Warm waters, warm welcomes
There's a special feeling of welcome all along the Sunrise Trail. It's a part of everything, from the warmth of the gentle surf that caresses broad sand beaches to the friendly people you'll meet everywhere you go.
There's a special beauty along the Sunrise Trail, too. Gently rolling farmlands create a quilt of emerald green fields that meets the sparkling blue waters of the Northumberland Strait. Country roads wind along sandy shores with their bright red bluffs and tidal saltmarshes that are vibrant with life. Timeless towns and villages, where generations have harvested the bounty of land and sea, now wait to be explored. Gracious inns, B&Bs, cottages and chalets offer a home away from home. There are fine restaurants, colourful shops and art galleries, as well as museums, summer theatre, and a fine arts centre.
Good food and festivals are our specialty. Celebrate our rich Scottish heritage at the world-famous Highland Games in Antigonish, or get swept away by the captivating magic of bagpipes, fiddles and traditional dancing at a gathering of the clans. If you love to eat, you'll enjoy special festivals celebrating our blueberries, fine wines and the delicious seafood of the Northumberland Strait. In coastal towns all along the Northumberland Shore, the lobster boats can be seen leaving early in the morning and returning in mid-afternoon loaded with their delicious cargo. Many communities have public wharves and lobster pounds where you can purchase lobster right from the fisherman. From the sea to you-it doesn't get any fresher than that!
For swimmers and beachcombers, our 450 km of shoreline and over thirty fine-sand beaches offer an irresistible invitation to enjoy the warmest salt water north of the Carolinas. There are twelve beautiful provincial parks, and nature lovers enjoy exploring our hiking trails, sand dunes and wildlife-filled salt marshes.
History comes alive along the Sunrise Trail. Pictou is known as "The Birthplace of New Scotland", and on the waterfront you can see the faithful replica of the ship Hector that brought the original Scottish settlers to these shores in 1773. At the Balmoral Grist Mill you can see grain ground into flour by water power, or visit the Sutherland Steam Mill, where steam power turns logs into lumber just as it did when the mill was built in 1894. And in Stellarton, Nova Scotia's Museum of Industry tells the story of early industrial development through entertaining interactive exhibits.
The Sunrise Trail Heritage Tour introduces you to the industry and imagination of Canada's earliest peoples-the Mi'kmaq, the Scots, the Acadians. Pick up the brochure at visitor information centres and tour the shoreline where the age of sail meets the age of rail.
Credit - Nova Scotia Tourism