Although technically a part of Nova Scotia, the Cape is an island all to itself, both literally and figuratively. It is separated from the lower part of Nova Scotia by the Strait of Canso, and the two are accessible by road only via the Canso Causeway [highway 104 between Aulds Cove and Port Hastings].

We got to the Cape from Halifax/Dartmouth by taking the 102 northwest and catching the TCH [104] at Truro. We then headed east thru New Glasgow to Aulds Cove, where the TCH crosses the water over to Cape Breton on the Canso Causeway at Port Hastings. Continuing on the TCH takes you up to Baddeck and the Bras d'Or Lakes campground.

Cape Breton seems to operate on island time. Many of the little cottage business we passed on the Cabot Trail either weren't open, or there wasn't anyone around. It is common for businesses to close on Mondays. So if you need anything, don't count on running down to the corner store.

There are three types of people on the island: permanent residents, seasonal residents and tourists. You can tell the permanent people - they're the ones with 4 or 5 cords of firewood stacked outside. By contrast, seasonal folks will either have no wood, or maybe a little for the occasional obligatory fire during chilly times of their stay. Tourists generally stay in cabins, B & B's, motels, hostels, tents or RVs.

Around the island you might see houses or buildings with a lot of lobster traps outside and may be wondering why so many. We were told that lobster fisherman have a legal quota of about 400 traps, and during non-trapping season they pull up their traps and stack them for use next season. Lobster season on the Cape varies by location; here is a map you can consult if it is imperative that you get some lob during your stay.

If you don't have time to read everything, here are links to the main highlights of this portion of the trip.

• Cabot Trail
• White Point and Neils Harbour
• Meat Cove
• Ingonish
• Cheticamp

Cape Breton wouldn't be Cape Breton without the Cabot Trail. This is why people come. The Trail is a 185 mile (297 km) loop around most of Cape Breton. It goes up and down many hills and mountains, passes through the Highlands National Park, and skirts the seashore in enough places to wear out your camera. The majority of Cape Breton is either on or within the Trail. The portion of the island that lies to the east of Bras d'Or Lake does not. Sydney and points east are obvious examples of communities that do not depend on Trail tourism.

The Trail is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, although most historians agree his landfall likely took place in Newfoundland and not Cape Breton Island. See here for a discussion on Wikipedia.

There are three entrances onto the trail from the southern part of the island. I personally recommend (2) for the best views.

(1) You can get off route 105 (the TCH) at exit 7 close to Hunters Mountain. This exit is a little southwest of Baddeck and the Bras d'Or Lakes campground. The road eventually ends at route 19, also known as the Ceilidh Trail. You then head northwest up toward Middle River and Margaree Forks, and eventually on up to Cheticamp and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada. If you continue on northward you will eventually get up to the northern tip of the Cape where there are some beautiful places to see, many of which I will discuss a little later in this segment. I can't speak for the southern part of this part of the Trail, but we found the road on the northern part to be much worse than the eastern portion.

(2) Going northeast up from the Bras d'Or Lakes campground on the 105, take exit 11 westward past the St. Ann's Motel toward North River Bridge. I didn't see a route number at exit 11. On this route you will be driving next to St. Anns Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic. St. Ann's Motel is seems to be highly rated on the web, and provide a convenient place to stop if you need to.

Please be aware that there are no fuel stations for the next 50 km on this part of the Trail

(3) If you go on north on the TCH past exit 11, exit 12 also provides access to the Trail. This is route 312 taking you past the Englishtown ferry, which was closed while we were there. If it's running it might be a neat ride over to the Trail. Route 312 then picks up the Trail at St. Ann's Bay Church.

It took around 30-40 minutes to get to the Bras d'Or Lakes campground after we got off the ferry. Bras d'Or means "arm of gold" in French.

This is a pleasant campground situated on Bras d'Or Lake, close to the town of Baddeck as well as the Cabot Trail. It isn't large, and most of the rigs seem to be transients. They say they have 93 RV and tent sites, as well as a few cabins.

All sites are pull-thru with water, electric, sewer and a firepit. No cable, which seems to be the theme throughout the Maritimes. Hookups vary between 15A, 30A and 50A depending on the site. There is a laundromat, a pool and a fenced-in dog run area. There is wi-fi but it is spotty in the far areas, as our site was. We camped in site # 55 which was at the rear of the campground. The site was a bit unlevel but it didn't bother us much. I didn't like the fact that the sewer was about 20 feet away from the water & elec connections.

Bras d'Or Lake is a great deal larger than you can see from the road. Not huge like Lake Okeechobee or Lake Ponchatrain, just big. Use Google Maps or Google Earth to appreciate just how big it is. Although the locals refer to this body of water as Bras d'Or Lakes, it is geographically only a single lake.

According to Wikipedia: Canadian author and yachtsman Silver Donald Cameron describes Bras d'Or Lake as "A basin ringed by indigo hills laced with marble. Islands within a sea inside an island." The lake is connected to the North Atlantic by natural channels, the Great Bras d'Or Channel north of Boularderie Island, and the Little Bras d'Or Channel to south of Boularderie Island connect the northeastern arm of the lake to the Cabot Strait. The Bras d'Or is also connected the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Canso by means of a lock canal completed in 1869 - the St. Peters Canal, at the southern tip of the lake.

The town of Baddeck is on the 205 spur which parallels the 105 for a few kilometers. The town has a nice marina, populated with numerous pretty looking boats. The marina is part of the Bras d'Or Yacht Club and has a couple food stands, but we didn't try them, electing instead to eat at the Bell Bouy restaurant which sits right on the marina. Phyllis had the seafood alfredo which she said was good. My lobster sandwich was so-so. The strawberry rhubarb crumble pie and ice cream dessert were much better. The bill total was 84.57 C$. There are several other restaurants of various types in and around town.

There is a hardware store in town, and an Irving station that has diesel, just outside of town on the 105. The 205 spur is a nice scenic drive along the lake.

This is a rather nice, clean facility with lots of sites. It seems to be about an even mixture of seasonals and transients.

The campground has lots of green space, and there is a nice view of the ocean. There are a few picnic tables where you can sit and look at the water, if there is no one at the tenting sites, of course. But even then I doubt if they would mind you taking a look.

Our site was #49. It was an easy back-in and rather spacious. The site was quite level, which was unexpected considering the rolling hills nature of the campground in general. Our site was almost at the back end of the grounds. There was 30 amp, water and sewer, but no cable or wi-fi. There were several cabins that seemed to be in frequent use.

Further west on the Trail, a ways past the Dingwall exit, Bay St. Lawrence Road leads up to Meat Cove, the northernmost part of the island. Go through Cape North and continue thru Sugarloaf. Along the way, stop at the Cabots Landing Provincial Park on the right for an impressive view.

At Bay Road Valley, the right fork will take you up to Bay St. Lawrence, which has a little harbor and marina with a small seafood shack called The Chowder Hut. The left fork takes you up to Meat Cove; and the drive is almost as pretty as the drive from Niel's Harbor to White Point - almost. The last 8 km are mostly unimproved road, but the views are spectacular. There is a good seafood restaurant at the top of Meat Cove.

The next day after visiting White Point, Neils Harbour and Meat Cove, we took a day drive down to the Ingonish area. The section of the Cabot Trail from Neil's Landing down to Ingonish Beach is a very scenic drive, and the road is good. Of course, it's not as scenic as the trip to White Point or Meat Cove, but it's still pretty good.

Be sure to stop at the Seagull Restaurant for a lobster club sandwich. The milkshakes are good too. There is also a well-stocked grocery store on the way. As with a lot of Nova Scotia in general and Cape Breton in particular, don't be afraid to investigate the many side roads which can offer surprise views that you might not get to see anywhere else.

Highlands National Park is very large, and you will go through it on both the western (Cheticamp) and eastern (Ingonish) portions of the Trail. There is a pull-off area where you pay to get in [$8, seniors $7]. One of the park attendants told us you have to pay the fee to travel the short distance on the Trail that was inside the park, but in retrospect this doesn't make sense, especially since traffic coming the other direction doesn't have to pay anything. She may have misunderstood the question.

Cheticamp is on the western section of the Cabot Trail. If you stay at the Hideaway campground like we did, drive out to the Trail and make a right. The road from Pleasant Bay down to Cheticamp is a mixture of hassle and pleasure. There were two or three construction zones where traffic was very slow or even stopped. Also, there were usually big trucks that slow things down going up the hills.

Speaking of hills, there are a couple really big hills north of Pleasant Bay that can be challenging for big rigs. We drove the western leg from Bras d'Or up to Hideaway. We have a Ram 3500 with a Cummings engine, and did not have an easy time getting up the hills. In fact, our transmission overheated to the point where we had to pull over for awhile to let things cool down. On the bad sides, our brakes started smoking more than once; again requiring stops. On the good side, there are lots of lookoffs where you can see great views and take pics while waiting for things to cool down.