The South Shore of Nova Scotia

After spending some time at Kejimkujik National Park, David and I made our way to the “South Shore.” This area includes the southernmost Nova Scotia counties and those along the east coast south of Halifax. These are some of the least populated areas in the province. We had already seen one of the southern counties when we visited Digby.

One of the things that sets the South Shore apart, besides its beauty, is its proximity to the mainland of Canada and the United States. There are two ferry ports: one in Digby that goes to St. John, NB and the other in Yarmouth that goes to Bar Harbor, ME. So you can take the ferry to Nova Scotia if you do not want the drive to it.

We traveled from Kejimkujik NP to the east side of the island where we stayed in the Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. We did not venture any farther south since there was still an uncontained wildfire in the county near the town of Shelburne. There were very few campers at the provincial park due to the fire threat. We were a good distance from it and thankfully we were not affected by it.

Kejimkujik NP has a small location on the Atlantic called Kejimkujik NP-Seaside. It is a day use area only but it has some nice coastal hikes. We chose the Harbor Rocks Trail which offers some spectacular views of St. Catherine’s River Beach and the Atlantic coastline with its islands, bays and rock formations.

We were there at low tide a perfect time to catch a glimpse of the harbor seals as they swam and then rested on the rock islands. There were lots of shorebirds as well. A section of the beach was closed due to the nesting piping plovers.

The views of the Atlantic Ocean and the wildlife were so impressive. It was the best Canadian Red Chair spot to date.

Another day we hiked some trails in the provincial park. These were short hikes along the beach offered more views of the shore. One of these was the Port Joli Trail. As we were on our way to back our campsite, we startled a spruce grouse. She was not happy that we had invaded her space where she was nesting and she let us know it. Now we understand the meaning of the phrase “to ruffle your feathers.” Hers certainly were.

We had a fun couple of days with some unforgettable scenery. We are looking forward to more adventures as we move father north along the South Shore.