Shubenacadie Valley

The Shubenacadie Valley is a Canadian rural region in central

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. The picturesque

Shubenacadie River The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the build ...

flows through the valley, which is framed by low hills from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake in north-central Halifax County, then through a rolling landscape of rich soils left by glacial deposits through the border area of eastern

Hants County Hants County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants. History Formation The county of Hant ...

and southwestern

Colchester County Colchester County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. With a population of 51,476 the county is the fourth largest in Nova Scotia. Colchester County is located in north central Nova Scotia. The majority of the county is gover ...

. The valley is a historic transportation corridor in the province, having once been a

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

route for the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nor ...

Nation and European settlers. The Shubenacadie River was incorporated into the ill-fated

Shubenacadie Canal The Shubenacadie Canal is a canal in central Nova Scotia, Canada. It links Halifax Harbour with the Bay of Fundy by way of the Shubenacadie River and Shubenacadie Grand Lake. Begun in 1826, it was not completed until 1861 and was closed in 1871 ...

system which linked the Atlantic coast to the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is th ...

until it was made redundant shortly after completion by the Nova Scotia Railway which was built through the valley; this railway was merged into the

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Comp ...

and today is owned and operated by

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

. During the 1970s, the Highway 102 expressway was constructed between Halifax and

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

to relieve traffic pressure on the historic Trunk 2. Resulting from its location astride the Halifax-Truro transportation corridor, the communities in the Shubenacadie Valley are experiencing a high rate of residential growth as they become a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

exurban An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth. It ...

area of Halifax. The valley includes the following communities from the river's source to its outlet: * Enfield * Elmsdale *

Lantz __NOTOC__ Lantz may refer to: People * Lantz (surname), a surname of German and Swedish origin * Lantz (given name) Places Canada *Lantz, Nova Scotia Spain * Lantz, Spain, Navarre United States *Lantz, West Virginia * Lantz Arena in Charles ...

Dutch Settlement Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

* Milford * Indian Brook Reserve * Shubenacadie * Maitland {{Coord, 45, 5, 10.9, N, 63, 24, 28.9, W, scale:500000, display=title Valleys of Nova Scotia Landforms of Colchester County Landforms of Halifax, Nova Scotia Landforms of Hants County, Nova Scotia Landforms of Halifax County, Nova Scotia