St Anns Harbour and North River Outflow

Since it was but half past noon when I left the Bras d’Or Look-Off, I decided to drive north along St Anns Bay to Wreck Cove, taking the Cabot Trail rather than the Englishtown Ferry. A half hour later, I had parked by the road sign at the edge of the Cabot Trail that reads “St Anns / Bailr Anna” and was busy taking the photos on this page (along with numerous others).

The view in photo #1, which I had discovered some time ago, is another of my “old friends”; this same view can be seen in its fall colours here. In the centre of the photo is the outlet of the North River, which flows into St Anns Harbour in the foreground. The Cape Breton Highlands dominate this scene, running across the entire photo. The Cabot Trail, mostly invisible from this vantage point, follows the left (west) shore, continuing along the North River outlet, with several fine views of the Harbour, particularly at Goose Cove.

The view in photo #2 is of Murray Mountain, running along the north side of St Anns Harbour from Murray Point at the far left to Price Point at the far right. Murray Point can also be seen right of centre in photo #1. A road, which I have not yet driven, leads from North River (the community) along the outflow to near Murray Point; it is on my list of places to investigate for photo opportunities. I see a house on this side of Murray Point and a sail boat moored a considerable distance away from Murray Point in a close-up photo I took (both are also just barely visible in the leftmost sixth of photo #2), so perhaps the road continues past Murray Point. Another road leads from Jersey Cove along the eastern side of Murray Mountain, but it stops well short of Price Point; it, too, is on my list of roads yet to be explored.

[continued below]

Photo #3 is of St Anns Harbour; the slight haze obscures a bit but does not completely hide the low-lying spit of land that seals off most of St Anns Harbour — its only outlet is through the narrow passage that the Englishtown Ferry crosses, seen about an eighth of the way in from the right edge of this photo (the blob of white just above and to the right of the tree top is the ferry boat itself). Faders Point to the north of Englishtown and the ferry ramp are in the middle distance at the right of the photo; Cape Dauphin is the higher promontory sticking out in the right third of the photo. The cobblestone beaches that extend along the coast towards Cape Dauphin (Little and Big Grappling Beach) lie close to the water and are clearly visible.

[2012] In 2011, I drove down Murray Road, which leads from North River (the community) to Murray Point. It became undriveable for my car shortly after rounding Murray Point. A road, more suitable to a truck, jeep, or ATV than a car, does continue to the east towards Price Point; on this occasion, I did not have time to hike along it to see how far it went. Murray Road is a worthwhile diversion off the Cabot Trail, offering fine views of the North River south of the community and at various points along its route.