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Point Pleasant Park

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VagabondPoet
VagabondPoet
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

Point Pleasant Park

  • May 2, 2008
  • Rated 4 of 5 by tvordj from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park is on the south tip of peninsular Halifax. When the city was founded in the 1700s, there was a garrison here, built to monitor the comings and goings in and out of the harbour. There are still some remnants of batteries and a Martello tower in the park. The park has been used for recreation since the mid 1800s and is a very popular spot for locals and tourists alike who want to get away from the city streets and enjoy the sunshine.

The park also has a small beach but currently, it's not advised to swim there as the harbour is polluted. There is a harbour cleanup project underway, so maybe in future years, you'll be able to swim there again but it's still a good place to sit or let the kids play in the sand.

There are roads and paths through the wooded park and clearings where you can spread a blanket and have a picnic. Along the shore road, there are some picnic tables as well. At the Cambridge Battery, about a 10 minute walk from the upper entrance, all summer long, there are performances by the Shakespeare by the Sea company, every evening except Mondays and weekend matinees. They charge about 10 dollars per performance, and will provide chairs or you can bring your own blankets to sit on.

PPP is also partly a dog-park. You can let your dog run off leash in the interior of the park (not along the coastal roads or in the parking lots) but you must have control of your animal and locally owned dogs must be licensed according to Halifax's bylaws. You must pick up after your dog, as well.

The views from the park, over the harbour and NorthWest Arm (inlet) are great! On a sunny day you can watch the sailboats along with regular harbour water traffic (tugs, container ships, etc.) In 2003, a hurricane decimated the tree population of the park. There are some areas that lost 70% of the trees. Restoration work is ongoing and someday this park will be fully forested again.

The park is at the south end of the peninsua. Follow Barrington Street to the end, where it turns a corner into Inglis Street. At Tower Road lights, turn left and follow to the end of that road. Turn left and follow Point Pleasant drive to the parking lot of the park. If you turn right, you'll see the upper parking lot on the left as well for the other main entrance. Bus number 9 goes right into the parking lot and serves Tower Road, Inglis Street and Barrington street in the downtown area, up to the bus terminal (Via Duffus, Lady Hammond and Connaught) at the West End shopping mall area. There are toilet facilities through the park as well as at the main entrance. There's a snack bar at the main entrance and an ice cream shack by the beach as well.

From journal Halifax, My Home

Editor Pick

Point Pleasant Park

  • July 13, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by VagabondPoet from Toronto, Ontario
Located in the south end of Halifax, Point Pleasant Park was a gift from Queen Victoria in 1873 to the people of Halifax. Today, Point Pleasant Park is one of those parks where every non dog owner experiences dog envy. With paths crossing in and out of sheltered woods, beaches, rocky shorelines and old fortresses, a weekend is well wasted in this diverse park. Bring your bike, hiking shoes or four legged friends and enjoy the paths and many monuments, structures, and memorials.

Only a 10-minute walk from Saint Mary’s University, where I did my under grad, I spent many days in Point Pleasant Park writing poetry to the sound of the crashing waves or walking through the forest clearing my head of exams. Years later, I would spend many a Sunday with my husband meandering through this 186 acre park stopping to eat lunch on the rocks jetting out into the Atlantic and watching the sail boats come in.

On summer nights, we enjoyed the famous Halifax Shakespeare by the Sea productions. I will never forget the outstanding The Tempest performance on a chilly August eve, at the ruins of the Cambridge Battery. We sat cuddled up on blankets in the uneven grass with only the steps and ruins of a battery roof as a stage. The booming voice of Caliban echoed through the crumbled barracks where soldiers were housed over 150 years earlier. The play reached a climax as the clouds rolled in and the last lines were spoken just in time before the storm hit. As we rushed back to our cars in the rain we all agreed that’s the way Shakespeare is meant to be performed.

Shortly after we left Nova Scotia, in Sept 2003, a devastating storm, Hurricane Juan, hit Halifax and destroyed thousands of trees and ancient growth in Point Pleasant Park. An estimated 70 percent of the park's trees were downed or damaged by the storm. See photos from the storm here. Following months of intensive clean-up, and a number of dedicated staff and park patrons, the park is slowly getting back on its feet.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Halifax, spend a day getting lost in Point Pleasant Park - you won’t regret it.

Find out more: http://www.pointpleasantpark.ca/

From journal Point Pleasant Park

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