Cabot Trail Highlands Loop · part 2

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Pleasant Bay

   Pleasant Bay sits at the foot of a steep, forested slope on the western edge of Cape Breton Island, where the Cabot Trail climbs and dips along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A small fishing village, it has a harbour, a few houses scattered along the shore and a view of the open water that is often full of whales. Pilot whales come close to the coast in summer, and boat trips from the harbour take visitors out to see them, with minke and sometimes fin whales as well.

   Read the complete Pleasant Bay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Pleasant Bay is where the day begins. Next is Cape Smokey, climbing 346 m.

2. 2. Cape Smokey

   The Cabot Trail has a handful of moments where it stops being a pleasant road and becomes the reason people come, and Cape Smokey is the first of them for anyone riding in from the south. The road climbs about three hundred and sixty metres up the headland, and once it gets above the trees the whole coastline of Cape Breton opens up beneath you, with the Atlantic running out to the horizon and the long arm of Ingonish Beach and Middle Head spread out ahead. On a clear day it reads like a map. On a foggy one it earns its name, as the headland wears a hat of cloud that can swallow the view completely.

   Read the complete Cape Smokey write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cape Smokey comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. The road climbs 346 m over at least 40 km before it, steadily. Reckon on about 2 °C colder than the valley, and more in the wind. Next is Ingonish, mostly downhill.

3. 3. Ingonish

   Ingonish is where the Cabot Trail finally shows you the Atlantic. The road has spent hours in the hills of Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and then it drops to a long, curved beach with a spit of land reaching out to sea, and the water is the dark blue of the open ocean. On the spit, Middle Head, a hotel and a walking trail stand on a narrow ridge with the surf on both sides, which gives you the sense of being at the end of something.

   Read the complete Ingonish write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Ingonish. You lose 356 m on the way down to it, steadily. Next is back through Cape Smokey, climbing 356 m.

4. 4. back through Cape Smokey

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cape Smokey write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Cape Smokey, late in the day at 366 m. The road climbs 356 m on the way up to it, steadily. Next is back through Pleasant Bay, mostly downhill.

5. 5. back through Pleasant Bay

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Pleasant Bay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at back through Pleasant Bay. That is the ride. You lose 346 m on the way down to it, steadily.