PEI North Cape Coastal Drive

We did most of the North Cape Coastal Drive in PEI the first weekend October. It was a gorgeous weekend to enjoy some fall foliage, not such a great weekend if you wanted anything to be open. 

We drove from Alberton to the very tip of the island and down the opposite coast as far as the Borden-Charlton bridge and then further to the ferry boat. It didn’t take that long really, we did the drive in a morning, spent some time in Charlottetown and then took the ferry boat back to NS. 

I got up in the morning and took pictures of the sunrise from the Briarwood Inn, Cottages and Lodge, http://www.briarwood.pe.ca/  and then we set off. 

There are some coastal views, farms with cows, horses, donkeys and even sheep, and one warf. 

At the tip there is a wind turbine museum and restaurant, neither of which were open this day. We could see fishing boats off in the distance and hear a multitude of birds. 

There is a walking trail there but it was 5.5 k and we were not prepared for it. Someday I plan to do this but I will have sneakers and a jacket with me. I didn’t know that this is the trail that had the original elephant formation on it. 

On the way back the roads were a bit more confusing, just because they did not line up with the map we had from the information booth in O’Leary. The roads and little towns were not in the correct order on the map and so it was more irritating than anything else. There are a couple of lighthouses on the way back, but you have to really keep your eyes open for them as the road names are not on the map and they do not line up where they are depicted. The first one was at this little warf and the second is a lighthouse where you can actually spend the night. I have always wanted to do this and I tried to stay there but they were already closed for the season. On my next trip this is one of the things I will do.

There is a provincial park on the way as well but it wasn’t marked well and we were too tired by this time to head back to it. Maybe we will stop on the next time around. We went into Summerside to eat. Most of the seasonal places were already closed and so we ended up eating at a KFC, there was also a McDonalds, Wendy’s, Subway and A&W available that we could see. The KFC ended up being lovely though because we got to eat looking out at this beautiful view. If I ever visit Summerside I will be sure to check out their walking trail that you can see in the distance. It looks beautiful! At the bridge we stopped at the new touristy area where there are shops and an information stop. Most places were closed for the season but I was able to go to the Cows store and pick up a few of our favorite things, raspberry cordial, chocolate covered chips and of course ice cream! 

This was all we got to see on this particular drive – we were on the island for a wedding and had spent two sleepless nights before driving this scenic drive and we weren’t exactly at our best but you can see by these photos that the island is a very beautiful place and well worth the trip.