Reopening for the 2022/2023 SEASON
Intermediate Trails: Due to significant hills (~40m elevation changes). They are wide roads and thus not too difficult to descend.
SCOTIA XC grooms 10 km of skate and classic (when snow depth permits) groomed trails on the campground roads of Dollar Lake Provincial Park. Located in a natural snow belt on Highway 212 (Old Guysborough Rd.), approx. 20 km east of the Halifax International Airport, Dollar Lake typically gets a lot more snow than most of HRM. Volunteers with the club will groom the trails after adequate snowfalls. Trail conditions will be posted on the SCOTIA XC Ski Club Facebook page.
Directions
The Park’s civic address is 5265 Old Guysborough Rd. Take Exit 5A off Hwy. 102, through the Aerotech Business Park to the Old Guysborough Rd. and follow the signs for Route 212. After 22.5km look for a small blue Dollar Lake Provincial Park sign on the right. There is lots of room to park off the road in front of the closed orange park gates.
The Trails
The trail is groomed for skate and classic when snow depth allows. The entire trail system marked in red on the map below is 9.8 km. This includes 3 different loops in the campground as shown on the map. If you don’t ski the 3 campground loops the trail is 6.3 km round-trip. We groom the campground roads which are closed in the winter, so the trails are wide without many sharp turns or steep hills. From the parking lot the trail heads uphill for 0.8 km to a signed intersection. At that point you can turn left towards the campground or continue up the hill towards the beach. The map below assumes you turn left. A little over 2 km. in you will reach the main entrance to the campground and after another km. you will reach another intersection. The first campground loop is straight ahead, or turn right to head to the other campground loops. If you don’t want to do the campground loops follow the blue ‘Boat Launch’ signs which will direct you on the perimeter loop. Most of the trails are wide enough to ski in either direction, just look ahead for on-coming skiers. It’s best to ski the campground loops counter clockwise, the same direction the traffic signs direct you (if the campsite #’s are facing you then you are skiing counter clockwise).
The Club discourages skiing with dogs, as they inevitably damage the groomed trails that our volunteers spend hours crafting for excellent ski conditions. Ungroomed trails are great for sharing a ski or walk with your dogs.
scotiaxc.ca 