Duncans Cove Hiking Trail: Explore Nova Scotia’s Beautiful Coastline
The Duncans Cove Hiking Trail is a 7.4 km hike along Duncans Cove on the east coast of Nova Scotia near Halifax. Although Duncans Cove is completely backcountry and relatively unmarked, the trails themselves are fairly well-trodden and easy to follow.
As with many of the East Coast hiking trails in Nova Scotia featured on Hikers Movement, the Duncans Cove Hiking Trail is a popular trail due to its incredible ocean views along with the typical Coastal Barren mixture of rocky and bushy terrains.
Difficulty: Moderate
Length: 7.4km
Suggested Duration: 3-4 hours
Signage: None
Facilities: None
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Key Features Of Duncans Cove
- A scenic coastal hiking trail
- Protected under Nova Scotia’s Special Places Protection Act
- Offers stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and rugged coastline
- Passes through a mix of forested sections and exposed granite barrens
- Opportunities for birdwatching and wildlife sightings
Before You Start Hiking Duncans Cove
In this section, we’ll go over a few things we think you should know before heading out to hike the Duncans Cove Hiking Trail.
The first is that this trail is located on land protected under Nova Scotia’s Special Places Protection Act.
This act has been put into place where the habitats and species are vulnerable to disturbance and damage. The act prohibits fires, camping, hunting, and trapping along with motorized and non-motorized vehicles.
While the trail is open year-round, there are no maintenance facilities or trail markers, so hikers should use the trail at their own discretion. Note that the trail conditions may vary depending on the time of year and weather conditions.
There is also some confusion about the trailhead of the Duncans Cove hiking trail.
Most people drive to the end of Duncans Cove Road and park just before Gannet Lane, taking the groomed Gannet Lane path to an eventual coastal trail. Do not take this trail. This is private property and not the actual public trailhead.
The right trailhead is located on Chebucto Head Road near the turnoff from Ketch Harbour Road. This trailhead goes right into the backcountry trail and leads hikers toward the shoreline.
Here are a few additional tips before hiking Duncans Cove trail:
- Hikers should stay on the main trails and ensure they leave no trace.
- All dogs should remain on a leash.
- It can take around 3-4 hours to complete the full in-and-out trail.
- As always, bring water with you to stay hydrated. It’s also a good idea to bring a snack if you need an extra boost in energy at any point during the hike.
- The trail is a mix of marshland and granite coastal rock. Marshland near the ocean in Nova Scotia tends to get quite wet and muddy, so waterproof hiking shoes/boots are recommended.
- Keep an eye out for ticks whenever you are out hiking, and bring a tick removal tool kit. To learn more about tick prevention, check out our article How To Avoid Ticks When Hiking.
With all that out of the way, let’s get hiking!
Our Experience Hiking Duncans Cove
Julia and I decided to check out the Duncans Cove Hiking trail together on a relatively warm October evening.
As stated above, we made the common mistake of starting the trail on Gannett Lane. This is not the real trailhead, though there was signage that signalled up toward the actual trail.
After a short hike on groomed terrain, we met the actual trail and came across the only official government signage we saw over the entire hike:
This information is shared in the previous section of this article. For more information, check out novascotia.ca/nse/protectedareas.
Once on the trail, having already warmed up on the groomed section, we were ready to explore the coastal terrain.
The trail was unmarked, but since this particular location has become a popular hiking spot, the path was clearly trafficked enough to follow easily.
Before long, we were able to see the Atlantic Ocean in plain view. It’s always a pleasure to watch the ocean waves coming in from afar. On this particular evening, the waves were not overly tall, though, in windier conditions, the waves can become huge.
There were many people out on this day to take pictures of the ocean waves (we included):
The picture above shows the granite rocks typical of Nova Scotian coastal hikes and the wide horizon and beautiful waves. This rocky terrain continues along the entire trail on the ocean side. However, most of the trail is on the marshland and ground that begins further up from the ocean.
We see a mixture of the two terrains that pretty well sums up the entire trail in the picture below:
There were some muddy parts of the trail to be avoided by hiking on the rocks, but the trail was dry and easy to hike for the most part.
Most of the hiking “trail” was wide (like the picture above), but there were some instances where a single file was needed to traverse certain areas. However, these narrower parts were few and far between, and the two of us spent much of the trail side-by-side.
The picture below shows one such single-file path (in the lower center of the frame). Note that the concrete wall on the right is not a bridge but rather a dam of sorts.
Although we had a relatively easy time on this trail, there were a few instances where erosion had been happening and will continue to happen. Because of this, we would always advise being cautious when hiking near cliffs or on steeper slopes!
Unfortunately for us, the sun was beginning to set before we could get to the end of the trail for pictures. The end of this trail features an abandoned WWII observation station that would have been nice to check out before returning.
The return hike was much swifter than the inbound hike (probably because we stopped taking pictures). This quick pace was easy to keep up for the vast majority of the trail. We slowed down only for the larger drops in levels that were few and far between on this hike.
All in all, we would rate this hike as moderate but not overly accessible to those with disabilities.
Checklist And Recommended Gear
While Duncans Cove is not an overly long or strenuous hike, we still recommend bringing some supplies with you.
- Water Bottle
- Hiking shoes – Women’s // Men’s
- Snacks
- Camera/Phone to take photos
- Sunscreen
- Long socks
- Cascade Hiking Poles (optional)
- Atlantick Tick Removal Tool Kit
