HALIFAX -- A popular multi-use trail in Cole Harbour, N.S., has re-opened after being closed for repairs to storm damage caused by Hurricane Dorian.

The Salt Marsh Trail is part of The Great Trail and spans 6.5 kilometres from Cole Harbour to Lawrencetown. A section of the gravel trail is built on a salt marsh, which is flooded twice daily by rising ocean tides from nearby Rainbow Haven Beach.

Hurricane Dorian blew through Atlantic Canada on Sept. 7, 2019. It made landfall in Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

When storms hit, the Salt Marsh Trail is exposed to powerful storm surges.

“It’s basically like a beach, but the beach is only three metres wide, so it’s getting that sort of erosion from both sides,” said Michael McFadden, the chair of Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association (CHPTA).

The CHPTA has an engineering program that supports both sides of the trail to keep it from getting washed out. They use a combination of gravel, large rocks and plants to protect the trail from the elements.

“What happened during Dorian is there’s a section of that trail that goes across Cole Harbour, and it wasn’t completely fortified,” said McFadden.

The trail was closed for six days following Hurricane Dorian. It was re-opened after some repair work, but there were still sections of the trail not accessible to people with mobility issues.

“We pride ourselves in taking into account that we have to make things accessible to as many people as possible whatever their challenges,” said McFadden.

The CHPTA tweeted Saturday that work on the trail had been completed.

McFadden told CTV News this week the association applied for emergency funding from the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation (TCT). It received $13,000 from the city’s Active Transportation Fund and $12,500 from the TCT Foundation to complete the work.

The CHPTA also kicked in money it received through private donations and rebates.

With the Dorian repair work complete, McFadden said the association plans to continue re-rocking the sides of the trail with large boulders and adding some plants.

That work is expected to happen over the next couple of years.