Cape North is the place where the Cabot Trail turns and heads for the sea. The village is little more than a crossroads and a scatter of houses, in a valley at the northern end of Cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia, but it is the gateway to the island's remote northern tip. A road runs north from here to Bay St. Lawrence, a fishing village, and on to Meat Cove, the northernmost settlement in the province, where the road ends at a cliff above the gulf. It is generally believed that John Cabot, the Italian navigator sailing for England, made a landfall somewhere near here in 1497, though historians still argue about exactly where, and the trail is named in his honour.
The trail is a loop of about three hundred kilometres around the Cape Breton Highlands, and its reputation among riders is well earned. Here on the northern side the road runs between the wooded plateau and the sea, with the highlands rising to the west and the ocean opening to the east. From Cape North it climbs to the top of North Mountain, one of the steepest and highest sections, then drops in a series of tight hairpins to the coast at Pleasant Bay. The gradients are steep, up to thirteen per cent, and the descent is a test of brakes and nerve. The surface is variable, with patches and frost heaves, and the weather can switch in minutes from sun to fog.
Much of the area is protected in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and a park pass is required. Moose are numerous and wander onto the road, particularly at dawn and dusk, and bears and bald eagles live in the woods. Whales can be seen offshore in summer, with pilot whales often visible from the headlands. The island has a strong Scottish heritage, brought by Gaelic-speaking settlers in the nineteenth century, and fiddle music is played in halls and pubs across the island, a living tradition, with a Gaelic college at St. Ann's.
Fuel is the main practical point. Services on the northern part of the trail are thin, so fill up at Ingonish or Pleasant Bay or before leaving the main road, and do not count on being able to buy petrol late in the day. The best months are July to early October, with the autumn colours at their peak in early October. Early mornings are often foggy and cool. Seafood is the thing to eat, and a plate of fresh haddock, crab or lobster in a village cafe is the best way to end the ride.