Cabot Trail Cape Breton Nova Scotia

[nb king]

Just completed a trip through the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Nova Scotia.

The scenery is spectacular throughout the trail. At the highest point, there was quite a bit of fog and moisture but that just added to the enjoyment of seeing something different for a change. There are some steep hills but our new to us 2003 Roadtrek Popular handled the roads very well.

There are a number of stopovers along the way. Unfortunately, they do not identify the stopover in advance. This made for some frantic change of direction for some people who were obviously travelling too fast. There are no gas stations throughout the Cape Breton Highlands National Park so it is wise to fill the tank before starting into the trail.

We took the better park of one day to get through the complete trail. It could be done in about 4 hours.

All in All a very enjoyable trip

[Mike]

We also did the north-western loop of CB, NS. You really need to make sure your tires and brakes are
in good shape before trying it. I liked the scenery, but my better half wasn't impressed with the
roller coaster nature of the road. We did it in about 7-8 hours, pretty much dawdled all day.
Started in Port Hawkesbury up 19 to Pleasant Bay and around, then back on the TCH down
through the middle of Cape Breton.
The drive was not for the faint of heart, in places.
We preferred Gaspe. Nice scenery, flatter drive.
I know, we're woosies......

[renrut]

We did the trail back in 99. If anyone goes to Cape Breton, I would highly suggest not eating at Fort Louisborg. They are well know for food poisoning. I was unfortunate and got it real bad from a chicken sandwich I bought there. Our friends still say the Fort has the same reputation for tainted food and that's after 10 years from when we did the trail.

The maps were pathetic back then. They had no Provincial Parks marked on them which made finding good campground a challenge.

I really didn't like the tourist information booths there either. We went, figuring we would get information from the local tourist information places and see the local sights. Not one tourist information booth could recommend a thing to us. They would only tell us to look in the Provincial Tourist book.

We purchased a season pass for the museums throughout Nova Scotia. We thought it would be a good thing to do but none of the museums that required an entry fee accepted our passes only the free ones. We really wasted our money that year.

The scenery was very nice but the roads had little to be desired. We went over one bridge and my RV's front wheel was driven so far up, I thought the tire would come right into the cab. The front end came off the ground and I almost lost control. The crazy thing about that bridge, we were going under the posted speed limit. The locals all knew about it but there was no warning. When people hit the bump, they would usually turn into the next stop to check their vehicle, like we did. The locals loved the bridge for business. They only cared about getting your money and not caring about someone possibly loosing control and crashing into the water the bridge went over.

I lived in Nova Scotia for 10 years and was very glad to leave there. If you're tourist, they will treat you alright. If you live there and were not born there, you are "From Away" and are treated like garbage. I may return some day to visit some good friends we made while we lived there but if work tells me I'll be going there again, they will have my resignation within minutes.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by renrut

The scenery was very nice but the roads had little to be desired. We went over one bridge and my RV's front wheel was driven so far up, I thought the tire would come right into the cab. The front end came off the ground and I almost lost control. The crazy thing about that bridge, we were going under the posted speed limit. The locals all knew about it but there was no warning. When people hit the bump, they would usually turn into the next stop to check their vehicle, like we did. The locals loved the bridge for business. They only cared about getting your money and not caring about someone possibly loosing control and crashing into the water the bridge went over.

I lived in Nova Scotia for 10 years and was very glad to leave there. If you're tourist, they will treat you alright. If you live there and were not born there, you are "From Away" and are treated like garbage. I may return some day to visit some good friends we made while we lived there but if work tells me I'll be going there again, they will have my resignation within minutes.

We found the roads narrow, with few warnings about anything. You're pretty much on your own, particularly on
the Cabot Trail. There were a few surprise pull outs for sight-seeing, but make sure you're aware of who might be
behind/beside/ahead of you, as we saw several sudden violent turns across on-coming lanes to reach one of these well camouflaged pull outs. For the most part the roads were in poor condition. And they were very twisty with hairpin turns in places.
We didn't hit any hidden bumps anywhere that I can recall, but there were some places where we "braced for impact".
I felt sorry for any A or C class rigs we passed while on our way out, knowing what we'd just been through.

Shame really, as some of the scenery was quite spectacular.

[renrut]

The scenery was breath taking and that I really enjoyed. I drove my 20ft "C" through the trail and had no problems. In fact, I was passing a lot of cars going up the hills.

When we crossed the cos-sway on our way back, the waves were hitting the side of my RV. The transport trucks were refuse passage due to the high winds. You have to watch out for the weather in Cape Breton. The winds in the Cabot Trail (High Lands) can be very strong. Normal wind will reach 100km/hr (60mph).

[Mike]

Jaysus!!! We had an overcast day when we crossed the causeway, and the only thing hitting our B
was what was falling out of the numerous seagulls circling overhead.
Thanks for the info/insight, I don't think we'll be back there anytime soon.
Nice scenery, worth one trip around the highland, though.