New from Nova Scotia: An Awesome Coastal Trail

It may be too soon to rank Cape Chignecto with some of the world's great coastal trails such as the Na Pali Coast in Kauai, the Cornwall Coast Path or California's own Lost Coast Trail, but it's certainly safe to say that the new Nova Scotia footpath has opened to rave reviews from the few (mostly Canadian) hikers who've discovered it.

I'm going to go out on a red spruce limb and make a prediction: Once the good word gets out to European and American hikers, Cape Chignecto will become an international attraction for hikers looking for a walk on the wild side of one of Canada's most compelling lengths of coastline. Cape Chignecto beckons hikers to step through ancient stands of red spruce and yellow birch to the edge of the world-or, at least to the very edge of 600-foot cliffs-to look down at the world's highest tides surging through the Bay of Fundy. The trail offers the opportunity to watch for peregrine falcons swooping overhead and to keep a lookout for the many moose and white-tailed deer browsing the lush vegetation of the blufftops.

The 30-mile long coastal trail is an ideal three-day or so backpacking expedition. A half-dozen trail camps, with such enticing names as Stoney Beach, Big Bald Rock Brook and Seal Cove are located a half-day's walk apart along the trail. Reservations (and a fee of $18 Canadian per site per night) are required for the hike-in campsites.

The park also rents out two cabins, situated on the southern part of the trail. While the cabins do give you a roof over your head, they lack any accoutrement so, though you don't have to lug a tent, you still have pack-in everything else you might need to overnight in the great outdoors. On the Cape's south side, the trail drops steeply into, and climbs steeply out of, a trio of deep coastal canyons. Over on the north side, where the trail travels a line of fractured bluffs, the hiker is treated to views across the bay to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.

After your 30-mile trek from the Red Rocks Visitor Center to the dramatic rock formations known as Three Sisters, you have two choices for getting back to civilization, such as it is: 1) Arrange a pickup on the very rough Eatonville Road that extends along the park's eastern boundary or 2) Spend a long day hiking a 15-mile long diagonal trail northwest to southeast across the interior of the park back to the visitor center.

In a world where everything, even trails, seems machine made, designed for utilitarian function rather than for aesthetic appreciation, and aimed at the lowest common denominator, the Cape Chignecto coastal path is a triumphant exception. "Our coastal trail is completely handmade with hand tools," Mike Collins explained to me as we hiked along the coastal trail toward Refugee Cove. Collins, who served as a trail foreman during the path's construction during the summers of 1996 and 97 and is now the Chief Park Attendant, says the trail-builders built it to last, in part because they knew maintenance would be difficult due to the path's remote location.

Trail connoisseurs will appreciate the quality of construction. It's not one of those ghastly, wide, multi-use modern constructs, but a narrow, carefully crafted path, designed for foot traffic only, a trail that goes easy on the land. "We wanted to maximize the wilderness experience for the hiker and keep the trail as close to the edge of the coastal bluffs as possible, but at the same time make it as safe as a remote trail can be," adds Collins.

Born and raised on the cape, Collins, 34, says he's already noticed the positive social and economic effects the new trail and provincial park have had on the region. The sparsely populated area has traditionally relied on logging and fishing, which are now in serious decline, so getting the cape on the radar of a few world travelers is starting to benefit the local economy.

For the day hiker, Cape Chignecto Provincial Park offers at least one very full day of walks suitable for a range of interests and abilities. Begin your visit with a stop at the Red Rocks Visitor Center, which offers interpretive exhibits, as well as maps and trails information from a knowledgeable staff.
Best family walk is Fundy Ridge Trail, a three-hour or so jaunt that climbs bluffs to an old-growth forest, offers great views, then switchbacks down to the shore for a return via the beach. For a more challenging hike, trek the coastal trail (10 miles round trip) to Mill Brook Canyon Trail Camp.
Getting there (driving to the park) really isn't half the fun. Don't make the same mistake I did-presuming that Fundy Shore Scenic Drive would hug Nova Scotia's north shore and deliver views of the Bay of Fundy. It does neither.

The best way to go is take Highway 2 some 80 miles (and at least a two-hour drive) from the town of Truro to the hamlet of Advocate Harbour and Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. (Truro is located 60 miles north of Halifax, Nova Scotia's capital and major city.) Food and accommodation is available in the small towns located along Highway 2. Check the park's web site for a listing of inns, cottages and B&Bs. For something out of the ordinary, try The Lightkeeper's Kitchen & Guest House in Cape D'Or (902) 670-0534, www.capedor.ca. A former lightkeeper's residence, located a few miles east of the park, has been transformed into a 4-bedroom guest house ($75 Canadian, 2 people per room per night) that offers gourmet seafood dinners and spectacular views of the Bay of Fundy.

Cape Chignecto Provincial Park is open May through October. Attention leaf-peepers looking for terrific autumn color without the crowds: The forested headlands put on a magnificent show (usually about the last week in September through the first two weeks in October) when the cape's three varieties of maple and other hardwoods don their fall finery.