7 Best Sights in The Eastern Shore and Northern Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia

At 3,000 acres, this park on the edge of downtown has wooded hiking trails, a viewpoint, a winding stream, two waterfalls, public tennis courts, and an outdoor (heated) pool. Even if you're not staying in Truro, this park can be a good pit stop for car-weary travelers: kids especially will enjoy the pool, water spray park, picnic pavilion, and playground. Energetic visitors can climb the 175 steps of the Jacob's Ladder fitness staircase. The Railyard mountain biking park at the top of Victoria Park has 35-miles of cross-country trails, some with platforms, jumps, and other advanced features, as well as a skills track that's popular with kids and adults.

Not far from the Minas Basin, where some of the oldest dinosaur fossils in Canada have been found, this museum showcases 200-million-year-old specimens alongside other mineral, plant, and animal relics. The opportunity to peer into a working fossil lab and to see bright interactive exhibits (like the Bay of Fundy Time Machine) give this museum real kid appeal. On Friday and Saturday in July and August, the curator leads fascinating two- to four-hour field trips through the surrounding area, but you need your own transportation because most don't start at the museum.

One of Nova Scotia's most popular beaches, Melmerby has a boardwalk, picnic tables, and some of the warmest water north of the Carolinas. Beaches straddle both the inner and outer edges of this horseshoe of land, the inner portion a glorious stretch of white sand. Swimming is safe here unless winds are high, when strong currents develop. The supervised area (in July and August) is clearly marked. Beware of poison ivy in the sand dunes and, between mid-July and early August, jellyfish in the water. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (free); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming.

Your own job may be the last thing you want to think about while vacationing, but if you're curious about those the industrious locals have traditionally held, Stellarton, just 20 km (12 miles) from Pictou, is worth a detour for this museum that brings our industrial heritage to life with daily demonstrations in the machine shop, sawmill, and print shop. Like factory and mine workers of old, you can punch in with a time card and then get straight to work. Hands-on exhibits will show you how to hook a rag mat, print a bookmark, operate a steam engine, or pack chocolates into a moving box on an assembly line. Interactive computer exhibits explore multimedia as a tool of industry, and some 30,000 industrial artifacts are on display, including Canada's oldest steam locomotives. The kids' train gallery is a hit with very young children.

For up-close appreciation of local produce, this farm has pick-your-own strawberry and raspberry fields in summer and Atlantic Canada's largest corn maze in the fall. The place turns decidedly scary from late September to Halloween, when "Fear Farm" is haunted by gruesome characters (real live actors) in the maze and a haunted house.

Most visitors come to Sherbrooke to see this living-history museum, set within the contemporary town. It contains more than two dozen restored buildings (including an operating water-powered sawmill) that re-create life during the town's heyday. Between 1860 and 1914, this was a prime shipbuilding, lumbering, and gold-rush center. These days, costumed interpreters and artisans recapture the bustle by demonstrating blacksmithing, weaving, wood turning, soap making, and similar skills. Special events, such as old-fashioned Christmas and courthouse concerts, are held throughout the year.

Known for his Gouda and other delicious cheeses that are found on menus across Nova Scotia, you can visit the Dutch-style farmhouse of "That Dutchman" to sample his cheeses or buy Dutch candy and clogs, and wander the beautiful gardens that double as a petting zoo. There's a large duck pond, baby goats to feed, angus cows, donkeys, and miniature potbellied pigs along the trail through gardens.