Fredericton works to make Killarney Lake Park a fun, affordable Atlantic destination

Oliver Pearson · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

With a disc play course, and caller upland biking trails, among different additions, Killarney Lake Park is connected its mode to becoming a regional destination, the City of Fredericton says.

"It is truly exciting," Coun. Ruth Breen said of enactment that began astatine the northbound broadside parkland earlier this month. "It is going to go a provincial and Atlantic Canadian destination park."

Killarney Lake volition person up to 32 kilometres of upland biking trails for competition, beginners and toddlers, arsenic good arsenic a skills park.

Work volition beryllium done this summertime and autumn connected an 18-hole disc play people that volition crook into a nine-hole people successful winter. Disc golf, sometimes called Frisbee golf, is played by rules akin to accepted golf.

The par-67 people astatine Killarney Lake is acceptable to beryllium championship-level, and Fredericton Disc Golf was a portion of the consultation phase.

"One of the things that we heard from the nationalist was the petition for an existent disc play people that we could big immoderate competitions at," said Bobby Despres, the city's recreation and civilization manager.

The metropolis is ensuring that some disc play and the mountain-biking trails volition beryllium contention level.

Killarney Lake Park already offers a assortment of recreation specified arsenic biking, swimming, fishing, hiking, showshoeing and the accidental to spot wildlife.

Despres is excited astir the upgrades to what the metropolis calls its "active park," to beryllium utilized for recreation, compared with the much "passive" park, which the metropolis has identified arsenic Odell.

"This brings thing but excitement to maine to spot that we tin bring radical unneurotic and observe each antithetic disciplines of athletics activity," Despres said. "This is an hold of people's surviving rooms."

The metropolis besides had requests for mountain-biking trails and is working with River Valley Cycling. Construction of the trails hasn't yet begun, but a tender is being prepared. There volition besides beryllium a skills parkland that includes jumps and ramps.

WATCH | Work has already begun astatine Killarney Lake Park: 

Despres said it's challenge, but the metropolis is trying to debar cross-over betwixt the caller trails and existing cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails.

"There's 1 country of the parkland … it's known a spaghetti junction, and that's benignant of what it feels similar erstwhile you look astatine the way system," Despres said.

The motorcycle parkland volition rollout successful 2 phases and volition outgo $350,000 successful 2025 and $250,000 successful 2026. The disc play people volition outgo $300,000.

Other additions volition travel a cardinal rule of accessibility, which was outlined successful the city's caller recreation and leisure maestro plan.

There volition beryllium an inclusive playground, which volition statesman operation successful the fall, an accessible formation mat and trails that are adaptive-bicycle friendly.

"It's large to spot these concepts travel to fruition and seeing those principles close successful the plan, truthful that there's accessibility for everyone successful the antithetic parts," Breen said.

The metropolis worked with Participaction, a non-profit enactment moving to marque happening much accessible, to make the caller playground. 

The playground volition outgo an estimated $1 cardinal and was approved successful the 2025 superior budget, Breen said.

The accessible formation mat is described connected the city's website arsenic a "hard and unchangeable aboveground for visitors utilizing a wheeled mobility instrumentality to entree the lake."

There volition besides beryllium an "accessible pathway" from the parking batch and play parkland to the beach."

• New accessible dock present floating successful spot astatine Fredericton's Killarney Lake

This adds to an accessibility dock that was installed successful June.

"There's truthful galore antithetic features that let folks of antithetic ages who privation to sojourn a playground, arsenic good arsenic folks of antithetic abilities to sojourn a playground," Breen said. "I deliberation this truly ties into thing important."

According to readying documents, the existent trails usage four per cent of the park's 1,594 acres. The additions volition present "comprise astir 9 per cent of the full parkland area."

"The earthy facet of the parkland is inactive there," Breen said. "There's inactive tons of abstraction for folks that conscionable privation to get successful the woods, bask the bid of nature."

The metropolis besides has plans to physique aggregate shot fields successful a 65-acre parcel just beneath the Killarney Lake Rotary Centennial Lodge. 

Despres said the fields are successful the plan phase, and futher details won't be available until 2026-2027.