The Cabot Trail, a 185 mile loop road, traces the outline of the upper end of Cape Breton Island. The cape looks like a giant thumb, and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park is a band running right across the middle of it. So as one travels up the western side, they enter the national park about half way up, then exit the park as the trail rounds the top of the cape. One enters the park again traveling down the eastern side.
The road is a bit of a roller coaster, as grades are steep…even a few at 13%. Thankfully, there’s not far to drop with the highest elevation being only 1,750 ft. Still, the hairpin curves and steep drop-offs give both my downshift and my heart a good workout.
The Cheticamp Campground is literally next door to the national park Visitor Information Center. It’s only 15 miles from the Skyline Trail trailhead. This five mile loop is considered Cape Breton Highlands National Park’s “signature hiking trail.” The park offers an organized hike to the end of the boardwalk each evening to watch the sunset, though the trail is easy enough that one can go alone without the group.
I opt to go a little before sundown in hopes of avoiding sunset crowds. It’s a steady trickle of people down the more maintained trail to the boardwalk, a series of 260 stairs that descend down for a look over the headlands. But once I return back up the boardwalk stairs and continue on around for the remainder of the loop traveling along the shoreline for a couple of miles, then returning through the boreal forest, the crowds thin out almost immediately.
Although the campgrounds are near full each night, the park itself is remarkably uncrowded. This is most evident when I stop at the pullouts. In US national parks, it’s rare to find a parking space, let alone one that will accommodate a 24ft RV. But I rarely see more than one or two cars parked at every scenic overlook where I stop…and my stops are many!
For my second night on Cape Breton Island, I decide to follow in the footsteps of my Whackamole friends and fellow View owners Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick, who are a couple of weeks ahead of me on this circuit. They recommended the Hide Away Campground and Oyster Market. How many times do I get a chance to overnight at an oyster market? So of course, I’ve got to do it in the spirit of research, right?
I get a FB message saying, “Be sure to drive out to Meat Cove. It’s beautiful.” I look at the map…it’s a dotted line. I message back…”It looks a little sketchy…” Ed assures me the road is fine, though Marti has a different adjective to describe it. Still, I know I will regret not driving to the “end of the road” at the northernmost point of Nova Scotia. I’ll just take it slow….unlike every other driver on the road!
Like many adventures out of my comfort zone, I am glad I did the drive to Meat Cove, but relieved to be back. It’s one of those experiences where I think, “If I make it back safely, it will have been worth it!”
The east side of the Cabot Trail is less “parky” and a little more “fishy.” What it lacks in national park polish, it more than makes up for in rustic charm. I take the side loop to Neil’s Harbor and notice a boat circling around the harbor followed by about a hundred gulls. I quickly find a place to park the Winnie just as the boat is pulling into the dock. I’ve watched boats unload fish many times, but this will be my first time to watch them unload today’s catch of hundreds of live lobsters. One guy pries the blue rubber bands open with a metal tool, while the other guy shoves each claw in, until every lobster has been “handcuffed.”
Of course, I’ve taken the detour because there’s a lighthouse at Neil’s Harbour. I get excited when I see the “Open” sign in the front door, and go bounding in for a tour and some history, only to be greeted by a braces-wearing teenager behind an ice cream counter. Now that’s a first! I just can’t patronize an ice cream shop patronizing a lighthouse. Besides, it’s a bit blustery on the water, not exactly ice cream weather. So I go next door for a bowl of steaming hot chowder and a brew with a view.
A few more scenes from driving the Cabot Trail. A lot of photos, admittedly, but you should see what landed on the “cutting room floor.”
If the Cabot Trail is not on the list of “World’s Most Scenic Drives,” it should be, with its continuous, curvaceous, coastal-hugging two lane. At times, it seems like I could almost dip my elbow in the ocean as I bank on a curve.
I could spend a week here in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park exploring the over 100 miles of trails, slurping oysters off the half shell, listening to a fast and furious fiddle, and breathing in the fresh ocean breezes. But alas, Lads and Lassies, I’ve got a ferry to catch…
I had forgotten how beautiful it is there. Perhaps we’ll go back. It’s only a few thousand miles! If your return trip takes you near Dayton Ohio, go to the Wright Patterson air museum. We did that on the way back to Tucson from the maritimes and just loved it. Take a sweater, it’s cold.
Beautiful pictures! This is perfect timing. We’re taking off a week from our volunteer job here in New Hampshire and heading to Nova Scotia next Wed. We’re leaving our motor home here. So excited. Thanks for your great posts.
Those oysters look delicious and I am glad to see you are still drinking beer out of a glass. Cheers!
Thank you for another bucket list stop. But I think I may pass on taking my 30′ Class A with tow. Yikes.
But what scenery!!! And your commentary as always, is fantastic.
Glad we’re turning out to be friendlier, easier driving, and more connected than you expected. Have a fabulous time in Newfoundland! We drove the Cabot Trail about 30 years ago, and it was entirely foggy the time we were there, no scenery! Enjoying your Canadian trip!
We didn’t get out to Meat Cove because of the gravel road. John doesn’t do gravel roads on two wheels:) We tried though! Love Cape Breton Trail. Such a great road. The motorcycle was the perfect vehicle. We weren’t addicted to hiking back then. Maybe we need to return! Thanks for the motorcycle shout out!!:)
When you get to Halifax, you must visit the Alexander Keith’s Brewery and do the tour. Very good and huge samples! Alexander Keith’s Red was my favorite beer until I couldn’t get it anywhere in the states. Such a good beer!
Sounds like you are now settled into NS and relaxing…have a wonderful time.
Deede and I are ready to go to North East Canada and enjoy the best lobster in the world. Enjoy, we haven’t made it to Newfie as yet, but your description will undoubtedly motivate us to stop procrastinating going to that awesome island.
Thanks Suzanne, another wonderful post. We loved the Cape Breton Highlands last year on our Nova Scotia trip. Sandy and I even saw two moose up near the Skyline Trail area, “so far” our only moose sightings of our RV travels but we’re always on the lookout for more!
Thanks, Kent. No luck with the moose yet, though I am ever hopeful!
Absolutely beautiful! We’ve been going back and forth the past few years wondering if we really want to make the effort to go to Nova Scotia. We’d have to give up a summer in the PNW, and that’s been a tough call for us. But….seeing your photos and reading about your adventures (and just at the start of your journey!) is convincing me that we really must pry ourselves away from the West Coast for a summer. So glad you’re doing this trip!