East Side, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Highlands National Park is a Canadian national park located on northern Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia. One-third of the Cabot Trail passes through the park featuring spectacular ocean and mountain views. The park is well known for its “steep cliffs and deep river canyons that carve into a forested plateau bordering the Atlantic Ocean”. The park was the first national park in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and covers an area of 366 sq mi. It is one of 42 in Canada’s system of national parks.
At the western entrance of the park is the Acadian village of Chéticamp on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and a park information centre. On the eastern side of the park are campsites as well as beaches at Ingonish on the Atlantic Ocean. In between are mountains, valleys, forests, waterfalls, rocky coastlines and a tundra-like plateau known as the Cape Breton Highlands.
The park’s forested areas include:
Acadian forest of mixed deciduous trees and conifers, mainly found at lower elevations
Boreal forest found on the plateau and uplands
Cape Breton Island has a Scottish feel for historical reasons. Road signs are in English and Gaelic.
Faults and Canyons of the Cape Breton Plateau
Geology of the Cape Breton Plateau
