“The only thing left to do is to place the signs but the trail is all done,” he said.
Several benches have been donated and will be installed later in the spring.
Phase one, located on the east shoreline of the point, was completed in 2013 and includes several boardwalks over seasonally wet areas.
Glimpses of 17 towering wind turbines can be caught at several points along the nearly-one-kilometre trail. Entry is at the very end of Highway 335, across from a newly expanded parking lot on the right.
Cobequid Trail Consulting designed the coastal trail that allows access to the shore in three spots.
Stage two, which is 1.5 km long, has an expansive view of the ocean where the elevation is highest.
As the phase neared completion, there was an impressive turnout to finish.
“Yesterday there were 20 volunteers in total during the day,” said d’Entremont last week.
“The guys here are aggressive. They’re a bunch of fishermen. They want things done. Can’t be standing around doing nothing,” he laughed.
There was a lot of raking, shovelling and rolling taking place, in addition to heavy equipment dumping and moving 23 truckloads of Class A gravel.
“Everything came in place at the same time. It’s just wonderful,” said d’Entremont.
He says that although not all the invoices have been received yet, he believes the cost for the second stage is around $25,000.
Contributions came from local individuals and businesses, as well as some funding from the municipality and the province. Volunteers provided more than $5,000 worth of work on stage two.
The third stage of the trail, 1,600 metres, will be on the west side of Pubnico Point heading north. It’s unknown at this point when work will begin on the final stage.
D’Entremont says the first and second stages are very popular with tourists and local residents.
“They can’t believe how nice it is there. You can see the draggers and the lobster boats going in and out of Pubnico harbour and on beautiful days it’s just a nice place to be,” he said.
“The trail is for people to go and enjoy. We hope to see as many people as we can.”