The fog rolled in making the rugged cape feel very mysterious. Through it we could see only a vague outline of the tall, red and white lighthouse on the edge of Cape Forchu.
Our Great Canadian Roadtrip brought us to the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia. We explored this part of the province using a combination of highways and coastal roads. Although our main goal was to see the rugged Cape Forchu and its lighthouse, we knew there would be a lot to see on the way.
A few days earlier, a local Nova Scotian couple told us about seals sunning themselves on the rocks at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. We instantly knew this was a stop we wanted to make. At the park’s entrance a hiking trail takes you on flat ground toward the sea. On either side of the trail dense bush, obscurs the view. After 1.3 km a fork in the trail splits it into two; Harbour Rocks Trail and Port Joli Head Trail. When we were there only Harbour Rocks Trail was open. This trail continues to be an easy walk that takes you to a beach where you can see the rock-filled bay.
We were looking forward to seeing the rocks covered in seals, basking in the sun. For us however, they were only being used by shore birds. We did see one seal swimming in the ocean, but it was quite far away.
The views of the bay are nice, but not spectacular. If you are short of time this site can be missed. Also, be warned, we saw dozens of snakes slithering across the trail. It ruined Maggie’s memory of the park. Kejimkujik National Park Seaside is operated by Parks Canada, but there didn’t seem to be a fee to enter.
We continued on our journey to Cape Forchu, but had to first visit another lighthouse. Sandy Point Lighthouse is located south of the town of Shelburne. It sits on a sandbar and if the water is low you can walk across the sandbar to reach the lighthouse. When we were there the tide was in so, instead of sitting on sand, the lighthouse appeared to be sitting in the middle of the ocean. I think I actually prefer the view we had.
Finally, we were on our way to Cape Forchu. The drive took us off the main highway to a small road south of Yarmouth and onto interesting terrain. The scenic road worked its way toward the cape but first we had to cross Yarmouth Bar. Driving across this narrow causeway, we could see the Atlantic Ocean from both sides of the car. At one point a tall, cement seawall protects the road from the raging ocean. It was calm when we were there, but we wouldn’t want to be driving on the causeway during a storm. The fact that they need a seawall tells a lot about how high the waves can be. Just beyond the wall we found the small Cape Forchu Harbour with colourful shacks on the shore and fishing boats in the water.
Another short isthmus connected us to the tip of the of the long, skinny cape. At its end lies the stunning Cape Forchu Lighthouse. This red and white stripped lighthouse is surrounded by jagged rocks and sits above the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The fog was coming in and out which added mystery to the harsh setting. At times it was difficult to see the apple core shaped lighthouse through the dense fog even though it was not far away.
The rocky cape was named by explorer Samuel de Champlain who first saw it in 1604. Forchu translates in English to forked because of the two rocky prongs at the end of the cape.
The fog followed us further north as we drove along the Nova Scotian side of The Bay of Fundy. In Digby we visited another lighthouse. Built in 1903, Digby Pier Lighthouse was decommissioned in the 1970s and spent almost 40 years in St. John, New Brunswick on the other side of the Bay of Fundy. It was only retuned to Digby in 2016 to be used as a draw for tourists. It’s housed on the side of the bay in a small green space called Loyalist Park. The park’s name along with six cannons recognizes the American Loyalist history in Digby. The town was settled by American and Black Loyalists in 1783. Also inside this park is an old bell which is a memorial to those lost at sea.
Our last stop in the southwest corner of Nova Scotia was also one of the cutest. Wolfville is located in the Annapolis Valley, famous for apple blossoms in the spring. Unfortunately we visited in the summer so none were in bloom but we still enjoyed walking along the streets of the historic downtown. There is a lot of history in this area and we wish we had planned to spend more time here instead of a quick stop.
North of Wolfville is Burntcoat Head Park where you can see The World’s Highest Tides which we wrote about earlier. The tidal range is as much as 16.3 m (53.6 ft) between high and low tides. During low tide you can walk on the exposed ocean floor, between rock features that at high tide appear as islands. For the full story click here.
Coming Next – Cape Breton & The Cabot Trail
For more pictures from our travels around the world visit Gallery on monkeystale.ca
To read stories from other parts of the world visit Destinations.
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Monkey's Tale 
It looks so moody in the mist!
Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks for reading 🙂 Maggie
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That lighthouse and the scenery at Cape Forchu are spectacular. We spent time in Digby (and Brier Island) as well as Wolfville in 2018. The Wolfville wine bus tour was a highlight. We still have not made it to Burntcoat Head….next time. Great to explore new territory. Thanks for sharing. Allan
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There’s so much to see in the small province, it does require multiple trips! Maggie
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From Wikipedia: “The 2019 film The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers and starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, was shot almost entirely on Cape Forchu.”
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Ohhh! I haven’t heard if it ! I’ll have to look for it thanks. Maggie
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Supposed to be good, but I have only seen the trailer to date.
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I looked and it’s not on Netflix Canada, I’ll have to find another way. 🙂 Maggie
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I’d like to spend some quality time at the rocks taking photographs. The artistic possibilities are endless. Also, I noticed curtains and shades in the windows of the large church–this makes me more curious about the building.
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Richard loved taking pictures there, and the fog added another interesting element. I think the curtains must be the offices for the staff and minister. We didn’t go inside, but it’s supposed to be very beautiful inside too.
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I love using fog as an element.
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Beautiful scenery and so photogenic, especially with the changing light. I love the look of pretty Wolfville but Burntcoat looks the most fascinating of all your stops on this drive 😀
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The coming in and out of the fog really added something interesting to the lighthouse and the rocks. You might enjoy our post of the tides in Bay of Fundy if you liked the short note about Burntcoat Head We visited a few different spots at high and low tide, it was fascinating. Thanks for reading!! Maggie
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Oh yes, I’ll look at that – thanks
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Hello. To what extent, if any, did the pandemic impact your trip?
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Good question. It was this summer and there was a lull in covid cases everywhere. The Atlantic provinces had been in their own bubble for most of the year and had just started allowing vaccinated Canadians to visit in July. We had to apply for a pass to enter each province with proof of vaccination 3-4 days in advance and in PEI they did a Covid test on the other side of Confederation Bridge before we were allowed to enter. Most restaurants and hotels were open, but outdoor seating was sometimes the only option. Hotels didn’t offer cleaning unless you were staying for over 4 days. There were a lot of museums etc that were still closed, but mostly what we wanted to see was outside anyway. Masks were required everywhere, which wasn’t unusual, but we found the locals even wore them outside. So, I guess it didn’t affect us much. The main setback were the ferries (between PEI and Nova Scotia and between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland). They were only 50% capacity, or maybe less and we didn’t think to book them ahead. We just had to juggle our schedule around and drive a little more than planned. I haven’t looked lately to see if the Atlantic bubble is back on or it they are still open. There was a kafuffle when we were there because Newfoundland had 9 cases that week! In other words, they are very careful. We wondered how they’d react to a ‘foreign’ license plate, but they were all very welcoming.
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It’s so lovely to see seals! Whenever I am in a place where it’s likely to have seals, I look for them too!
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They’re so cute! Too bad they were mostly far away everywhere on this trip 🙂
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I like the name Wolfville, and the town itself is lovely. I wouldn’t mind some lighthouse-hopping myself. All three are different and handsome in their own way.
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Haha, it is a good name! There are a lot of interesting ones in Nova Scotia. We loved seeing all of the lighthouses, especially since there are none in the Rocky Mountains where we live 🙂 Thanks for the comments Leighton! Maggie
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Indeed, the fog is adding so much mystery, and a specific charm🙂 We were lucky weather wise on our visit there, and had amazing whale watching at Brier Island. Thank you for bringing me back fond memories!!
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OOOH I would have loved to have gone whale watching, but it was just lighthouse watching for us. What a great coastline in this part of NS! Maggie
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For such a small province, NS has soo much to offer! We only ‘scratched’ a little bit on our visit there, we shall return one day😊
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The photos are breathtaking and it looks like you had an amazing trip!
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Thank you, yes, it was an amazing trip. Sometimes we forget how lovely our own country is. Maggie
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Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing your stunning road trip adventures! Were the snakes poisonous ones? I like snakes and even handling them but dozens at a time would be disconcerting 🙂
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Thanks Katelon, I doubt they were poisonous, I am actually phobic, so I haven’t even looked up to see what kind they are. It was one of the worst hikes I’ve ever had 😦 Maggie
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Oh, so sorry to hear that Maggie. I used to be very afraid of snakes, too. Then I worked at an alternative preschool that my son attended. We’d take the kids to a local park and people would be there “walking” their fed boa constrictors. The kids would hold them and let them slither over them, so I decided to be brave and try it and it shifted things for me and now I like snakes, nonpoisonous ones. I still jump though if one comes by on a hike. In my NLP training we learned to help people heal phobias. I know they are intense for people.
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I did hypnosis actually before we went to Asia. It did help a lot, but I still hate them.
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Love all the various different lighthouses. The snakes slithering across the trail would have ruined my memory of the park too and would have probably haunted my dreams.
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Yes I did have bad dreams too☹ But at east the surroundings were nice and we did see a lot of lighthouses!
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What a weirdly shaped lighthouse! I’ve never seen anything like that. Your photos and stories are making me really want to return to Nova Scotia, I saw very little of it. Looking forward to reading about Cape Breton!
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Yes it is different. It replaced a historic one a few decades ago and the locals apparently hated its shape for a quite a while. Nova Scotia has so many great little spots to see, hope you get back 😊
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While you must have been disappointed with not sighting seals, the shore pictures with buildings and canon give me an impression of a nice calm place. It is nice to make detours and discover new places.
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I had been to the east coast a few times but only on short trips so this was a great trip to really explore and find little unknown spots like this. The entire Maritimes moves at a slower pace, it was very calm and quiet. Thanks for reading Arv, Maggie
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Great
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So many colourful villages on this trip – it’s been a recurring theme, hasn’t it. They all look so charming. When it comes to “snake spotting”, we actually get very excited when we spy one…and disappointed if we don’t, when we were hoping to! Love those atmospheric foggy photos.
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Remind me to never go into the jungle with you then! It seems as if all of the towns in the Maritimes are colourful! So cheery in the fog I guess😊 Maggie
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The Forchu lighthouse has such an unusual shape. The photos in the fog make you understand why lighthouses were/are needed! The red rocks of Burntcoat are stunning.
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They do show thick the fog is and why lighthouses are needed. The lighgthouse was replaced a few decades ago and the locals apparently were jot happy about its unusual shape. Thanks Ruth!Maggie
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Great post and photos! What type of snakes are in the area? That would spoil it for me too! Wolfville looks darling.
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Thanks! I don’t know what type but I don’t think they’re dangerous. I don’t like them in any form 😊 Maggie
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I’m with you; I’m terrified of snakes!
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Me too
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Great area to tour, I did that whole section of NS summer of 2020.and still I need to return because some things were closed. Cheers friend
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Thanks Kelly, still not everything was open this past summer but we didn’t bother us too much. It’s such a pretty province😊 Maggie
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It’s funny how I drove the same route, but I came back with photos of different places, mostly focused on the Acadian past of this part of the province that was the cradle of Acadia. Your semi-foggy atmospheres are charming.
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We actually didn’t plan to go further than Lunenburg but had to change our plans when we couldn’t get on the ferry we wanted. We were told a few spots to see, but went not really knowing what we’d find. Normally we may have planned better, but sometimes it’s good to just wing it too 🙂 Maggie
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The lighthouse is so atmospheric in the fog. I’m loving following you along on your roadtrip, it really is epic 🙂
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Thanks Hannah, sometimes it’s great to explore your own country isn’t it. It was an amazing roadtrip. Maggie
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Such beautiful photos, Maggie. I am in love with Southern Nova Scotia, its picturesque coastal scenery and seaside towns. As there are no snakes in Ireland, I wouldn’t mind seeing one or two – while keeping a safe distance, of course. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely day! 🙂 Aiva
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There are no snakes in Ireland! Sounds like heaven 😊 Nova Scotia is a very pretty province with so much to see! Thanks for your input Aiva, Maggie
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So many beautiful lighthouses! That one in the fog has such a strange shape – never seen anything like that before! I’m also no fan of them snakes – a hike without seeing them, is a good hike!
The seals really tricked you, didn’t they … it’s funny to see only that one’s little head sticking out from the water 😉.
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I’d never seen a lighthouse like it either. Apparently it where the 2019 movie The Lighthouse was filmed so now I want to see the movie. It wasn’t a lucky day for as at the coastal park, snakes and no seals!
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So sorry about your experience in Kejimkujic–very different from mine. I would have freaked out if I’d seen dozens of snakes. Now Cape Forchu looks spectacular with the combination of the wildflower, lighthouse and fog.
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Oh I was screaming!!! And then I walked, stomping my feet so hard that my knees were sore. Cape Forchu was a lovely surprise. The drive, the fog and the lighthouse were a true NS experience.
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Thanks for the warning about the snakes. I will never, ever go there. Love the foggy pictures, though!
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And I’ll never go back. I was traumatized! The rest of the coast was great though. Maggie
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Beautiful!
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Thank you 🙂 Maggie
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Quite an adventure. Although I’ve took many, this one seems very interesting and unique.
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Thank you, there are very pretty scenes in southern Nova Scotia.
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I been to Bridgewater and Pubnico but it was for work so u didn’t get to see it like I would have. While living in Nova Scotia for 5 years I’ve noticed you guys have quite the sights to see.
Oh and I love Peggy’s Cove. When I visit NS (which haven’t been in forever) I like to go to Peggy’s Cove when I get homesick. I’m a Newfoundlander originally.
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Newfoundland was our favourite province on this trip. We absolutely fell in love with it. Nova Scotia also has many great sites. We’re in the west so only spent 6 weeks this summer traveling throughout the east coast.
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Extravagant beauty isn’t it 😍 I would love to get out west and see those Rocky’s with my own eyes. I sailed with a few guys from BC and they were always great guys.
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The colour of the rock at Burntcoat Head Park! Stunning!
I’m coming with you next time.
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Yes, I didn’t expect it to be so colourful, it’s an awesome coastline in The Bay of Fundy 🙂 Maggie
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You’re more than welcome on the next trip:)
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