The Cabot Trail, named one of the best road trips in the world by Lonely Planet, is a trail that winds through stunning landscapes, along the Margaree River, a Canadian Heritage Salmon River, and through spectacular rugged highlands of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada. Completed in 1932, it joins previously isolated fishing villages along an approximate 300 km loop.
The history of the Cabot Trail is a long and interesting one. The trail was named after Italian explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) who reached Canada’s shores in 1497. The name also celebrates the meeting of Cabot and the Mi'kmaq people, the original inhabitants of Cape Breton Island, at Aspy Bay over 500 years ago. The Cabot Trail connects eight major communities with intriguing histories, ranging from the Acadian Region, to Irish and Scottish settlements.
After breakfast at Tim Horton’s, we headed clockwise around the trail from Baddeck, stopped at the Margaree salmon museum to watch some fly tying and toured parts of the river. We walked the Skyline trail in the park, a 7.5 km hike along a ridge to an overlook of St. Lawrence Bay. On the northern end of the trail we took a side trip to the northernmost village on the island, Meat Cove. As we finished the trail, the navigator (me) had to quell a small uprising of hungry tourists in the back seat as we almost missed a turn. But we got the rowdy group back to the ‘Worn Door Step’ for drinks before walking into the village for Tom’s Pizza which we brought back to our rooms. It was an amazing day and any attempt to describe it would do it a disservice. But alas, no Moose or Whale were sighted.