Fall is the best time for hiking in Cape Breton. This fall I will be visiting many of our wonderful hiking trails with my family and writing about them for WGO. My hope is that I will inspire you to go out and enjoy our wonderful trails as well. Cape Breton has a lot to offer – scenic coastal trails, difficult but rewarding climbs and wonderful forest walks. I will present you with as many options as possible and will also provide tips on how to prepare for hikes and hiking safety.
I can think of no better place to start than the wonderful Provincial Park in the middle of the island – Uisge Ban. This is an amazing trail that travels through beautiful hardwood forest alongside rivers and to the ultimate prize – the wonderful waterfall for which the park is named. But I don’t want to talk about the majestic falls or the amazing array of fall colours you will find here. I prefer instead to keep my head down and entice you to this trail in a strange way – through mushrooms!
Fall is the best time to view mushrooms in Cape Breton’s forests. I visited Uisge Ban last weekend with the family and my 18 month old daughter was smitten with the amazing variety of mushrooms on the trail. We spent most of our two hour hike looking down, searching for mushrooms. They came in every shape and size. Some are so small and camouflaged that they are easy to miss. Others are so bright and bold that they scream out in colour from the forest floor. We slowly made our way along the trail, stopping to admire the red, orange, yellow, white, brown and black fungus among us. Bailey, my daughter, would “oohhh” with each one she saw. She was amazed. So were we and our imaginations were spurred. 
We spent our time coming up with creative names for the mushrooms and spotting aliens, ears, umbrellas and various other shapes in their structures. Uisge Ban will amaze you with its beautiful, peaceful, magical forest. It will awe you with its sublime rivers and waterfalls. Don’t forget to look down and spend some time looking for smurf houses along the forest floor. There are so many little ways to turn a beautiful hike into an imaginative adventure.
Directions to and information about Uisge Ban Falls: http://cbadventuretrails.blogspot.com/2005/09/uisge-ban-falls.html
The hike is just outside the village of Baddeck. Take a drive into the village for a meal afterwards. There are many places to choose from. For Baddeck info:http://www.baddeck.com/
Rollie says
This is one of our most favorite trails. The CB Island Hoppers do this trail on average once a year and we have taken or escorted several Bus tour groups up to the falls. We have been up twice this year immediately after the hurricane in September and this made it even more of an adventure as we cleared brush off the road going to the Provincial Park. Many of these tour groups are seniors averaging 60-80 years of age. We have had some wonderful comments about the beauty of the falls and the fantastic nature trails along the river. For many of these tourist this is perhaps the first time in a natural forest area and they are overwhelmed by its natural state of beauty. The trail is in great shape even after the hurricane in September of this year and the group that looks after the trail should be commended for their efforts. Hope to See you all on the trail next year. Thank you Wayne for featuring this trail in your editorial.
Wanderer says
I absolutely LOVE this trail! It's not too demanding so it can be enjoyed by people of all ages and in all physical conditions. There are parts that could have been used in the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. I hope to shoot some video there in the spring or early summer.