Cape Breton Trip Report, August 2003
In 8/03 we spent 9 days on Cape Breton, staying at three different places, and hiking nearly every day. Many people spend only a day or two, but there is no way to experience CB in such a short time, especially if you are interested in active pursuits. Following are some highlights (and lowlights).
Starting out we drove from Halifax to Ingonish, and stayed at the Seascape Coastal Retreat, which turned out to be the nicest place we stayed on CB. These are ten brand new (2002) cottages on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Ours (#8) was a 2-room cottage with queen bed. The living room had a sofa in front of a large picture window looking at the sea, and had satellite TV and a VCR (fortunately we had good weather and didn?t need these). There was a bar area with coffee maker, microwave, and mini-fridge, and a covered porch with 2 adirondack chairs. A very good breakfast (eggs or cereal & muffins) was included, but not served until 8:30 AM. The day we arrived we took short but beautiful hike (Middle Beach Trail) near the Keltic Lodge. Day 2 we hiked Franey Mountain, whose trailhead is near the southern entrance to Cape Breton Highlands Park. This was a ?view? hike but visibility was poor. In the afternoon we took an easy but pretty hike around Warren lake. (All these hikes are in ?Hiking Trails of Cape Breton,? by Michael Haynes. Buying this book is highly recommended if you plan to hike). Day 3 we drove north to Meat Cove, stopping along the way at Cabot Provincial Park (this was a beach hike, but there was no life at all on the beach ?no birds, no crabs, nothing).. On the return from Meat Cove we hiked to Glasgow Lakes, a 6 mile RT over mostly taiga (scrubby low-growing foliage). It is not aerobically challenging but it is difficult because the trail is very rocky, and we felt the experience wasn?t worth the effort.
A few practical things about Ingonish: There are 3 towns, I. Harbor, I Beach and I Centre, and they are spread over about 20 miles of the Cabot Trail. There is no town you can walk around; businesses are strung along the road. (This is the case almost everywhere in CB). I Beach has a convenience store, restaurant, liquor store and hardware store. I center is the biggest, with several restaurants and a small grocery and various other stores. There?s also a library with free internet access. If you are going to be staying on CB for more than a few days we strongly recommend you bring or buy a picnic cooler. There are very few places where you can buy a sandwich (except pre-made pre-wrapped ones) for lunch or cold drinks (especially beer), but places that sell ice abound. This is true not only of Ingonish but CB in general
We are spoiled Americans, and like quality food. This was hard to come by. We had dinner twice at the Seascape, the first meal was good, the second wasn?t. The third was at the Coastal Waters restaurant, which was cheap but bad.
After Ingonish we drove to Baddeck, stopping at Cape Smokey Provincial Park for a hike. This was one of our best, even though visibility was poor. The hike is a challenging 7 mile RT, but we saw several bald eagles and other people we encountered saw a moose. On a clear day this hike would be fabulous. Baddeck is a ?real? town in the sense there?s a small business district you can walk around. We stayed at the Lynwood Inn, which is located at the main intersection in town. (However, there was no street noise at night). There are 3 rooms in the Inn and 30 or so in a new motel-like attachment. Our room was in the Inn and was very bright and nice (queen bed, TV, nice bathroom), except that it was right above the outdoor dining area and people tended to congregate there early in the morning to plan their day?s excursion. Food at the Lynwood is so-so at best, and service is friendly but slow. Our first full day there we took a morning hike (Englishtown). This was an easy 6+ mile hike over an old woods road, but sections are overgrown. The day was overcast and it wasn?t very interesting, but we did see another bald eagle. The moment we finished the hike it started to rain, so we went back to Baddeck for pizza (pretty good) and beer at the Yello Cello, then visited the Bras d?Or interpretive center across the street and the Alex. Graham Bell museum. Both were very interesting. Next day we drove to Louisbourg (a bit less than 2 hours drive) to see the restoration. This is a must-do if on Cape Breton. It is very well done and very interesting, even if you are not a history buff. You can easily spend most of the day there. Two hints: Pack a lunch in a backpack because except for two ?eat like they did in 1740? restaurants it?s hard to get something to eat. There?s a big picnic area that nobody uses. Hint 2: Most guidebooks say that the weather at the site can be a lot worse than in the town of Louisbourg. This is TRUE! Take a windbreaker. That was it for Baddeck. There is not much to do in Baddeck in the evening, except for a nightly ceilidh at one of the church halls. ?Not much to do in the evening? is also characteristic of most of CB.
Next day we drove to our next stop in the Margaree valley, via Whycocomagh and Mabou. We did a nice coastal hike in the Mabou Highlands (buy a $3.00 trail map at the FreshMart in Mabou), and then went on to our next lodging at the Normaway Inn. This is a lovely spot with rustic (no TV or phone, but otherwise very comfortable) cabins. They also have rooms in the lodge but we overheard comments that they were small and noisy. The Normaway has entertainment every night (2 different folksingers when we were there) and one night a week they have a big ceilidh in their barn. This is a big deal; people come from all around and start arriving before 7PM for an 8PM show. The food at the Normaway (especially breakfast) was the best we had on Cape Breton, but by, say, Halifax standards, it was only so-so. The menu changes only modestly from night to night, and the food is very bland (and sometimes frozen). We were quite surprised that, given that fishing is a major CB industry, there was very little fresh fish anywhere. Service is gracious and charming but can be excruciatingly slow when the dining room is full. You are pretty much a captive audience, since it is 20 minutes or so to any other place to eat. Not that there are many choices, even if you do venture forth. During our two full days in this area we drove north on both days to the Cape Breton Highlands Park. The visitor center is north of Cheticamp (there is no visitor center at all on the east side of the park). One day we hiked the Acadien trail which was GREAT! It?s a loop a little over 6 miles, 3 miles gradually up and then gradually down. You get pretty high, with fabulous views back toward Cheticamp, but it?s so gradual you don?t really notice. We hiked the loop clockwise, which gave us the views on the way up, and a hike along a brook on the way down. On the way up we saw bald eagles and a goshawk and on the way down a BIG bull moose, with a bigger rack than any of the ones we saw in postcards. The next day we hiked the Trous de Saumon trail which follows the Cheticamp river upstream. The first 45 minutes is boring, but then you get nearer to the river and there are lots of pools, rapids, etc. It was a quite beautiful and very easy (flat) hike. We saw a barred owl roosting.
That was it for our Cape Breton vacation. We loved it despite our complaints about the food, and there were many activities left undone, such as kayaking, canoeing, whale watching. You can easily spend a week plus there. In particular, the Bras d?or lakes are beautiful, but due to poor weather we didn?t get out on them. Just be aware that once you leave the mainland you are in a very rural area, with few conveniences.
Any questions you can email me at
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