Shea Heights residents have a new walking trail, with plans to expand.
Thomas Jordan
Kicker
For some people, walking trails are for exercise. For others, it is a place to walk their dogs, meet up with friends or remember someone they have lost.
On Shea Heights, the Tribute Trail aims to offer residents all of those things, with plans to extend the path farther up the mountain starting in early 2027.
Robert McCulloug uses the trail to stay active despite a serious back injury that has made walking difficult.
About 10 years ago McCullough suffered a seizure and broke his back in a fall. He recently got a puppy and now walks the trail daily.
“It’s nice, it’s flat and easy to walk,” McCullough said. “There’s no uphills very much, and the dog really loves the trail so it’s just great.”
McCullough grew up just behind the trail, so seeing the area developed was especially meaningful for him.
The idea for the trail began in 2019, when residents approached the Shea Heights Community Board with a proposal for a walking trail near the Richard Power Memorial Field.
Melissa Earles-Druken, the board’s chair at the time, helped push the idea of a Tribute Trail, where residents could commemorate loved ones through the addition of benches, plaques, trees and flowers.
After losing momentum for a while, the project was revived in late 2025. Planning resumed, and the first phase of the trail was completed in June 2026.
Joey Warford, current chair of the Shea Heights Community Board, said the 800-metre trail runs behind the community centre, past the War Memorial, skate park and softball field, before continuing behind homes on Linegar Avenue.
The project has involved collaboration with the City of St. John’s and provincial and federal representatives. The Grand Concourse has also helped with the trail’s design.
“The Grand Concourse has been great to deal with,” Warford said.
The second phase is now in development, with construction to begin in early 2027, if approvals move ahead as planned.
The trail will extend farther up what Shea Heights residents refer to simply as The Mountain. It’s a heavily wooded, elevated area, in the middle of the community.
“That portion is going to be a little more tricky because of the rougher terrain,” Warford said. “A lot of the trail system is already in place, but it will need tree cutting to widen the existing trails and some excavation.”
Organizers expect tribute installations to begin in 2027. Recently, students from the local St. John Bosco School helped plant trees along the trail under the guidance of a national tree-planting organization.
For McCullough, the trail offers more than just exercise. It gives neighbours a chance to reconnect.
“To be able to walk and enjoy myself and be able to go out and just see each other around on a warm summer day means a lot,” he said. “I get to see friends I haven’t seen in ages. It’s great.”
But as much as he appreciates the trail, McCullough said it’s the people who make Shea Heights special.
“Nine out of 10 people that live in this community would give you the shirt off their back,” he said. “There is nowhere else I would rather live.”
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