This is a top notch national park. Incredible views. Great beaches. Tons of hiking trails that…read moreare well maintained. Friendly rangers. Nice kids explorer program. This is a must see national park.

Dark, icy waters from a distant alpine lake cascade down a dramatically undulating, 65-foot rock…read moreface framed by the leaves of the surrounding forest - creating one of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen! The leaves had just started to turn into autumn hues and I can only imagine how much more magnificent the view must be during peak fall splendor. You'll find this glorious waterfall in the Highlands - of Canada though and not Scotland lol! I had no idea Canada had a highland territory and their highlands are every bit as incredible as its Scottish counterpart. You'll even find an abundance of Gaelic used here - Beulach Ban is Gaelic for "White Gorge" for example. The falls are found along the northern stretch of the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park - and considering the remoteness, the falls are fairly easily accessible. The trail to the waterfall itself is very short - less than 1/10th of a mile - as long as your car can make it down the muddy, poorly maintained, pothole filled road lol! But during my visit, most cars had no issues making the drive, including mine. As long as you pay attention and go slowly you should be fine. It's narrow but there are opportunities to pull to the side to allow passing - all the drivers I encountered were courteous and patient. And if you don't want to risk it, there's plenty of parking in a paved lot at the start of the road and the trek down only adds 2km (1.25 miles) to your hike. At the trailhead you'll find a small parking lot that fills up fast, but there is also room to park along part of the road. To the right of the parking lot you'll find bathrooms and picnic tables, as well as the trailhead of the longer Aspy Trail. Like most national parks in North America, Cape Breton Highlands National Park charges a fee to enter and you just have your permit displayed in your window to park legally. The fee is nominal though at $9CAD daily - totally worth it and I highly recommend!

we loved our stat at Cabot Shores! the yurts are so cozy and…read morethe morning and evening are made complete with a dip in the outdoor cedar hot tubs. even though it rained, we made use of the bistro and lodge, where they had live music on one evening, and enjoyed the kayaks, nature walks, and wood stove!

While I've been told that the Domes are great, I don't recommend the Red Dragon Mongolian Yurt…read more To say that my group was underwhelmed, would be a drastic understatement. More accurately, we at times felt unsafe, ripped-off and as though we were being pranked due to the numerous situations in which we said, "this cannot be real."   The things within the yurt that were broken or downright laughable were numerous: * There was an overwhelming smell of chicken manure in the yurt itself and compost outside. * None of the interior or exterior doors closed. A gust of wind, wildlife, and other people were free to enter the yurt at any time during our stay at any time. * One of the beds was broken upon arrival (the vast majority of the support bars underneath the mattress were fully on the floor or only attached on one side). When we asked about it, we were told, "you probably won't be charge for it." * None of the beds were the painted Mongolian bed that's pictured on booking sites. * Bins covered in blankets doubled as tables. * One of the exterior doors couldn't be opened as the handle came off in our hands when we attempted to use it. * Neither bathroom lights worked. * The toilet wouldn't flush (1, 2, toilet paper or not, or holding the handle down for a while). After asking assistance and were told, "that's not my job." * We were located in what appears to be a workers site/maintenance area. It felt like we were using a yurt made for employees to stay in perhaps? There was also equipment strewn about the yurt that must have been left there by maintenance. Ex: ladder to get on the roof. Outside, were various cords, pallets, broken down machinery and other equipment. * There was garbage on the floor from previous guests. * There were no chairs outside (as there was at other, smaller yurts) so we sat on the edge of the deck. * There was a large pile of mulch outside our front door, along with garbage and boulders that I can only assume previous guests used to keep the doors from opening.   I'm quite confident that I could go on, but it's getting comical at this point.    Our belief is that your 3.9 rating on Google reflects a number of friends and family making recommendations and that the rating will continue to drop as guests experience what we did.  Highly recommend avoiding this booking.

BEST WHALE WATCHING - EVER!!…read more From the moment we arrived the owners and staff were welcoming and friendly. John came over from a bench and talked at length about the fishing that takes place out of the harbor. Quentin was our Captain on the trip. The zodiac boat holds about 10 people and it was a fun bumpy ride up the coast. After about 20 minutes we began searching for whales. 10 minutes later we saw our first Pilot whales. Within minutes, Captain Q had maneuvered to within a 100 yards of the pod and killed the engine. The entire mass of whales slowly approached us and before long we were right in the middle of the pod! AMAZING, we had whales completely around us for over an hour! Some came right next to the boat, not even concerned that we were there. The ride back was much closer to the beautiful mountains and cliffs along this side of the island. We slowed down to see Seals and eagles. It was just the best experience for our family. Staff even watched our 5 mo. old Labradoodle while were were on the tour!

Best Experience of Cape Breton! Highly recommend Limbos Cove. More expensive than the other tours,…read morebut totally worth it. Great Service, friendly staff and captain. The Captain knew exactly where the pilot whales were and we got to just drift for over an hour and watch dozens of wales swim around the boat. We got to go out (about 8 of us) in the zodiac which, according to whale watching sites, is better for the whales then a bigger boat. The whole time, we were the only whale-watching boat in sight.

While staying in the Cheticamp area of Cape Breton recently, I decided that one of the things I…read morereally wanted to do was go on a trail ride. Luckily for me, Little Pond Stables was only minutes away. Little Pond Stables offer a few options for horseback rides. We opted for the $30 half hour ride so that we could still fit in a beach day, and the ride took us through a wooded trail. You can also go for hour or hour and a half long options, and there are shorter pony rides available for kids. The longer rides include a visit to the beach, which I'll definitely opt for next time. July and August are walking rides only, so I'd love to visit again in the fall. If you've been on a trail ride before you know that it's pretty easy - these horses are well-trained and know exactly what to do, so there's no need to be nervous. We didn't make reservations, but if you're with a group you'd probably be best off to do so.

Price and Food both amazing! At first the price shocked me! But after we ate the food, very well…read moreworth it!

This is a great 1-hour activity along the Cabot Trail. Ms. Jay is simply fantastic. She had my kids…read moreshooting arrows with precision in minutes. The kids had so much fun as did we. A terrific activity for family's or friends.