Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Island
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The world-famous Cabot Trail is a scenic highway located on Cape Breton Island. The route measures almost 300km (185 miles) in length and completes a loop around the island`s northern tip, passing along and through the scenic Cape Breton Highlands. The trail is named in honour of the Italian explorer John Cabot (c1450-c1499) who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, even though most historians now agree that his landfall likely took place in Newfoundland rather than Nova Scotia.
The northern section of the Cabot Trail passes through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park while the western and eastern sections follow the rugged, windswept coastline, providing spectacular views out over the ocean - when the weather permits, of course. Like many coastal drives, you can be in thick fog or cloud one minute and turn the corner into brilliant sunshine the next. Most of the communities in the Highlands can be found on the accessible stretches of coast and very few roads penetrate the interior hills.
Although it closed in 2011, one of the most bizarre attractions on the Trail, near Cheticamp, was Joe`s Scarecrow Village, also known as Joe`s Scarecrow Theatre. A large collection of life-size scarecrows attired in various costumes, and many bearing masks of famous characters, stood or sat in a field gazing out at the passing tourists. Rather than being terrified, the crows seemed to find the whole thing quite amusing! The Village was started by Joe Delaney, a retired school janitor who planted a vegetable garden on his property in 1984. Delaney and his sons built three colourful scarecrows to deter birds and wild animals and the next day found that people were stopping to take photographs. This inspired Delaney to create more scarecrows and by the time the Village closed there were well over 100. Click here for additional images and info.
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Baddeck
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The Cabot Trail
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Joe`s Scarecrow Theatre
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