10 Things to Do Day Tripping Along in Colchester County

Alright. You neither know nor care where Colchester County is, right?

I’m telling you anyway, because its just a beautiful part of the province.

Colchester encompasses Shubenacadie to Truro to Five Islands and some of the most spectacular views of the Bay of Fundy and Cobequid Bay you will  ever see.

We aren’t strangers to this area-hubby has a camp on Economy Mountain. Sometimes we just jump in the car and make  a day of exploring -always something new to find.

Like this ‘flowerpot’, almost close enough to touch along Soley Cove Rd.

Here are 10 of the spots we love in this part of our little Nova Scotia world.

1. MacElmon’s Pond Provincial Park. Debert.
   This is one of our go to picnic places along that region. There is an easy flat trail of about 1 1/2 km and the picnic area sits along side the pond. Plus it’s close to to the Debert Tim Horton’s!
2. Bass River Heritage Interpretive Park and Museum. The park is  a nice stop by the river and the museum has interesting artifacts of the area.
3. The Dutchman’s Farm,Animal and Nature Park   Upper Economy
   When I first started in tourism, it was called ” That Damn Dutchman’s Farm” I always thought it was a shame he had to change it-but what do I know.I suppose it would be hard to explain to the young’uns when you are teaching not to cuss. Since that time, it’s grown into so much more, and for sure a family destination- buy cheese, walk around and see/feed the animals, enjoy nature. $ charged
4. Cobequid Interpretive & Welcome Centre– Economy.
   It’s melting pot of information really. Tides. Geology. Information on local trails including the  Devil’s Bend and Economy Falls Trails. Both of which I have hiked. This website classes them as moderate.
5. Thomas Cove Trails. Economy.
   There are two looped trails totaling about 8 km. They are pretty easy and both will lead you to beach access. This area is tidal-times for these tides are here.  I didn’t think the trails were especially well marked-after picking our way along the beach, we found the trail again-marked with red slashings. One can always just back track, I suppose. I wish the information panel at the trail head had color coded the trails-but no.  It’s worth the stop, though. Scenery is great and lots of flora to look at

   

   

   

6. Clam Digging Five Islands Provincial Park Best done at the ebb tide, it’s muddy fun. Wear old shoes-not bare feet because bits of broken shells and rocks can cut . White clothes will get permanently stained. Not only should you check the tide times (start digging about 2 hours after high tide) please check for any bans or closures do to contamination .  Check  The Nova Scotia Provincial Park  website because  N S Natural Resources usually hosts  a clam digging workshop sometime throughout the year.
7. Fundy Geological Museum. Parrsboro.
   What I liked about it apart from the vast displays of geological information available was the dog kennel outside under a shady tree.  Parrsboro also has a playground and an ‘off leash park’ near the Museum. Fun for the whole family $ charged
8. Wards Falls Hiking Trail. West of Parrsboro, Hwy 209.
   We did it- it’s been a few years, but honesty-I could not tell you if we got to the falls or not -I only remember the bear scat and how that freaked me out. But with  a bit a research(thanks Google ) I find the trail really is a labour of love. Local hardware store owners C. Ernest Harrison & Sons Ltd owns Wards Falls, and have been  maintaining the trail for over 30 years. A review on Google mentioned it was now a bit rerouted and only about a 4 km hike. Nothing was mentioned about bear scat, though.
9. Advocate Harbour
   I love Advocate Harbour. The drive is stunning there is stunning. The walk down to Cape D’or lighthouse is steep ,but the view is amazing and  if it’s the season, the food at Lightkeepers Kitchen & Guest House is good. Spencer’s Island has a bit of  a beach and if you are into ghostly stuff its’ where the phantom ship Mary-Celeste was constructed.
   My bucket list for this region includes kayaking around sea stacks with NovaShores Adventure Tours and a boat trip out to Haute Isle with Advocate Boat Tours

10. Cape Chignecto. 1108 West Advocate Road, Advocate Harbour
O..MG. It has been quite a while since we ‘enjoyed’ more than a walk along the beach on these swear word, swear word trails. After minimal  planning and little to no physical preparation, we set off on our first and only (so far) backpacking trip One thing we  did was pre-book a wilderness cabin at Arch Gulch. (Those book up early.) At least we had a roof over our head and protection from critters.(See a theme here?) Our plan was to go as far as Refugees Cove which was about 24 km return. The first section to Mill Brook….makes me want to swear just thinking about it. There were several uphill climbs and of course,downhills reported to be 45 degrees steep of a km  in length each way. So fun.
Final word.I am glad we did it. I’m serious now. Planning on going ?Do you research and book your campsite/cabin early.

There is so much more to this part of the province-some we have seen and I am sure much we have not.
If you have favorite spots along here-share them in the comments below!