Keep going till the north end of the island. Dramatic scenery and pleasant coastal communities make it worth it.
…….

We fell in love with the rugged coastal landscapes of Cape Breton’s northern shores. It was mid-June, before the peak of the tourism season. Traffic was light on Nova Scotia’s famous Cabot Trail and above it, the northern reaches of Cape Breton Island were even quieter.

Unama’ki

This spectacular landscape stretches across the top of Cape Breton Island, aka Unama’ki, the ancestral home and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. We took it slow, poking around for a few days between the tiny community of Meat Cove on the northern-most tip, and New Haven, a fishing village on the northwestern shore.

There is only one road to Meat Cove. Access is at Cape North, a service town near the Hideaway Campground & Oyster Market that is the halfway point on the Cabot Trail. The 22 kilometre route starts out in dense forest, eventually ending up on the wild, windswept coast. The last eight kilometres or so are mostly gravel and rough in parts.

After forest, glimpses of coast began to appear. We passed a gorgeous beach park and signs for the Sugarloaf Hiking Trail before making our first stop in Bay Lawrence. Summer waters off this fishing village are a feeding ground for whales. From August through September you can book a whale watching tour from the village dock. We found breakfast at the Bay Café, housed in the town’s former school.

From Bay Lawrence on, the road hugs the coast. We saw lots of fishing boats. Some were drydocked. Others were anchored to buoys bobbing up and down in choppy water and a few were out with small crews checking traps.

As we rounded Bay St. Lawrence, freshly painted houses and a shingled red shed appeared, and then a sign for “Capstick”. After Capstick the road turned to gravel and massive potholes began to appear. For a brief moment we wondered if we should continue.

Past another curve, we saw a sign for Meat Cove beach so we headed that way. Remnants on the beach suggested a working past of some kind. Part of an old concrete slip with rails was still visible at low tide. The odd piece of rusted metal lay about along with a pulverized lobster trap and at least one inukshuk (proof that other Canadian travelers had been here).

After skipping a few beach stones into the water, we walked back to our car and drove the last bit of road up to the Meat Cove campground and the Oceanside Chowder Hut.

It was lunchtime and we were looking forward to a fresh seafood chowder. “Sorry,” the chowder hut owners told us, “you’re a hair shy of this year’s season. We open next week.” Our faces must have told them how disappointed we were. They suggested a hike up a trail behind their chowder hut instead. “It’s a spectacular view,” they promised us. And a chance to stretch our legs, we thought, so off we went. The path was a short, rocky, uphill climb through knarly bush to a grassy knoll where the wind blew. And I mean, it really blew! So hard that I had to get down on all fours and will myself to creep out closer to Glenn photographing the fantastic view.

On our way back down the road, we continued to poke, stopping at more places along the way.

Cabot Landing Picnic Park has a fantastic beach to while an afternoon. According to a plaque and a statue of John Cabot, this is where the famous explorer first landed. Nova Scotia also named the Cabot Trail after him. Travel to Newfoundland, however, and Newfoundlanders will tell you that in 1497 Cabot landed first in Bonavista. Confused? Apparently a lack of documentation is to blame for the discrepancy.

After our beach walk, we were really hungry. On our way back to our campsite we stopped for an early dinner at Angie’s Family Restaurant near Cape North. It was just what we had come to expect up here; good homestyle cooking served by friendly staff.

The next day we explored another little road off of the Cabot Trail. The ‘Coastal Loop’ hugs the northwestern shore of Cape Breton, north of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Watch for the turn off from the Cabot Trail after you pass South Harbour. Our favourite stop along here was White Point.

I’d read about White Point pre-trip. Renowned Nova Scotia fiddler Winston Scotty Fitzgerald (1914-87) came from this little fishing village. His McNab’s Hornpipe – Farmer’s Daughter Reel is a Canadian fiddler classic. While writing this story I looked up Fitzgerald and his famous tune and played it over the phone to my 96 year-old mother. She loved it. Have a listen.

To reach White Point, we had to turn off the Coastal Loop and make our way down a steep spur road. The guard rail in this photo shows why we drove it slowly.

In mid-June there were no tourists to speak of, just locals going about their business while two beachcombers relaxed on a little crescent beach.

We walked the single track trail climbing past a small hill and a little cemetery with a wooden cross and sailors’ graves.

Once over the hill the views were spectacular. There was a surprise we’d later discover the further we walked; White Point wasn’t just a point stretching out into the ocean, it was a point followed by many little islands. The wind-blown ground cover was tenacious, very coarse and dense. We spent a good hour and a half soaking up the scenery here before getting back on the road.

After White Point, the Coastal Loop swings inland for a piece then heads back to the seaside at the village of New Haven. Here we spied a little sign outside a house that read “Fishing Stories Told Here”. “Stop the car”, I cried, “I’m due for a good fishing story.” The owner of the sign, however, was a man of few words. “Did you fish?” I asked, “Fifty six years,” he said, offering nothing more. So I asked him what he fished. “Everything,” he replied. He was a tad terse but I loved his two-masted wooden schooner weather vanes and bought one to take home. Every spring, when I put it back out in our garden, I think of little New Haven on Cape Breton Island.

Our last North Shore stop was Neil’s Harbour and its Chowder House. It was busy and we felt lucky to find a table. Our meal started with a small bowl of chowder then we moved on to an order of crab cakes followed by a shared lobster clubhouse. All three were good but my favourite, hands down, were the crab cakes.

If you go:

Cape Breton Island general information
https://www.cbisland.com/

Hideaway Campground
https://www.campingcapebreton.com/

Nova Chowder Trail
https://novascotiachowdertrail.com/

Whale watching tours, zodiac and kayak tours, hiking trails, etc. on Cape Breton’s Northern shores
https://northerncapebreton.com/things-to-do/

Unusual Nova Scotia Places to Stay
https://www.novascotia.com/places-to-stay/accommodations/unusual-lodging