The Links at Brunello
Halifax Nordic Ski Club is delighted to partner with The Links at Brunello to groom their golf course trails, whenever snow conditions permit. Club members and Brunello Estate residents are welcome to ski on the trails. The club-house and facilities (washrooms, food and bar service) are available when the Pro Shop is open – please introduce yourselves as Club members if you go in.
Directions The Links at Brunello are 10 minutes from the Halifax peninsula, just off Exit #3 on Hwy. 103. Take Timberlea Village Parkway for 1.6 km., then turn left on Brunello Blvd. The parking lot is at the end of Brunello Blvd. The parking lot will close at 5 or 6 pm most evenings – check at the Pro Shop before leaving your vehicle after dusk.
The Trails Trail starts at the upper left of the parking lot, opposite the Golf Pro Shop. Follow the one-way/ do-not-enter signs and always stay on the groomed trails. Please don’t cut across the fairways at any point. We are Brunello’s guests and want to avoid any damage to their greens, fairways or tee-boxes.
See the trail map below for details (distances approximate). The distances in the circles is the distance of the loop around the circle. The green dot is the start at the parking lot. Two bridges take you over the Parkway for optional loops – one after 1K for the 2.1K orange loop and another after about 8K for the 1.1K grey loop. The grey loop is the only loop with a challenging and steep climb and descent, so you may want to avoid that loop unless you like living on ‘the edge’. The entire trail system is approx. 10K, but there are options for shorter skis: 2.6km if you don’t cross the bridge to do the orange loop; 4.7km back to the Pro Shop, if you do that loop.
McDonald Sports Park Trail
HRM’s first dedicated Nordic ski trail system features 7.5 kilometers of groomed ski trails (weather permitting) within a wilderness setting skirting beautiful Lake Thomas in Waverley, Nova Scotia. Trails vary in width between 12 and 18 feet and provide ski conditions for all levels of 
skiers from beginner to advanced in both classic and skate freestyle technique. The trail system has been named in honour of its late designer, Bryan Scallion. Bryan was a dedicated national and world class amateur athlete whose first love was Nordic skiing. He contributed countless hours as a coach, athlete and friend to the endurance sporting community of Nova Scotia. When we ski these trails, we honour Bryan. Parking is available on the ploughed trail leading into the Park, but is tight and can require careful manoeuvering. Portable toilets are available at the trail-head. 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. To find out more about Bryan Scallion Ski Trails and McDonald Park visit, http://www.mcdonaldsportspark.com/
Dollar Lake Provincial Park
Halifax Nordic Ski Club grooms 10 km of skate and classic 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 adequat
e snowfalls. Trail conditions will be posted on the Martock Nordic 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 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 fi
rst 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. Special thanks to club members Lorenzo Caterini and Tim Carroll and the team of volunteer groomers for making this ski destination possible!
Graves-Oakley Memorial Park
The club grooms a loop at the Graves-Oakley field in Spryfield, just off Leiblin Dr. It’s a 1K loop on grass, flat as a pancake,so is good for beginners and when there isn’t much snow-cover at other trails. There is little wind-protection so the trail is prone to drifting. Parking is available by the fields, when it is plowed by municipal crews. Our volunteers will groom at this municipal park when McDonald Sport Park Bryan Scallion Trails are not fully open and then during the weekdays to provide an evening venue. Field lights will be turned on for night-skiing when conditions are good; bring a head-lamp, otherwise.