Views from le Chemin Cormier

Unless I am headed to one of the fine restaurants in Chéticamp, I normally take the Chéticamp Back Road (by Flora’s in Point Cross) rather than driving the Cabot Trail through Chéticamp and I did so this day. Chéticamp Back Road offers fine views of the Highlands along its course and usually has far less traffic. Le Chemin Cormier is off the Chéticamp Back Road about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Cabot Trail and offers fine views of the Highlands, such as the winter scenes seen here, and of the littoral between the Highlands and the village; in addition, it is high enough to offer decent views of the southern portion of Chéticamp Island as well. The views on this page were taken from near the southern end of this road.

Photo #1 looks a bit west of north towards the village of Chéticamp and l’Église St-Pierre at the centre of the photo. Chéticamp Harbour lies in front of the church, but is hidden from view here by the terrain; the green fields at the left and the row of evergreens at the horizon are on Chéticamp Island across the harbour. The houses seen in the foreground are along Redman Road, which connects Chéticamp Back Road to the Cabot Trail in Redman by the famous Charlie’s Downhome Music Store. The forest on the littoral is nearly entirely evergreen, as this view shows, though an occasional deciduous tree can be seen here and there.

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Photo #2 looks east towards the southern end of Chéticamp Island. The bridge in the centre is the new replacement bridge on the Cabot Trail over the outflow of Redman Basin. The topographic map labels the waters on the far side of the bridge at the southern end of Chéticamp Harbour as Anse à Petit Homme (Little Man Cove). It labels the land adjacent to the arching cove in the upper part of the photo as Chéticamp Beach, but it is usually known as Plage St-Pierre, also the name of a campground adjacent to the beach on the island. This area is very popular in the summer as swimmers, sun bathers, and picnickers take advantage of the sand dunes and fine sand beach on warm afternoons. The southern part of Chéticamp Island spans the entire photo at the horizon; it descends to the far left and ends just outside the scope of this photo at La Pointe, seen in this winter photo.

Photo #3 looks to the right of the view in photo #2 at more of Chéticamp Island and at Chéticamp Harbour, which is now visible below the island. The line of utility poles across the centre of the photo lie along le Chemin du Phare (Lighthouse Road), which leads to a lighthouse at the northern end of Chéticamp Island at Pointe-Enragée. That drive offers grand views of the Cape Breton Highlands from Cap-Rouge in the north to Margaree Harbour in the south; if you’ve not driven it on a fine day, you are in for a treat! Bare deciduous trees are seen on both sides of the harbour and a few colours here and there, but most of the forest is again evergreen, so it’s no surprise that more fall colours aren’t visible.