Hikers Guide To The Skyline Trail In Cape Breton
The Skyline Trail is one of the most beautiful, must-see trails in Nova Scotia. This trail leads to a beautiful bird’s eye view of the Cabot Trail and is along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Keep an eye out for the numerous wildlife around this hike, including bears, moose, coyotes, bald eagles, and many other animals. If you are already planning to drive Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail, we highly recommend taking a break on the top of French Mountain to hike the Skyline Trail!
Difficulty: Moderate
Length: 6.5 km (out and back) or 8.2 km (loop)
Suggested Duration:Â 2-3 hours
Signage:Â Some signage along easy-to-follow trails
Facilities: Large parking lot, public washrooms available before trail and benches located throughout
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Key Features Of The Skyline Trail
- Located in Cape Breton Highlands National Park,
- Offers stunning panoramic views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
- Part of the Cabot Trail, one of Canada’s scenic drives
- Suitable for hikers of various skill levels
- Features a boardwalk leading to a cliffside viewing platform
- Excellent opportunities for wildlife sightings, including moose
- One of the best places to enjoy a sunset on Cape Breton Island
Before You Start Hiking The Skyline Trail
There are two different pathway options for hiking the Skyline Trail. Depending on your time, physical abilities, and weather, you can pick which hike you want to complete. Both will lead to the iconic stairway walk.
The first is a 6.5-kilometre return trail to the stairway walk. The return trail is a wide, well-groomed and maintained gravel road. This trail has a range of terrain varying from groomed gravel roads to boardwalks, semi-dirt roads, and stairs.
The second option is an 8.2-kilometre loop hike. The loop starts the same and will lead to the stairway walk.
Upon finishing this, you will take the trail on the right to continue on the entire loop hike. It is deeper into the woods, and you will likely have a greater chance of seeing wildlife.
This portion of the hike is still on a groomed pathway and offers a bit of a challenge as there are a few inclines during this loop. The inclines are not steep and do not last long.
There are signs with maps all over the trail to help guide you and indicate lookoff points, washrooms, and locations during the trail.
While this hike is not overly challenging, weather conditions can influence the difficulty. There is little tree shelter throughout, leaving hikers exposed to the direct sunlight.
Mid-day tends to be the warmest temperature. Be sure to carry water and the necessary sun protection.
The trail is also heavily trafficked and will continue to become busier throughout the day. The best times to arrive would be early morning or later in the evening to watch the sunset over the skyline. There are guided sunset hikes available for those who would like to walk with a group and learn more information along the hike.
Chances are you will run into some wildlife along this trail. It is important to know and understand the dangers of approaching wildlife. For more information on what to do if you encounter wildlife in Canada, read our wildness safety post.
Do not approach, feed, or disturb wildlife. You can pick up a “Keep it Wild, Keep it Safe” brochure at the park’s visitors center. For this reason, dogs are not permitted on this trail.
For more information on wildlife safety, check out our article Wildlife Safety While Hiking In Atlantic Canada.
Whenever you are out in nature, there is a chance of ticks. It is important to check for ticks during and after your hike. We highly recommend bringing a tick removal tool kit.
Lastly, if you decide to bring snacks or lunch along with you, do not litter on the trail. This is a national park and should be treated with respect. Food waste will also draw wildlife to the main trail and potentially put hikers at risk. It is important to leave no trace behind.
Our Experience Hiking The Skyline Trail
Upon completing the Cape Chignecto Coastal Loop, we decided to head up to Cape Breton for a little getaway. We rented a cottage in the woods in Baddeck off of Bras d’Or Lake to rest up before starting our big Cabot Trail drive.
We decided we would stay in Baddeck and complete the Cabot Trail in one day. The Cabot Trail can take roughly 6-8 hours to drive, depending on the number of stops you make. The Skyline Trail was the perfect way to break up our long trip.
We began our drive around 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Skyline Trail closer to 10:30 a.m.. At this time, the parking lot was already full. We knew the trail would be busy.
We decided we were going to complete the full loop. While there were quite a few people at the stairway walk, we did not find it overly busy throughout the main hiking trail.
The trail was well-groomed and barely had any large rocks or roots along the way. It was quite refreshing to hike this after Cape Chignecto, as the fast terrain makes for an easier and more relaxing hike.
A few kilometres into the hike, you will reach a large gate. This is where you will leave the fenced-in area. Be sure to close the gate behind you! This is to prevent the moose from trampling over the fragile ecosystem.
Just outside the gate, there is a large lookoff point where you can see the stretch of shrubs, trees, and the ocean ahead. It also features information signs about the wildlife that live in the area. We took some time to enjoy the view and stretch before we continued the loop.
Along with this, there are smaller lookout points along the trail that have benches to take a break or enjoy the view of the Cabot Trail.
Further down the trail, we continued along the well-groomed gravel road until we reached the Skyline stairway walk entrance. There is a beautiful boardwalk that leads all the way to the breathtaking view.
As we walked along the boardwalk toward the St. Gulf of Lawrence, we could feel the breeze of the ocean. This was a great way to cool off from the heat of the sun.
The stairway walk is the main highlight of the Skyline Hike. The view is unforgettable. It overlooks the Cabot Trail, making all the cars look like toys.
Getting down the stairway is not too difficult as the stairs are larger in size. However, getting back up is a bit more of a workout. There are benches and picnic tables along the stairway to rest, enjoy the view and catch your breath. This is also a great spot for lunch or snacks.
At the end of the stairway is a breathtaking view of the forest and what appeared to be an additional trail leading to the peak of the hike. We noticed that this trail had been blocked off. Therefore, we did not explore any further down (although we really wanted to)!
After the stairway walk, we made our way to the rest of the hiking loop. This was not as eventful as the iconic stairway view, though it was still beautiful to be hiking in the woods.
A few kilometres in, we ran into a small herd of moose: a female moose and two calves. They were quite close to the main hiking trail, so we tried to keep our distance. We wanted to take some photos, though we decided not to as we did not want to disturb the wildlife.
Being Canadian, it may seem common to see a moose, but this was the first time I had ever seen a moose in the wilderness. They are huge and, unfortunately, quite dangerous when disturbed or provoked.
Towards the end of our hike, we noticed it began to get busier, and the trail became congested. We were glad we arrived and started our hike before noon. We suggest other hikers try to avoid hiking towards the middle of the day if they wish to avoid crowds.
Checklist And Recommended Gear
The following is our recommended gear list for hiking the Skyline Trail.
- Hiking shoes – Women’s // Men’s
- Cascade Hiking Poles (optional)
- Water Bottle
- Snacks
- Sunscreen
- Insect Repellent
- Atlantick Tick Removal Tool Kit
- Hat
- Camera
