Hiking Trails of Cape Breton

This is an excellent guide that we found useful throughout our stay on Cape Breton Island. The maps are excellent and the descriptions of the trails and how to reach the trailheads is great. The topographical maps were also very useful. I will comment on some of the great hikes included in Haynes' book. As you leave Cheticamp and enter the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, you are given three immediate trails from which to select. Because of intense rain, we had to skip these trails and move further north into the park. Along the way, the ocean views from the Cabot Trail were incredible, some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery in the world. Our first hike within the park was the Skyland Trail, a 3 hour hike on a high mountail plateau. The vegetation is naturally pruned and stunted by the ocean winds. The views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are stunning from this height. We looked for moose but saw only pheasants. Our second hike was to MacIntosh Brook, where the spruce trees create alpine odors as you hike and Aspen trees were turning gold. The old growth Sugar Maples were turning flame red in our September trip. The Sugar Maples are propagated by a root system that allows saplings to develope all around the parent tree. These small saplings may remain short for decades in virtual shadow, nourished by the root system of the parent tree. Our third hike was to Lone Shieling, a short hike that offered a stone replica of an ancient Scotish hut, a short walk along a brook, and another short hike through Sugar Maple forrests. Our fourth hike was very short since a dirt road will take you almost to the Chutes Beulach Ban Falls. Our fifth hike was cut short due to lack of time. We tried to hike to the Glasgow Lakes Lookoff but the round trip takes 4 hours. We turned back before completing the hike but we did reach an altitude to see vast vistas. We spent the night at the Markham Resort cottages in Dingwall and had a gourmet dinner at the Morrison restaurant in Cape North. The Markham cottages allow for wetland or beach front hikes where the granite pebbles offer infinite varieties of colors and shapes. Here we saw a young bald eagle just getting the white feathers of the mature adult. We drove to Bay St. Lawrence where we went for a whale cruise. We saw two pilot whales, hundreds of curious seals, and an adult bald eagle. We were late in the season so I suspect most of the whales had migrated to the Carribbean. While on the road we found the convenience stores offered many quick meal selections. In Cape North, I was able to get a lobster sandwich and chocolate milk. An odd combination, but it tasted great. Our sixth hike to Broad Cove Mountain was short but offered great views above the treeline. However, our seventh hike, to Middle Head, was one of my favorite hikes. The trailheads start behind the impressive Keltic Lodge hotel. The hike offers high cliff hanging views of the Atlantic. Our eighth hike was up Cape Smokey, a long hike

It was a very good and detailed discription of the trails. The dis cription of the where the trail headsnare was excellant, even giving the GPS coordinates.

This book deserves more attention, because it is one of the best trail guides available in the country. It has everything an outdoorsperson looking for trails in Nova Scotia needs: GPS coordinates, cell phone coverage, maps, and accurate descriptions. This book is far superior to almost any other published hiking guide I have seen.

A detailed guide to interesting hiking venues in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. I'd recommend it for anyone visiting the province who plans to explore by foot off the beaten track.

Included topo maps and very accurate trail head and actual trail notes. History and sidebar notes about the area and the trails added to the overall hiking experience. Only problem was our lack of time to do all the hikes we wanted to- what time we had was maximized with this reference.