TRAIL DETAILS

Confederation Trail - Wood Islands Junction to Wood Islands

Touring Region — Points East Coastal Drive
Trail Location — Queens County

Trail Quick Facts
Difficulty Rating: 1.5 
Length: 4.0 km
Structure: Point-to-Point
Marked:
Island Trails Approved:
Environment: Rural
Wilderness
Surface Type: Crushed Aggregate
The Confederation Trail is Prince Edward Island's portion of the Trans Canada Trail. It is a rail trail constructed on the bed of the former Prince Edward Island Railway which opened in 1875 and closed in 1989.  Islanders were quick to notice a unique opportunity and the idea of a tip-to-tip shared-use walking and cycling trail was born and the final link is now in place.  The trail covers almost all of the former rail routes, including the "Tip-to-Tip" route from Tignish to Elmira (273 km).  Branch trails extend the trail to over 350km including Borden-Carleton (18 km); the Charlottetown spur (8 km); the Georgetown branch (39 km); the Montague spur (10 km); the Souris spur (9 km); and Iona to Murray Harbour (36 km).  The entire trail is owned and managed by the province of PEI as a part of the Provincial Parks system.

Approximate Time to Complete —  1 hour
Times are estimated assuming that the average person travels 4km/hr.
Time should be added for significant elevation gain/loss.
Associated Trails or Sections
Information & History
Branch trails are built on the original branch lines of the PEI Railway. Some of them like branches to Charlottetown (8 km), Georgetown (39 km) and Souris (9 km) were a part of the line that first opened in May 1875. Other branches came later, including Emerald to Port Borden in 1884, Charlottetown to Murray Harbour in 1905, Cardigan to Montague 1906, and Harmony Junction to Elmira in 1912. Almost all of them have been developed into first-quality trails that offer the peace of the countryside to the photographer, the painter and the nature-lover.

Km 0 - Turning south on the new trailbed, the path is in softwood land, predominately spruce but with fir and tamarack. The latter is colourful in late fall. The trail skirts fingers of wetland and moves into upland terrain featuring Acadian species like white pine, hemlock, yellow birch and sugar maple. This section of trail, not being former railbed, follows the general slopes of the land and skirts the large tree-trunks.

Km 2 - Below Grey's Road, the trail levels out in mixed woodland, passing a beautiful small pond created in a former gravel pit which is an active skating area in winter. It is a peaceful spot with lots of birdlife. Watch for mallards and Canada geese.

Km 4 - The trail section ends at a full-scale replica railway station much like the one that sat beside Wood Islands Road not that many years ago. The freight shed nearby is an original from Belle River. The station is sited between the Visitor Centre and the liquor store at the Plough the Waves Centre, near the Wood Islands Ferry terminal.

Shelters are located at km 3.2, 4.2
Albums
Confederation Trail »
Friday, August 31, 2007  (44 images)