Trail Chaser: Baddeck, Nova Scotia

8:55 PM

9:07 PM

The sun sets later in NS, and we had plenty of daylight left after driving from Halifax up to Cape Breton Island. After all that city time and traveling, I wanted to get out in some real nature while we could. The next day’s forecast was rain. So that evening I managed to talk Hawk into hitting a trail that was only a few minutes from the cottage we were staying at.

When we first researched hikes to do, we found North River Falls, which is not an easy hike (over 11 mi. & 1200 ft.), but it culminates with the largest waterfall in the region. Sounded like a must do! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my body), we discovered that the trail was closed due to erosion and other poor conditions. However, there was a spur trail at the base that went to Little North River Falls, which appeared to be open, and a much shorter & easier hike. Perfectly reasonable for a pre-sunset outing.

It definitely was not nearly as exciting as the main falls would have been, or even as impressive as pretty much any of the other waterfalls we saw on this trip. The trail was not in great condition either in many parts, and it was buggier than I expected it to be. Poor bug magnet Hawk. But it was still a nice hike overall, despite the low payoff, and I was grateful just to have gotten outside for a bit.

A nice section of trail.

The falls were more like cascading rapids, but ok.

6/27 Little North River Falls, 1.6 mi, 37 min, 141 ft.

Look, more lupines! 😄

Baddeck redeemed itself on our last day in CBI. Between hiking excursions, we explored the reasonably cute town, where Hawk found some excellent pizza, and we enjoyed a gift shop where I chatted with the owner who is a fellow Standard Poodle person, and coincidentally used to live in the same town as Hawk. Small world. He was full of interesting and useful information too, so we appreciated the travel tips in case we return to NS some day.

But the first thing we did in the area on our final day was discover one of our favorite hikes of the entire trip. Uisge Bàn Falls had one of the prettiest trails, even without the waterfalls, but those were some very impressive frosting on the cake! If I were a local, I'd be hiking there all the time.

"The name “Uisge Ban” is Gaelic for “white water” and is pronounced by those of us without a Gaelic tongue as OOSH-KA-ban, or ISH-KA-ban." (- moosebait.com) Obviously we took the falls trail, which is probably a good thing, since the river trail which is supposed to form a loop with it appeared to have a bridge out where they meet near the end, so our effort would not have resulted in nearly the same rewards. But other than that snag which thankfully did not affect us, the trail was very well maintained. Being one of the many provincial parks around NS, conditions overall were as you would expect: generally well kept and easy to navigate. I was happy to find privies available in the large parking lot as well. (Although I must say they were the dirtiest bathrooms I'd seen over our entire vacation. But that's more the fault of disgusting people than it is the park.)

The falls trail is gravel much of the way, making this part even wheelchair accessible. Later, as you get close to the waterfalls, you hit more natural terrain with lots of roots and rocks. It was a nice mix, and a perfect way to start our morning. The whole surroundings in the area, particularly where the falls start, were downright magical. Mossy boulders and tree roots snaking everywhere, verdant foliage, steep embankments, and the river flanking the trail, as it had much of the way. Where the water begins forming cascades, you approach a bridge, beyond which the trail narrows, with a bit more climbing and rock scrambles. Definitely not handicap-friendly anymore, but we had fun! There are multiple falls, each set more impressive than the last. The double waterfall at the end of the trail (if it could still be called trail at that point) was the most excellent, possibly of our whole Canadian trip. The entire hike was wonderful, and a nice bonus that it has a Celtic name too. 🍀