Cabot Trail West, Cape Breton, NS

 

Today we toured the west side of the Cabot Trail. Below are pictures of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park Highway. Cape Breton Highlands National Park is known for its spectacular highlands and ocean scenery. Steep cliffs and deep river canyons carve into  a forested plateau bordering the Atlantic Ocean. One third of the Cabot Trail, a world-famous scenic highway, runs through the national park along the coasts and over the highlands.

The entire route measures 298 km (185 mi) in length and completes a loop around the northern tip of the island, passing along and through the scenic Cape Breton Highlands, It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497. The northern section of the Cabot Trail
passes through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The western and eastern sections follow the rugged coastline, providing spectacular views of the ocean. The southwestern section passes the Margaree River valley before passing along Bras d'Or Lake. The entire route is open year-round.

 

Pictured below is Cape North, the northernmost most point of the Cabot Trail.

 

 

 

Cheticamp Harbour, Cabot Trail

 

 

 

Paroisse Saint-Pierre / St. Peter's Church, originally built in 1893, designed by David Ouellet and is located facing the Cheticamp Harbour on the Cabot Trail. Father Pierre Fiset was the  parish priest from 1875 until his death in 1909. He is buried in a crypt beneath the church. The original Acadian settlers were devout Catholics.