Hiking Through The Cape Breton Island

The Island of Cape Breton is in east-northeast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Coast of North America. With an area of about 10,311 square kilometers, it is the 77th largest Island of the world.

The Strait of Canso separates it from Nova Scotia and the artificial Canso Causeway connects it to it. The Island’s northern and northwestern coasts face the Gulf of St Lawrence, its western coast face the Northumberland Straits, the eastern and southern coast face the Atlantic Ocean and the Cabot Strait is to its east.

The Island has four of the 18 counties of Nova Scotia – Cape Breton, Imverness, Richmond and Victoria.

It is supposed to have been discovered by English Navigator John Cabot in 1497.

When to visit

It’s a good destination all the year round but the best time to visit this Island is the months of July, August, September and October. These are also the festive times of the Island.

How to visit

The easiest access to Cape Breton is via the Halifax International Airport at Nova Scotia’s Capital. The Island of Cape Breton is at a 3-hours drive from there.  There is a small airport in Sydney, a city in the southeast side of Cape Breton.

Attractions

Beyond having a good time at the beaches and enjoying the water sports, you will find yourself hiking the amazing trails, historical villages and getting immersed in the music festivals at the Curacao Island.

A great place to hike or camp at here is the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, covering a beautiful terrain with a peninsula, the Atlantic and the Gulf of St Lawrence in about 950 square kilometers of area.

A beautiful coastal drive to a hiking trail, the park is great for everyone. In the interiors is the taiga zone, a large untracked area here where you can spot 150-year-old trees that are knee-high among evergreens, marshlands and barrens.

In here on the western side is the 300 kilometers loop of Cabot Trail that was paved in 1939, through which you also access the park.  The terrain on the eastern side is equally spectacular. There are villages around where you can lodge, if not camping in here. The Cheticamp at the entrance has a visitor center for all needed information on the park.

A side trip to Meat Cove is worth it. Descending and ascending through the Pleasant Bay, the Apsy Valley and off Cape Smokey takes you to another high altogether.

From the Cabot Trail, there are 27 distinct hiking tracks. The trail also enchants the bikers. The descent from Mt. MacKenzie to Pleasant Bay is one breathtaking view. So is that from Lone Shieling eastward to the Apsy Valley. The 13-kilometer route into the Lake of Islands is the longest backcountry trail here.

For camping, you can choose between the Cheticamp on the west of the park, the Broad Cove to its east, the backcountry campsite at the Fishing Cove for which you need to hike an 8-kilometer route from the Cabot Trail and other sites. From the cliffs here, you have chances to spot pilot whales at sunset.

The Cape Breton Highland Park is also home to the Highland links, the finest of Golf Courses in Canada, built in the 1930s and restored in 1997.

The Ceilidh Trail, more of a historical one, takes you through fishing villages, farmlands, museums and the sound of fiddles that tell you the story of the Island.

Music is integral to this Island. Music festivals reverberate throughout summer here. There are free concerts too. The Granville Green Outdoor series held on Sundays through July and August has had some top performers giving free concerts.

En route the park is the hamlet of Louisbourg. Worth visiting here is the waterfront, the faux-Elizabeth theater gifted to the town by Disney, the Louisbourg Railway Museum and the Lighthouse Point – the site of Canada’s first lighthouse.

The Fortress is another defining point of the history of the Island and the village of Louisbourg, build under the French in the 18th century.  It got destroyed, thanks to the war between the French and British.  It was finally resurrected by the Canadian government in the 1960s.

Also worth visiting is the 17-hectare Nova Scotia Highland Village Museum. In here are the buildings that reflect the region’s Gaelic heritage, replicas of historic structures of the Island such as the Black House build in 1790.

Worth a walking tour is the Baddeck village, just off the Bras d’Or Lake. You can enjoy a boat tour here, amidst architectural highlights like Alexander Graham Bell’s palatial former estate. About 180 meter off the Government Wharf is the Kidston Island.

In the Island’s centre is the Bras d’Or (Arm of Gold in French) Lake, one of the world’s largest salt-water lakes. It has scenic drives such as that along the St. Andrew’s Channel, between St. Peters and Dundee and the route from East Bay to St. Peters. Canoeing along the western shore backwaters between the towns of Marble Mountain through Orangedale to Estmere is a delight too. The St. Peters Canal was built in 1854.

Preserving history in the Village of Marble Mountain is a museum and a library. Just south of the Lake is Isle Madame- a group of small islands, worth a quick detour. For a berry cultivation that’s been here since 1892, visit the Duke of York Cranberry Meadow near the Arichat village.

The Island is home to five of Mikmaq Nation Reserves – Eskasoni (the largest), Membertou, Wagmatcook, Waycobah and Chapel Island.

Cape Breton is truly a romantic Island, great for a holiday if you are a history, hiking, boating or even a water enthusiast.