Exploring Nova Scotia on the Trans Canada Trail: Our Walk, Stories, and Resources

Nova Scotia on the Trans Canada Trail

From Cape Breton to the Trails of Mainland Nova Scotia

When we arrived in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, aboard the ferry from Newfoundland in July 2019, we had already spent over a month walking along the Trans Canada Trail. Our journey from Cape Spear had taken us along the rugged East Coast Trail and across the island of Newfoundland on the T’Railway, introducing us to the routines, challenges, and unexpected rewards of exploring Canada on foot. Yet Nova Scotia would prove to be a very different experience, one that challenged our understanding of what the national trail could be while revealing some of the most beautiful community-built pathways we would encounter.

Our second province began on Cape Breton Island, where we explored the landscapes surrounding the Bras d'Or Lake Biosphere Reserve, visited Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and eventually followed the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail through fishing communities, forests, and along the island's western coastline. Beyond the Canso Causeway, our journey continued through the forests and rural communities of mainland Nova Scotia, eventually reaching the Musquodoboit Trailway, the Salt Marsh Trail, and Halifax before exploring the Annapolis Valley.

Along the way, we encountered exceptional birdlife, learned about the Acadian and Scottish histories of the province, gave presentations and guided bird walks, and met many of the people whose dedication made local trails possible. We also discovered how difficult it could be to connect these wonderful pathways into a continuous long-distance walking route.

Throughout our Nova Scotia crossing, we recorded these experiences in daily journals, sharing photographs, birds and wildlife observations, local histories, and the realities of travelling through the province on foot. Since completing our coast-to-coast-to-coast #Hike4Birds, we have also expanded our collection to include planning information, walking itineraries, cycling assessments, and reflections on what we learned.

Whether you are interested in exploring Nova Scotia's coastal trails, planning your own adventure, discovering its birds and wildlife, or following our journey across Canada, we invite you to explore these resources and Come Walk With Us.

Follow Our Walk Across Nova Scotia

Our complete Nova Scotia Trans Canada Trail journal brings together the daily entries, photographs, experiences, and observations from our journey across Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia.

Beginning with our arrival and exploration of Cape Breton Island, the journals follow our travels through the Bras d'Or Lake region and Cape Breton Highlands National Park before returning to the national trail near Whycocomagh. From there, we crossed forested hills toward Inverness and followed the beautiful Celtic Shores Coastal Trail south to Port Hastings.

On mainland Nova Scotia, the character of the journey changed considerably. Forested pathways and peaceful rail trails were interrupted by substantial road connections, occasional navigation challenges, and the difficulties of travelling during the heat of summer. Yet there were also remarkable discoveries, from the Guysborough Nature Trail and Gully Lake Wilderness Area to the beautiful pathways approaching Halifax.

Our original journals record those experiences as they unfolded, including the pleasure of meeting local residents, discovering historic communities, watching wildlife, and finding ourselves on trails that exceeded our expectations. They also preserve the frustrations and uncertainties of those days when the next section of the Trans Canada Trail was difficult to locate or required another long walk along a roadway.

Readers can explore the complete collection chronologically, return to our early Cape Breton entries, or follow the journey through to our farewell to Nova Scotia before continuing with us to Prince Edward Island.

Planning a Walk or Cycle Journey Across Nova Scotia

For those considering their own adventures on the Trans Canada Trail, we have assembled several resources examining the practicalities of travelling across Nova Scotia on foot or by bicycle.

Our Nova Scotia planning and research guide explores the route, communities, distances, resupply opportunities, camping considerations, and logistical challenges we investigated while preparing for our journey. Complementing this, our walking itinerary for the Trans Canada Trail in Nova Scotia documents our stages and the time required to complete the province, including the adjustments and diversions that became part of our experience.

We have also examined whether the Trans Canada Trail in Nova Scotia can be cycled. With excellent cycling opportunities on pathways such as the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, Rum Runners Trail, Harvest Moon Trail, and the interconnected trails approaching Halifax, Nova Scotia offers some wonderful possibilities. However, the extensive roadway connections, changing surfaces, and interruptions between trail systems are important considerations for anyone planning a longer-distance cycling journey.

For a broader introduction to the province, our guide to understanding the Trans Canada Trail in Nova Scotia examines the route's character, challenges, and opportunities for walkers and cyclists.

These resources are intended to help future travellers appreciate the opportunities and limitations of the national pathway rather than prescribe a particular route or itinerary. Our experiences date from 2019, and current trail conditions, access arrangements, services, and camping opportunities should always be confirmed before setting out.

Discovering Nova Scotia's Birds and Wildlife

Birding and encouraging people to connect with nature remained central to our #Hike4Birds throughout Nova Scotia. From the seabirds of the Atlantic coastline and the songbirds of Cape Breton's forests to the tidal flats, wetlands, and shorebird habitats of mainland Nova Scotia, the province offered a remarkable diversity of natural environments to explore.

Our birding account from Cape Breton Island follows our observations through the Bras d'Or Lake region, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail. These landscapes offered opportunities to observe Bald Eagles, seabirds, forest songbirds, and the changing communities of birds associated with the island's coastal and inland habitats.

On mainland Nova Scotia, the forests around Guysborough, Gully Lake, and the inland trail systems introduced us to additional birds and wildlife, while the wetlands and coastal environments approaching Halifax provided further opportunities for observing waterfowl and shorebirds. Our daily journals also document encounters with white-tailed deer, owls, hummingbirds, and other wildlife along the route.

Perhaps most memorable were the tidal landscapes associated with the Bay of Fundy and the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast, where the movements of the tides continually changed the environments we were exploring. Together with our regional birding entries and daily observations, these accounts preserve our encounters with Nova Scotia's wildlife as we experienced them while walking across the province.

Reflections from Our Second Province on the Trans Canada Trail

Nova Scotia also changed the way we understood the Trans Canada Trail itself. Where Newfoundland had largely followed a long railway corridor after the East Coast Trail, Nova Scotia introduced us to a network of distinct pathways connected by roads, highways, and occasional water routes. The challenge was not simply covering the distance, but understanding how the different pieces of the national trail fitted together.

Yet it was also in Nova Scotia that we began to appreciate more deeply the extraordinary work undertaken by local trail organizations and volunteers. The Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, Musquodoboit Trailway, Salt Marsh Trail, and other pathways offered remarkable walking experiences precisely because people and communities had invested years in their development and care.

Our reflection, Who Builds the Trail Beneath Our Feet?, explores the people and organizations whose contributions make these places possible, while our reflections on hiking the Trans Canada Trail in Nova Scotia revisit the successes, frustrations, and experiences that shaped our crossing.

Looking back after completing our journey across Canada, Nova Scotia remains a particularly important reminder that a national trail is not simply a line connecting distant places. It is also the result of local efforts, community commitments, and the willingness of people to create opportunities for others to experience the landscapes around them.

Come Walk With Us Across Nova Scotia

Today, with our coast-to-coast-to-coast #Hike4Birds complete, we hope these collections offer something for anyone interested in exploring Nova Scotia and the Trans Canada Trail. Some readers may be planning a walk along the Celtic Shores or Musquodoboit trails, others may be researching a longer provincial crossing, while still others may be interested in the birds, natural history, local communities, and cultural landscapes encountered along the way.

Our complete Nova Scotia archive remains the best place to discover the full collection of daily journals, photographs, itineraries, resources, birding observations, and reflections. We invite you to begin wherever your interests lead you, whether on the shores of Cape Breton, along the forested trails of Guysborough, in the salt marshes near Halifax, or among the historic communities of the Annapolis Valley.

For us, Nova Scotia was the second chapter of a journey that would eventually lead us across Canada from coast to coast to coast. From here, our next destination would be Prince Edward Island, where the Confederation Trail would introduce us to yet another very different experience of walking the national pathway.

Thank you for joining us, whether you followed our journey through Nova Scotia in 2019 or are discovering #Hike4Birds for the first time.

See you on the trail!