You may call it Sir Sandford Fleming Park, Dingle Park or just The Dingle. We’re calling it the blog’s biggest surprise hit to date. The thing is, we had been to Dingle Park a few times before. But we had always stuck to the beach and playground area. It wasn’t until we (dog)ventured there last weekend that we realized just how much more this park has to offer.

We started at the main parking lot and followed the trail westward along the waterfront, stopping to check out the iconic Dingle Tower.

Isn’t it pretty? Before I go on… no post would be complete without some quick Halifacts. Here goes.

Who was Sir Sandford Fleming? He was a Scottish guy who emigrated to Canada in 1845 and did a bunch of cool stuff once he got here.  He designed Canada’s first postage stamp, did a bunch of surveying and map-making, engineered large portions of Canada’s railroads, and most notably, invented worldwide standard time. Speaking of which… who’s been feeling the effects of DST this week? I know I have. We might have Mr. Fleming himself to thank.

Why do we have a park named after him? Sir Sandford Fleming owned the land, and used it as his summer retreat (it’s not hard to see why!). He nicknamed it The Dingle, and he donated the land to the citizens of Halifax in 1908.  His cottage still stands on the property.

What’s the deal with that tower? Dingle Tower was constructed on Sir Sandford Fleming’s suggestion, to commemorate Nova Scotia’s 150th year with a representative government. The Tower was recently restored and in 2012 it reopened to the public (during the summer months).

After scoping out Dingle Tower, we continued along the Seawall Walkway.  It blew us away (almost literally – it was incredibly windy last weekend). But seriously, this path offers a stunning walk along the Northwest Arm. And just look at that grass! Spring is in the air.

From there, we veered off onto a secondary trail (Fleming Pathway) for some sneaky off-leash time. Not only was this area much less windy, but we saw only one other person the whole time, so we were able to get away with a quick game of fetch in the woods.

The only thing that could possibly make The Dingle any better would be an official off-leash area. Maybe someday. For now, we would recommend this as a beautiful place to go for a walk or jog (and sneaky fetch, if you dare).

We’re looking forward to exploring some of the other areas at The Dingle – like the Loop Road Trail and Frog Pond Trail. Have you been?