Cape Breton Trails

Ceilidh Trail

Scottish traditions and Gaelic folklore come alive along the Ceilidh Trail. Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is Gaelic for party or gathering, and if you listen closely you might hear the heart-stirring music of bagpipes and fiddles echoing through the glens of this beautiful corner of Cape Breton Island.

Around every bend, the Ceilidh Trail offers stunning vistas of rugged coastline, bays and inlets, verdant hills and rolling farmlands as it follows the shore of western Cape Breton for 107 km (67 mi.) from the Canso Causeway to the Cabot Trail. Along the way you can explore the beautiful Mabou Highlands, hike unforgettable coastal trails, stroll along fine sand beaches and swim in the warm salt water of St. George's Bay. Linger along the breathtaking Broad Cove Road where seacliffs rise high above the sparkling surf. Tour a distillery, explore fascinating local museums, or take a leisurely drive around lovely Lake Ainslie.

 

 

 

 

Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail winds for nearly 300 km (185 mi.) through the beautiful highlands and plateaus of Cape Breton. A loop trail, visitors can begin or end their journey at a number of different points and one of the most beautiful scenic drives in the world. Named for famous explorer John Cabot, the Cabot Trail winds around the rocky splendour of Cape Breton's northern shore, ascending to the incredible plateaus of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This magnificent highway is carved into the sides of mountains that rise high above the shimmering waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Lookoffs offer unforgettable vistas of Cape Breton's rugged coastline, where pods of whales can often be seen just offshore and bald eagles soar aloft on the ocean breezes.Cape Breton Highlands National Park encompasses one of Canada's most exceptional wilderness areas.

The Cabot Trail is a destination for all seasons. In fall, the highlands explode in a vibrant palette of nature's fiery reds, oranges, crimsons and golds. The days are warm, the evenings sweater-cool and every road leads through a tapestry of brilliant autumn colours. In winter, the hills become a crystalline fairy-land. Seemingly endless groomed trails open the winter beauty of the highlands for cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. The  Trail is a golfer's paradise with exciting, world-class championship courses that surround players with the magnificent beauty of Cape Breton Highlands National Park or panoramic views of the Bras d'Or Lakes.

Cheticamp, on the western side of the island, is the centre of Acadian French heritage in the area, and the Acadian Museum there has fascinating displays highlighting the early Acadian history of the area. At St. Ann's, on the eastern side, North America's only Gaelic college features displays on the region's early Scottish settlers in the Great Hall of the Clans.

 

 

 

 

 


Bras D'Or Lakes Scenic Drive

Welcome to Cape Breton's rolling heartland, where the highlands meet the lowlands along the shores of the island's beautiful inland sea -- the Bras d'Or Lakes. The Bras d'Or Lakes Scenic Drive circles the lake along shoreline roads that offer an ever-changing panorama of woodlands, farms and villages, and are ideal for walking, biking and birdwatching. The region is a major nesting area for bald eagles, and these impressive birds can often be seen soaring aloft or perched on shoreline trees.

There's something new around every corner along this route. Experience the daily life of the early Scottish settlers at the Nova Scotia Highland Village Museum. At Marble Mountain Museum you can learn about marble quarrying in the late 1800s, and the Orangedale Railway Station Museum offers a special look at late 19th-century trains and train travel.

 

Fleur-de-Lis Trail & Marconi Trail

Step through a doorway in time into a magnificent French town whose streets are a bustle of 18th-century activity. Inside the massive stone gates, the year is 1744. Stroll lively streets where costumed washerwomen, bread sellers, soldiers, noblemen and musicians are going about their daily business. Explore historic period gardens, watch musket and cannon drills, roam through the king's storehouses, and visit the homes of commoners, merchants, and wealthy residents. This is Fortress Louisbourg, the largest historic reconstruction in North America, meticulously rebuilt on the foundations of the original fortress-the site from which the French hoped to reign over all North Atlantic navigation in the 1700s.

The roots of the technical and industrial age can be found throughout this area. The Marconi National Historic Site marks the location of the first west-to-east transatlantic radio transmission in 1902. In Louisbourg, the Sydney & Louisburg Railway Museum pays tribute to the region's rich railway heritage. The history of coal mining in Canada's richest coal country is captured at Glace Bay's Miners' Museum, where visitors can tour a turn-of-the-century miners' village and actually enter a coal mine, the Ocean Deeps Colliery, with guides who once worked in the mines.

The region's colourful French heritage is alive and well along the Fleur-de-lis and Marconi Trails, in picturesque Acadian fishing villages that dot the rugged sea coast. Be sure to sample regional fare like T'chaude or Pâté à la viande.