The Cape North Massif Seen from the North Summit
of Meat Cove Mountain

From the north summit on Meat Cove Mountain, the views to the east feature Black Point and the Cape North Massif. The views of the Cape North Massif are better from the south summit than from the north because the south summit is both higher up and closer and because they are not blocked by the south summit itself, but, since I didn’t make it up to the south summit this fall, the ones taken from the north summit will have to suffice.

Photo #1 is a wide-angled view that includes as much of the Cape North Massif (locally known as Money Point Mountain) as is visible from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain. The rounded hill in the middle ground descends to Black Point on the Meat Cove Road, roughly half way between Meat Cove and Capstick; for convenience, I will here call it “Black Point Mountain” since it is otherwise nameless, so far as I know. Cape North is the northernmost point on the west (near) side of the Cape North Massif, which is only barely visible here on the far side of “Black Point Mountain”. The lighthouse (now replaced by an automated light) is on the east (far) side of the Cape North Massif on a promontory known as Money Point, reachable by the Money Point Trail whose trail head is at the end of the Money Point Road north of Bay St Lawrence and which ascends and then traverses the Massif before descending to its eastern shore.

Between the north summit in the foreground and the huge rock face in the centre left in the middle ground is the unnamed brook valley along and above which the Meat Cove Trail climbs up the mountain, views of which were seen on the previous page.

Photo #2 and the photos which follow form a connected panorama showing the detail of the Cape North Massif as seen from the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain. The massif’s folds and dramatic, precipitous cliffs are always an interesting study. Cape North can be made out at the far left edge of the photo and the waters beyond are those of the Cabot Strait, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean leading to the Gulf of St Lawrence. No trails lead to Cape North, which is approachable only by boat, and there is little land between the water at the end of the promontory and the rapidly rising slopes behind it. The forest on the ridge above the unnamed brook, like that of “Black Point Mountain”, is mainly evergreen, but one can make out patches of bushes and deciduous trees showing some fall colours.

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Photo #3 continues the panorama begun in photo #2, with which there is considerable overlap. At the centre of the photo, one can make out the path of the Money Point Trail, which offers fine views as it ascends to the top of the Massif. This is one of the steepest trails in Cape Breton, on which I hiked up and across the Massif in 2007 October (though not very far down the eastern side, as I did not have enough daylight left to be able to return safely). As can be seen pretty clearly here, the top of the Massif is a good deal higher than the north summit of Meat Cove Mountain. The communications towers at the centre right include a CBC Radio transmission facility. Unfortunately, neither of the other towers is a cell phone tower, which is located in Cape North Village, well to the south, so cell phone reception is very poor, if it exists at all, at the north end of the island.

Photo #4 continues the panorama, with some overlap with photo #3. Note the birch trees in the lower right foreground and an orange/red tree behind them (these are on the ridge above the Meat Cove Trail, as “Black Point Mountain” is now hidden by the ridge as it climbs up to the south summit). A gravel road, beginning in Bay Road Valley south of Bay St Lawrence offers access to the vehicles which service the towers; I have in previous years twice successfully driven it to the towers in my Prius (continuing beyond the towers to the Money Point Trail requires a higher slung vehicle), though its state in the summer of 2014 was poor enough I chose not to try it again. But, if you should make it up there, you will see a few overlooks with fine views, both of Bay St Lawrence and the Aspy Bay area, though most of the trip is through a forest on both sides of the road.

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Photo #5 continues the panorama, with a fair amount of overlap with the previous photo. One of the overlooks on the aforementioned road across the Massif, with excellent views of Bay St Lawrence, is at the point where the Massif descends at the far right of the photo; the road climbs from there to another overlook, this time on the eastern side with fine views of the Aspy Bay area, about a third of the way in from the right edge of the photo.

Photo #6 concludes the panorama, with the remainder of the Cape North Massif hidden behind the ridge in the foreground, which is now approaching the south summit. It is a rare day indeed that offers such crisp views of the Massif, which is often obscured by haze or cloaked by clouds descending along its slopes.