Last weekend, my family and I made a quick visit to the village Pomquet. Located on the Northumberland Shore, this area was settled in 1761 by Acadians and it is one of the friendliest places in Nova Scotia.We hiked a series of trails that led us through the Monks Head Provincial Park Reserve. The trail started just behind Chez Deslauriers, an Acadian historic site overlooking the magnificent expanse of Pomquet Beach. There are five trails starting with the Beach trail and ending with the Coastal trail. These trails (with the exception of the Coastal Trail) shoot off the main trail to their own loop. We decided to hike along the main trail along the coast.
The trail led us through a field, a wooded area and along the rocky shore of St. George’s Bay that offered stunning views of Cape Breton from across the water. Every now and then we’d have an opportunity to look (from a safe distance) over the edge to see the cliffs below. These cliffs are rapidly eroding and many well posted signs reminded us of this.
The only animals we encountered were two friendly red squirrels, very cute to see as they were as curious about them as they were about us. What weren’t so cute were Poison Ivy plants that were scattered along the outskirts of part of trail. As long as you steer clear of them, there would be no problem. We discovered cranberries along the shore were abundant and ripe for picking. Note to self for next fall: bring a bag.
This was a wonderful easy to moderate level hike with amazing views.
How to get there?
Pomquet is a 20 minute drive from Antigonish. Follow the 104 hwy (east)and watch for the large Pomquet sign.
Map
Pomquet Beach
No comments:
Post a Comment