Parks Canada Trails

This well-maintained gravel trail, which is part of the PEI national park trail network, goes east from Cavendish Beach to the Gulf Shore Parkway trail. You can also connect on the west side to the Cavendish Grove trail and further west to the Homestead Trail. The trail features a floating boardwalk and many views of the Cavendish dune system. There is also a great view of Cavendish beach at the western end of the trail.

Welcome to the Robinsons Island Trail System, 5 kilometres of multi-use trail and the newest addition to the park’s outdoor offerings. Located on a small island that was once home to a popular campground, this family-friendly trail has options for hikers and bikers of all levels. Designed as a stacked loop, bikers and hikers can choose a shorter or longer route depending on skill level or time constraints.

The trail has been designed with mountain bikers in mind and features 11 technical trail challenges located in spurs that break off of the main trail. An afternoon at Robinson’s Island is an outdoor adventure meant to challenge beginner to intermediate mountain bikers, but those who dare not test their skills on the ramps and teeter totters need not shy away; just skip the branches and stick to the main trail for a beautifully scenic cycling adventure.

Farmlands and Bubbling Springs trails are interconnected loops, each with their own unique features. Farmlands is mostly a wooded walk through a relatively immature softwood forest of white spruce and balsam fir. Along the trail you will notice an old road that once led to Charlottetown – one of the oldest roads on the Island. It’s an easy trail in the summer, suitable for walkers and cyclists. In the winter the trails are not groomed, so the trail is more suitable for boot hikers and snowshoes. Fat bikes can also tackle the trail but only after the trail has firmed up from snowshoe and boot traffic. Dogs are not permitted in the spring, summer and fall.

Bubbling Springs and Farmlands trails are interconnected loops, each with their own unique features. Bubbling Springs is mostly a wooded walk, but it passes by some “bubbling springs” that are active year round. The trail also has great views of a small lake that lies to the east of the trail. It’s an easy trail in the summer, suitable for walkers and cyclists. In the winter the trails are not groomed, so the trail is more suitable for boot hikers and snowshoes. Fat bikes can also tackle the trail but only after the trail has firmed up from snowshoe and boot traffic. Dogs are not permitted in the spring, summer and fall.

Here’s what Parks Canada says about Greenwich…

“The site contains an extensive and fragile coastal dune system, wetlands and various natural habitats in which numerous rare plant species are found. Among the most spectacular natural characteristics to be protected at Greenwich are the unusually large and mobile parabolic dunes with their associated counter ridges or Gegenw’lle. This phenomenon is very rare in North America.

Greenwich is also noted for its cultural and historic richness. Research at the site is ongoing, and evidence found thus far indicates a landscape that has changed drastically over time. Several archaeological digs conducted between 1983 and 2002 by the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Parks Canada have found traces left by the major cultures that have existed on Prince Edward Island over the past 10,000 years. These include early Aboriginal peoples, the Mi’kmaq, French and Acadian settlers, and Scottish, Irish, and English immigrants.”

What Parks doesn’t say is the walk around the point at Greenwich is lovely. It increases the length of the trail to 8km. You cannot do this walk when the Piping Plovers are nesting in the summer.

The Homestead Trail is one of the longest trails in Prince Edward Island National Park. The long loop is 10 km and the short loop is 6 km. Both segments have spectacular views of New London Bay and sand dunes on the north side of the Bay. The trail circles around a series of farm fields that included a farm homestead in years gone by. In addition to the bay view and sand dunes there are several stream crossings and a couple of sturdy Parks Canada bridges. The trail surface is crushed gravel and the trail is wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The trail is well signed and well maintained (summer and fall only).

This trail runs through a primarily softwood stand parallel to the Eastern Road. The trail is on land owned by Parks Canada, but the trail has not been maintained by Parks for several years. The trail can be walked in conjunction with the Campbell’s Pond trail for a combined distance of approximately 7 km (if you include all loops).