GENERAL INFORMATION

     Name:            Tidnish Dock Provincial Park
     County:          Cumberland 
     Ownership:       Province Of Nova Scotia 
     Maintainer:      Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources
     Trail Length:    500m 
     Season:          Year round


EMERGENCY INFORMATION

     Emergency:	      911
    
                     
DIRECTIONS


From Halifax take highway 102 to Truro. Take exit 15 onto highway 104 heading west to
Amherst. Take exit 6 and get on highway 321 to Oxford.  Follow the 321 through town, 
then to its end at Port Philip.  Turn left onto highway 6 and cross the River Philip.
Approximately 2km past the river, turn right on to highway 366 heading for Tidnish 
Dock. At Tidnish crossroads there will be a sign on your right that says Tidnish Dock.
At the Esso turn right onto Beecham Road. The park is on the right, just past the red
church on the left. 

The park is marked with a wooden sign Provincial Picnic Park sign. Parking is provided.
Follow the wooden boardwalk from the parking area to an interpretive sign. From here, 
the trail head is on your left, down a grass path that disappears into the woods. The 
trail ends on the Beecham Road, so you may turn around and follow it back, or turn left
on the road and come back in the park's driveway. 


ACITVITIES

     Walking:             Y             Hiking:	         Y         
     Cycling:             N             XCntry Ski:      N
     ATV:                 N             Horse:           N
     Snowmobile:          N             Coastal:         N
     Loop:                N             Wheelchair:      N
     Wheelchair Assisted: N 


DESCRIPTION

The trail is set in an area that has huge historic significance. In 1880 Henry Ketchum,
a Canadian Civil Engineer proposed a 17 mile double tracked railway stretching across the
Isthmus of Chignecto Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, from Fort Lawrence to Tidnish Dock. 
At either end there was a dock that allowed vessels to be floated over a huge cradle where 
hydraulic lifts raised the vessel to the level of the railway. This was to enable vessels 
to be transported across the Isthmus by locomotives.

At the trailhead you are able to see where the cradle would be, but now it is a path down
to the water. The trail itself is starts on a grass path the eventually goes in to the 
forest. Along the trail you will see a bridge that has a small stream running under it. 
There are also very large trees located along the trail. As you walk you can see where the 
railway would have been located and you can imagine what it was like to be a part of history.
The area was designated as a Provincial Heritage Site in 1987.

When you come out onto the Beecham Road, there is another small white "trail" sign across
the road and to the right.  This path takes you up a small incline, and along the river.  
This second trail has not yet been approved for this web site.