spoiled by suburban development.

A regional plan adopted in July 1975 proposed that the watershed lands would form one of seven new regional parks in the Halifax-Dartmouth area.

Long Lake Provincial Park was formally created by Order in Council (OIC) 84-1189 on October 9, 1984, comprising part of the old watershed lands. Application altered (by the withdrawal of 1.23 hectares) by OIC 93-364 on April 14, 1993.

Long Lake is a provincial park controlled by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of the Government of Nova Scotia. However, the park has never had a fully approved management plan and so is relatively unknown as a public space, despite its being less than 10 minutes drive from downtown Halifax, and its large size (rivalling that of the peninsula of Halifax). In 2003, the Department of Natural Resources entered into consultation with the Long Lake Provincial Park Association on the development of a management plan. As of November 2009 it is unclear when, if ever, the management plan will be completed. On behalf of Bicycle Nova Scotia and the mountain bike community in general Randy Gray submitted a Mountain Biking Management Plan to be included either in the main body or as an appendix to the Management Plan. This was submitted after about 6 years of involvement and consultation with the Long Lake Park Association's Board of Directors and the Long Lake Park Association's Management Plan Committee. It can be read here: Mountain Bike Management Plan Submission. It was never discussed by the Long Lake Provincial Park Association after submission. It was rejected by the Department of Natural Resources.