Cabot Trail Highlands Lookout, Cape Breton

The Cabot Trail is a 298-kilometre scenic highway loop around the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, passing through Cape Breton Highlands National Park and rated among the most beautiful coastal drives in North America. The Highlands Lookout at French Mountain on the trail's northern section rises to approximately 455 metres above sea level on the Cape Breton Highlands plateau and offers an unobstructed view across the Atlantic horizon from the cliff edge, with the Gulf of St. Lawrence visible to the west and the open Atlantic to the northeast. The lookout is reached by a short walk from a roadside pullout on the western side of the northern Cabot Trail loop, between Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay. Dawn at French Mountain, when the mist-covered Atlantic horizon catches first light and the highland plateau is still in shadow, is considered one of the finest coastal sunrise experiences in Atlantic Canada. The larger Cabot Trail itinerary includes the Skyline Trail (a 9-km return hike to a headland with moose and whale sightings), Ingonish Beach (a sandy beach with a freshwater lagoon), and the Keltic Lodge resort at Ingonish. Autumn colour on the Cabot Trail's highland plateau, peaking in early October, attracts visitors from across North America for the combination of highland colour and coastal scenery. The trail is drive-able in one long day from Halifax but benefits greatly from an overnight in Cheticamp or Ingonish.