Day 20 - Canadian Maritimes 2026 - Nova Scotia's Beautiful Cape Breton and Cabot Trail

Now for the next exciting item on our bucket list for our entire Canadian Maritimes Trip... Making it to Cape Breton and traveling on the Cabot Trail. So many people recommended that we do this scenic route. Including our dentist! Heck, even a sales clerk had overheard us discussing our destination and mentioned to not miss the Cabot Trail!  

This is also the furthestmost point to the East and the North that we will be traveling on this entire trip. After we loop around the end of Cape Breton, it will actually be our "Turnaround Day", meaning we will be starting our journey back home.

We packed up at our campsite at Caribou Munroe's Island provincial park, and topped off our freshwater tank.  Most RVers don't like to travel with a full tank of water because of the added weight. But we never know where we're going to boondock next, or if there's fresh water available. So we fill up when we can.

It was only about an hour and a half drive over to Port Hastings, where we would cross the causeway and get onto the actual Cape Breton Island. There wasn't a lot to see beforehand, but once we crossed onto the cape, things got rocky and hilly and very, very scenic! Time for another adventure...

It was suggested that we go around in a counterclockwise fashion. That way the prettiest views out over the ocean would be from the passenger side. Now I could be filming or snapping photos and not having to try to take pictures between Steve's chest and the steering wheel out of the driver's side window. 

We decided to pull off and fuel up in the small village of Whycocomagh. We were now only getting 12.3 miles per gallon, fighting the winds and the hills. 

They had a nice grocery store that we were able to stock up on a few fresh things. From there, we wound our way down along the shoreline of the bay to make our late breakfast/early lunch. This parking lot of the church faces out over the water and welcomes people to stop by for daytime visits, just not overnights for RVing.

It was so pretty, that we got out and walked around a little bit before cooking. The winds were starting to kick up a bit, and we were wondering what it was going to be like as we went further North. 

The sun glistening off the water had an almost magical effect, with silvery glints of light flickering back and forth inside of the motorhome. It was one of those scenes that will stay in my memory. Watching the glistening sparkles as we relaxed for a little while before getting back on the road again.

Sometimes we have to stop and take in the moment, rather than rush rush rush to get somewhere. We are learning this lesson now in our 60s. Hopefully when we reach our seventies and eighties, we are still traveling and taking our time and enjoying what we see.

We started climbing our way up through some land that was still agricultural. We enjoyed seeing the pretty little farms dotting here and there along the countryside. Soon we would be pulling into the more Northern regions of Cape Breton, which most of the land belongs to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

We rode along the St Anne's Bay, and worked our way towards Englishtown. Beautiful scenery abounded on both sides of the road. Soon we would be seeing the Atlantic Ocean off the passenger side of our rig... or so we thought??? 

In Englishtown, there is a free ferry that helps vehicles get across the bay to get up closer on the ocean shore. We have noticed while driving along, the very low water levels of the Bay, and a lot of sandbars exposed.

We wandered way down into the cute little village of Englishtown. So picturesque and quaint and pretty. Nothing touristy or overdone. Just cute little homes and neatly kept yards. We pulled up into line to wait for the ferry to come across.  Here it comes!

While we were waiting, we read the sign with the instructions. This ferry operates 24 hours around the clock on demand. You drive down on the ramp and wait and the ferry will come to you if it's on the other side. Very interesting. And of course, it is part of the Nova Scotia ferry lines transportation department and is completely free.

This would now be our third ferry ride of our trip. Or so we hoped?

We watched everyone get unloaded, including a great big huge semi truck. 

We did notice a big hump as each one was getting off, due to the ramp being so slanted between the ferry boat and the shoreline. Amazingly, even the semi truck made it. But he has a lot of clearance underneath him...

And we don't. 

The ferry operator staff came up to talk to us while we were waiting in line.  They said that anything beyond 5 ft past the rear axles is going to drag because of the low water levels. They feared damaging our RV or our cargo trailer trying to get on or off the ferry. So they suggested that we drive the paved route around instead. There is a small road sneaking up the other side of St Anne's Bay. 

The staff helped us turn around and they held back the other cars so we could get out of the lineup queue for the ferry. 

Well, that was a disappointment!

We would now be driving an additional 41 km which is only 25 miles.  But they were 25 miles of the most twisty-turney rough and bumpy road there was on the entire trip. Google maps suggested it would only be a 35 minute route, actually it was closer to almost an hour. 

Our Plan A for a campsite for the night was just on the other side of that Ferry. There was supposed to be a really nice parking spot where you could sit and watch the ferry come and go right from your campsite. Alas, that was not going to now work out. Skipping Plan A and now moving on to Plan B.

We were twisting and turning along that narrow road up the other side of St Anne's Bay. There was supposed to be a rock quarry area where some machinery had been parked long ago. RVs had used it as a stopover point and suggested it was a good place to park.  That was Plan B. 

We drove on into the lumpy bumpy lot. It looked rather rugged and the area did not look very welcoming. We decided that this was not going to work out either. We would keep pushing it and get back onto the highway where we should be. If we had been on the ferry, this would just be only a few miles down the road. 

But on up the detoured road we went, and soon reached the main highway where it was smoother and more pleasant to drive along. The skies had opened up a little bit more and we had clear blue sections shining through.  

Oh my goodness, this was the part of the Cabot Trail that everybody is talking about that is so beautiful. I kept snapping photo after photo and kept the video camera rolling at the same time. The hardwood trees were just starting to turn so there were flashes of color here and there.

Winding along, every corner we turned, was a new flash of color and beautiful rolling scenery.

So hard to describe, and even photos don't do it justice. We just kept driving along, with our mouths wide open, oohing and ahhing as we went along. 

The sceneries playing out in front of us looked like landscape stitched onto tapestries. It didn't look real. With the softened background of the misty fog, but the sun shining down in the foreground, it made for some absolutely beautiful photographic scenes. Untouched, no filter.

This is why the water is so low further down on the St Anne's Bay. There isn't much water further up in the tributaries feeding into it either.

The colors were amazing and just touching on the ends of the branches where the frost must have settled over the last few nights. We were in for a treat of color, and enjoying it as a flashed on past our windows.

It was getting much hillier, and we saw a lot of rocky stone surfaces erupting out of the hillsides. It really added a drastic feature to the rolling countryside to suddenly see these expanses of stone.

The road was a constant ribbon, dipping and swaying and winding its way through the hilly regions. We had to crawl along sometimes at 15 to 20 mph. There were inclines and declines of 15% to 18% and some even more than that which were not even marked! This was definitely not a route to go fast or to ignore safety precautions on. Every now and then we had cars coming from the other way that were too fast, inching over the center line towards us. Gasp!

It was a lot of White Knuckle Driving, and the winds were not helping it either. I had my own imaginary brake on my own side, and my feet were constantly pushing the pedal.

We worked our way along through the hills until we reached the shoreline again. Now we are back on track and...

WE were FINALLY going to be seeing the Atlantic Ocean in all of it's Glory! Just up over this hill....

 

THERE IT IS!

Rugged rocky and raw shoreline, with nothing between you and Europe ---- nothing other than the Atlantic Ocean in view. The winds were whipping up the sides of the cliff and it was buffeting us as we parked in this overlook lot. It was exhilarating and exciting as well as a little bit scary.

We have seen the Atlantic Ocean before, when we were briefly out in Maine three years ago, and again years before that when we were out driving along the shore from Virginia all the way down to Florida. But that section of the Atlantic Ocean was not rugged and wild and exhilarating like this section is.  It was a wonderful sight to behold. 

While I was snapping some photos, I looked up over my shoulder and saw this young eagle. Perhaps he's a golden eagle? Or maybe just an immature bald eagle. He was soaring on the wind, which was blowing so strongly that he was just gliding there in one spot! Seriously, it's like he was enjoying the pressure of the wind against his wings and seeing how long he could hold himself in one position. I filmed him with the camera and it is on the YouTube link at the bottom of this blog post. He hovered there for a long time before deciding to fly away and let the drafts take him down further onto the cliff.

It was a really special moment that he shared with me. Ahhhhhhh. The song comes to mind "The Wind Beneath My Wings". 

We stopped a few times to take breaks along the shoreline. This is all rugged wild terrain and I can't imagine trying to maneuver a boat around such a shoreline. How did early sailors and pioneers find their way ashore? They would have had to scoot up and down for many miles until they found an area low enough to even set foot on land.

Clouds started rolling in, and we were losing the picturesque colors of our roadside travels. The only colorful thing we saw here was the graffiti on the guardrail??

It was getting later in the day and I was getting tired. I hadn't mentioned it, but I wasn't feeling the absolute greatest. And I was thinking it was just about enough lumping and bumping around for the day. 

We decided on Plan C.

There was a Provincial Park coming up on the other end of Ingonish. We looked ahead on their reservation site and they did have empty sites available. But they were all in rows, crammed in like sardines like back at Linkletter on Prince Edward Island. We really didn't need a campsite for the night, but we didn't see anywhere else that would be comfortable enough to pull off to boondock. 

As we were winding our way down towards the shoreline, Steve saw a small parking lot by a tiny harbor called Hawley's Cove. We were now protected from the blasts of wind in this tiny harbor with high hills all around.  

We pulled on in just as a fisherman was tying up his boat. We asked if we could perhaps park there for the night down at the end of the parking lot? He said sure, folks do it all the time. He waved us on and wished us well and he headed on out. Isn't that wonderful? We didn't even need to go to Plan C and spend any money, we had a Plan B 1/2 to stop for the night.

We looped around the end of the parking lot to face the other direction. That way if there was any wind at all it would be to the front of the motorhome and not on our back slide topper. The fabric roll out slide toppers flap in the wind and make noise during the night. 

We were finding ourselves already relaxing after the tense driving day.  This would work out very well for us.

It was quiet, and we were comfortable. I think this was much better than staying in a crowded campground. 

I can see why this made a great spot for a little harbor. The boats were sitting on calm water, securely tied up for the night. Where just further out, into the open ocean, things were rocking and rolling with huge breakers and surf.

We got out and stretched our legs, walking up and down the length of the little harbor. There were only two fishing boats tied up. I'm not sure if others would be coming or going during the night or early morning hours. I think we were parked far enough out of the way that if somebody needed to come with a truck, they could still turn around and load or unload as need be. The last thing we want to do is be in somebody's way. Especially if they are working hard to earn a living, the last thing they need is some danged tourists blocking their access. 

After dinner, we fired up the water heater and I washed up the dishes. Since the water was already hot, I decided to take a nice long shower. It was a great way to get rid of the jitters of the day. 

There's something to be said for the luxury of being able to take a hot shower in the middle of a parking lot of a tiny harbor of an oceanside town. We really do appreciate the flexibility of traveling in our motorhome. Yes, we truly do have all the comforts of home. 

And a snuggle from a sassy little puppy was just a perfect way to end a long long day...

 

Here is the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog: 

207 miles traveled today

2,496 miles traveled so far

Day 19 - Canadian Maritimes 2026 - Northumberland Ferry to Nova Scotia - Caribou Munroes Island Provincial Park

After spending 3 days stationary in Linkletter Provincial Park, our feet became itchy and we wanted to travel on to see more things. We did get out and drive around with the motorhome while leaving the campsite, but it's a lot easier to just see things as we travel rather than going back to a stationary spot each night. Less setting up and tearing down.

After looking at the map and weighing our options, we chose that we would be taking the Northumberland Ferry from the bottom of Prince Edward Island to scoot over to Nova Scotia. If we drove all the way around on the road (plus paying the toll for the Confederate Bridge) it would have cost us an additional $150 to $180 in fuel. By taking the ferry for only $68, which converts over to only $48 in US currency, it was worth it. Plus we would be saving over 220 miles of travel.

Speaking of fuel, it wasn't that bad of a price here on Prince Edward Island. It was $2.52 a liter which converts over to $6.75 a gallon into US currency and measurements. Remember, this is for diesel fuel, not gasoline. We are averaging about 13 miles per gallon. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. A lot of that depends on whether we are driving into the wind or slow stop-and-go traffic in towns. If we are on backcountry roads doing a leisurely 50 to 60 mph then it is our best mileage up in the 14's.

We got loaded up at the campground and hit the dump station on our way out. Being as it was a Sunday, a lot of people were leaving the park at the same time. So we had a little bit of a wait, but not too bad. 

It wasn't long and we started heading South on some back roads, we enjoyed seeing the little country churches being utilized on a Sunday morning.

Like I said in yesterday's blog, it's neat to see the small communities clustered around a church that must be the heart of their existence. Worship, weddings, baptisms, and funerals bring everyone together in these tiny villages through their central figure of a church.

When we did stop for fuel, we were near an area that had sulky racing going on today. If you don't know, that's horse racing with the little carts pulled behind. At the gas station, this trailer pulled in with two very handsome horses sticking their heads out to see what was going on. My friend Vicky is a horse nut, as much as I am, so I had to go over and say hello to these dapper dandy doos and film them a little bit for my friend Vicky. They smiled for the camera! 

It's amazing the things that you can see on a Sunday morning drive --- there was a large Farmer's Market setting up and I guess a duck was a necessary part of their attraction?

We wandered our way down along some of the back roads of Prince Edward Island. One thing we noticed was all of their potholes were filled with little squares, instead of circles? We drove on mile after mile of country roads with neat little squares...

I guess only a quilter would see that and think about patchwork? As in quilting patches? LOL

I wonder who it is in their Department of Transportation that repairs the roads that decides on the square pattern and why?

We wandered our way down South on the island until we reached the small village called Wood Island. That is where the ferry departs over to Nova Scotia. On the grounds before the ferry toll booth, they have a short-term parking area. We stopped there to make a little lunch and then got out because there was a fenced-in dog park. We know a certain little guy that would enjoy that!! It was good to run off his energy before we would be getting on the ferry...

We had made our reservations online two days before. We also reserved a spot in the pet lounge. If the weather was bad or windy or cold, we could then have a reserved spot in a nice lounge that was pet friendly and safe for the dog. It also contained kennel cages if you wanted to kennel up your dog, or you were welcome to sit in the seating area with your dog at your feet. Under control at all times on a short leash, of course. 

We had made reservations for the 5:00 p.m. ferry. We really didn't know how long it would take us to drive across the rest of Prince Edward island, or if we wanted to stop somewhere on the way. But when we got there it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. We went ahead to the toll booth to ask if it's possible to get moved ahead to the 3:00 p.m. ferry if they had room. Yes! 

Now we could be across sooner, and maybe before any of the weather got worse... This particular day was the same day that the ferocious Nor'Easter was blowing up the coast of the United States. It was flooding areas of New Jersey and the Carolinas and moving up into Massachusetts and Maine. It was heading our way!  I think the sooner we cross the open ocean strait, the better.

We would be somewhat protected by the island to the north of us and Nova Scotia to the south. But the problem was the Eastern side of the passage would be open wide out into the Atlantic Ocean. That's where the winds could come in and cause some trouble.  The gal at the reservation toll booth said that at any time, the captain can determine it's too dangerous, or the tide is too low, and we would not be making the journey. Then we would be delayed even up to a day later so to be prepared in case things got canceled.

Here was our intended route...

Well, we waited patiently in line, the weather seemed to stay pretty calm. The winds were not affecting the channel that we were crossing, so we were allowed to board the ferry at the appropriate time. All of the motorhomes and other RVs were parked on the main deck. Automobiles were directed to a hatch down below by lifting up a big portion of the floor. It was like a trap door that they were sent down a ramp and disappeared from view! 

Once we were all settled into place on the deck we were allowed to leave the vehicles and head up the stairs...

Our motorhome looks so cute sitting there surrounded by other RVs. That is the front of the boat ahead of us that raises way up into the air for vehicles to drive off when we reach the other shore.

We walked up the stairs, which were open staircases with grid type treads. Nicholas had never walked on something like this. We were so proud of him for doing it and going up those stairs even though he hesitated at first. I walked ahead and he followed, very gingerly. He scooted up to the top of each flight of stairs and was willingly following at my side, acting perfectly obedient. 

Once we were up on the highest level facing the front of the boat, we could look back and see our motorhome waiting down below. 

There wasn't a lot of signage to tell us where to go. It appeared we needed to walk right through the main big center cafeteria with food and about 200 people to get to the pet lounge?  We weren't sure we were supposed to do this. So Steve went inside and walked ahead and walked around looking for anybody to ask how do we get to the pet lounge. He finally found a woman in the cafeteria who said we are to walk the dog right through, that there are little paw prints painted on the floor in the cafeteria of the route that we are to take. 

Imagine that? That they would allow pets to be walked right through an open cafeteria full of food and people??? 

Yes, we did it. Nick was so good and stayed right by my side. He was looking up in every direction at all these people who were all standing around with food or trays of goodies. But he kept right on going at my side. So many people were stopping to say "Awwww look at the Little Lassie" but he dutifully kept on trotting alongside of me and did not get distracted. 

We worked our way through all of the people, following the dog paw prints painted on the floor, and found the doorway to the pet lounge.

I was so proud of Nick! This was something he had never ever done before.

We made our way to the pet lounge, and made sure that Nicholas read every single item of the posted pet policy, so he knew the rules. He agreed to all 15 of them. 

We sat for a little while in the lounge, and he was extremely nervous but sat on my lap watching everything going on around him. They even had a central watering station with a little fountain for any of the dogs to drink from. I preferred to not let him drink out of that, and instead kept him up on my lap.  He was panting, not out of excess heat, but out of nervousness. We decided we would try the outside deck to see if he was more comfortable there. Yes, they had a whole pet deck set aside with picnic tables and places you could set your own water bowls (which we had brought along one for him). This was much better.

We felt the ships engine start up and slowly the boat began to move. It wasn't too bad outside on the deck, this was located on the back of the boat so we were out of the wind. Steve called it the "poop deck"!!!

The sun was shining and it was actually pretty comfortable. Nick sure was more comfortable sitting out here! Look at that face! 

The ship was underway as we cruised out of the harbor. On the sides the manmade breakwaters surrounding the ferry harbor were all of these rocks and pilings. They were absolutely totally covered in bird poop! These big black birds are called double-breasted cormorants. Every now and then there was a white seagull among the group.

I think those rocks are really dark grey. They are just covered with bird poop! Ewwwwww!

I was wondering why they were hanging out there? Well now I know why...

When the tide was out, you could see the sandy levels of the bottom of the ocean sticking out. The birds were hanging out there gobbling up anything that was crawling up out of the sand. Good spot for them to hang out and get a free lunch.

Here was our pet friendly deck at the back of the boat. There was plenty of room for other pets, but there was only one other dog there, a golden retriever who sat obediently by its owner.

We watched the shoreline slip away as we headed out into the Northumberland Strait. The boat moved a little more with the waves now that we were out of the protection of the harbor. But it wasn't bad, and nothing to be distraught about. I don't think we were going to get seasick or anything.  We did have Dramamine along in our tote bag along with water bottles and Nick's doggie bowl. Steve definitely gets sea sick, even out on fishing charters in Lake Michigan. 

There was a breeze and the clouds were dark overhead. But we were kind of warm sitting on the back side of this part of the boat. There was a wall behind us to break the wind. We figured we would be pretty comfortable staying out there for the rest of the trip. Nick settled down and started looking around with more curiosity and less nervousness. The movements of the boat under his feet made him more nervous than anything going on around him. 

I think it was better that he could be up on the bench next to us rather than just down at our feet on the end of a leash. A few times, people walked by, especially with children, asking if they could pet him. I really didn't want to trust him in such a nervous situation being reached at or grabbed at by children. So we politely declined any petting from someone else. Other times I try to socialize him when he's more comfortable. But I did not want to risk anything bad happening in such a tense situation. Better to be safe than sorry.

Steve was eyeballing this spiffy little rescue craft. There were large lifeboats contained in compressed capsules that could burst out in the event of a problem. But there were also a number of these little rescue boats that could be lowered quickly on the end of a cable to the level of the water. Steve said if we ran out of gas, he could buzz down on one of them and go back to shore to get some. LOL

That guy is always thinking...

The flags were flapping straight out in the wind, and it was quite breezy up on the front of the boat. I walked around up there to get some more video footage. If you'd like to watch it, it's down below on the link to the connected YouTube at the end of this blog.

The salty sea air filling our nostrils, we sat in the wind and enjoyed the ride across the strait. It's nice smelling it once in awhile, but I don't think I would like to live near the ocean. I prefer inland lakes and rivers, thank you. 

We made ourselves comfortable, and Nick was a lot more relaxed. We had brought along our water bottles and a couple protein bars to munch on. We didn't bother going back into the cafeteria to buy any food. Because we had gotten booked on the earlier ferry, there would be plenty of time to cook supper once we were off at the other end.

Just look at us, we feel like such tourists!!! This, so far, was the second ferry trip of our adventure. It was kind of fun to do something like this, plus it saved a lot of extra driving time to get to the same place that we would have done otherwise.

We saw the big orange lifesaver ring that someone could be tossed over in the event of a disaster. And these white metal tubes contained compressed air rafts that would immediately expand and fill and drop over the side for passengers.

Our ride was approximately an hour and a half long, and adding on the time it took to get on and settled about 2 hours total. It didn't seem like that at all though. We could look ahead and see the other ferry ready to go in the other direction.  

Over the loudspeaker, they told us to come down and walk to our vehicles and get ready to depart. I thought that was kind of strange. They told us we couldn't be down in the vehicles while we were underway, but was perfectly fine to go down and walk among in between them while we were still traveling and not yet parked?

It probably would have been nicer to just stay in the motorhome with the dog like we did on the ferry over to Sorel Tracy in Quebec.

Nick did much better on the stairs going down rather than climbing up. He scooted right along beside me all the way through where we needed to go as we wound our way down onto the main level of the ship. Other people had to go down more staircases into the belly to get into their cars below the level that we were on.

As we got closer to shore, the whole front of the ship raises up in the air like the big jaws of a whale. Opening wider wider wider up in the air so we could drive underneath it once we docked.

That was a really weird sensation to see the front of the ship rise up while we were still in the water.

Once we touched the shore, then bottom part of the front bow lowers down and becomes the ramp to drive on. All of the motorhomes and RVs were unloaded first before the cars got to come up out of the bottom hatches. So we got off right away and found our way out through the maze of lanes until we got out of the town of Caribou Island. 

We had looked ahead on the map for more places to maybe camp for the night. But we decided instead to go nearby to the nearest Provincial Park that was only a few miles away. The name was Caribou Munroe's Island Provincial Park. 

https://parks.novascotia.ca/park/caribou-munroes-island

We had looked ahead on their website and saw that they had plenty of campsites available that were not reserved. It was an interesting campground because both the gates leading in and leading out were controlled by a live person in a gatekeeper booth with mechanical arms. You needed to be a registered camper to even get in, or pay for a day pass. The camping fee was $35.30 Canadian which came out to $24.91 US currency. The campsite included electric and water. They gave us a list at the gatehouse of available sites. We drove through two of the loops. One was really crowded with a lot of campers. The other one only had one other camper in it that was much more wooded and pleasant. That's where we chose to go.

The woods were beautiful, and the winds had died down now that we were inland away from the ocean. We were going to have a beautiful evening and make up a spaghetti and meatball dinner. Easy peasy after a day of traveling.

We walked around outside and rustled through some of these beautiful burgundy colored leaves. Yes, Fall is definitely here and we are totally enjoying the season. I can't think of a better place to be during the Autumn months of September and October.

The wildlife in the campground is accustomed to visitors. This deer really didn't seem bothered by us at all, even with a dog. She looked at us with interest and then went back to grazing alongside of the road.

Isn't it silly? We get many deer every night in our own backyard at home. Here we have traveled over 2,000 miles just to take pictures of deer? 

We are really appreciating the woods and the peace and quiet of this campground. Compared to the last one where we were wide out in the open. Packed in row by row like sardines. 

This was much more our style and more relaxing. Listening to the birds singing and rustling of squirrels and chipmunks in the leaves. Our kind of camping.

Here's the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog:

Stay tuned for tomorrow, we start our travels around Cape Breton on the scenic Cabot Trail. 

82 miles traveled today

2,289 miles traveled so far