Boularderie Island from Groves Point Provincial Park

The Georges River area is not the only scenic area that catches one’s eyes at Groves Point Provincial Park: the photo above shows the east side of Boularderie Island bordering the west side of St Andrews Channel. Boularderie Island is 40 km (25 mi) long and between 3 and 10 km (2 and 6 mi) wide; Groves Point is perhaps a quarter of that distance from the northern end at Point Aconi. When Victoria County was split off from Cape Breton County in 1851, Boularderie Island was divided rather idiosyncratically between the two, with one-third (half of the eastern side and much of the northern end) remaining in Cape Breton County and the other two thirds, including all of the southern end, becoming part of Victoria County. So, one can say with confidence that the area at the left of photo #1 is in Victoria County; I do not know whether the area at the far right is as well, or whether the dividing line is somewhere in the range of this photo. (Groves Point Provincial Park is squarely in Cape Breton County.)

The view in photo #2 is of St Andrews Channel; the Washabuck Peninsula is in the very far distance in the centre of the photo, across the Great Bras d’Or Lake from Kempt Head at the southern end of Boularderie Island, which extends along the right side of the photo. The lands at the left are islands off the eastern shore of St Andrews Channel and that shore itself.

The road leading to Groves Point continues down the eastern side of Boularderie Island, eventually becoming unpaved at the southern end; it then loops around past Kempt Head and turns back north along the western side of the island, becoming paved again by the time it gets to Ross Ferry. It’s a lovely, scenic drive that can be done in either direction, but plan on taking a whole afternoon — the road is long and you will certainly want to stop and enjoy the many beautiful panoramas and views from this road. I can heartily recommend it on a fine day!