Walking Around Prince Edward Island

 

   Just over a year ago, I did a post about the England Coast National Trail which is about 4500 km long. If you are not up for that, you can stay in Canada and hike The Island Walk  around all of PEI. It is only about 700 km. 

   The Island Walk website is a good place to start. It provides the map above and an explanation for the markers. I learned about it from the G&M article cited below, from which this description was taken:

The Island Walk is broken up into 32 sections and can be started at any point. Lodging should be booked ahead of time, and partner hotels along or close to the route that offer transfers are listed on the Island Walk website. The signposted trails are user-friendly and not terribly challenging, save for a few rolling hills here and there. The route mostly follows the coastline, and goes through the island’s cities and towns while also venturing onto parts of the existing Confederation Trail that runs across PEI and has long been popular with cyclists….

  It is likely a circumnavigation most of us could complete. 

Sources:
"PEI’s New Island Walk, Inspired by the Camino de Santiago, Lets Visitors Travel the Province Entirely on Foot," Lola Augustine Brown, The Globe and Mail, Sept. 17, 2021.
   Bryson Guptill is one of the people responsible for the idea of creating the path around the island after having walked the Camino de Santiago.  He has written a book about his experience which is available for download here (there is a charge): The Island Walk: This is the first-ever book about our inaugural 700 km walk around the perimeter of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The walk took 32 days and we averaged 20 - 25km/ day. The book describes our route, where we stopped each day, our accommodations, and where we ate. It also suggests interesting things to see and do along the way. 
   One of the places you can stay along the way is the Siren's Beach Hotel which offers a package for Island Walkers. 
   For information about The Confederation Trail :
The Confederation Trail runs tip-to-tip across Prince Edward Island and is best explored on foot or bicycle. Built on the decommissioned railway line, the main trail is 273 kilometres from west to east - Tignish to Elmira. Branch trails run through small towns and communities including the heart of Charlottetown. The gradients along this rolled stone dust trail never exceed two per cent making it suitable for all fitness levels.

The Bonus:

   If you want to begin training closer to home,  Ontario Trails is a good place to start.  You can browse by area and if you look at London you will find Kains Woods, the Kirk-Cousins Trail and many others.

   If you want to sing along the way, some good songs and lyrics are found in my Trail Tunes for Old Timers.