Assuming you are not spending the night at Cape Clear (you definitely should if you have the time), you will continue on to North River Falls. This is a mostly Intermediate trail with some hard sections near the end. The worst section to deal with is when returning from North River Falls heading back towards “Highland Rd”; a very short muddy section filled with large embedded boulders (250 metres) will likely have your bash-plate doing some work. This hard section can be avoided by backtracking towards Cape Clear.

You will want to park your motorcycle just before the “Wilderness Area” signage (shortly after the second bridge) and hike the remainder of the way to North River Falls Look-Off.

Video of the hard section 3:00 - 05:15

Video of the trails and bridges near North River Falls 04:50 - 15:30

9B Cheticamp to Cape Clear By-Pass Route

A Slightly Gentler ADVenture

This 82km Intermediate by-pass takes you along the Western Coast before cutting inland via back roads. Fuel is available at Margaree Centre; just before you begin an intermediate ascent into the highlands via “Fielding Rd”. This is a long and rough section of road-turned-trail that will connect you to “Highland Rd”; you will follow this “Hard-Packed Highway” the rest of the way to Cape Clear.

Consider attempting the remainder of route “9A” which will take you to North River Falls Look-Off as described above.

10A Cape Clear to Whycocomagh Provincial Park via Lake Ainslie Trails

This 1hr 30 min (92km) route begins with easy riding on the “Hard-Packed-Highway” that is “Highland Rd” leading to Highway 30. All riders are encouraged to use file “10B” to backtrack into Baddeck for fuel before proceeding to Lake Ainslie Trails.

Lake Ainslie Trails

A mix of Intermediate terrain varying from logging roads to ATV trails will be what leads you to look-offs with stunning views of Lake Ainslie, the largest freshwater lake in Nova Scotia. Difficulty will vary greatly depending on weather (The same applies for all of Cape Breton), as hard packed dirt can quickly turn to mud with a small amount of rain. There is one bridge on this route that may or may not be present, which means tackling a short river crossing which may or may not be passable depending on the time of year and weather.

The End

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