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Fishing Cove Look-off in Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Scenic pullout · Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Fishing Cove Look-off

A quick roadside view 335 metres above Fishing Cove.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Scenic pullout
Nearest trail
2.1 km
Audio stories
4 nearby
  • Pullout
  • Scenic viewpoint
  • #11 of 24 sights
DirectionsMap

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Fishing Cove Look-off

Overview

About Fishing Cove Look-off

Why stop

  • A striking view of the cove and its grassy clearing

Map

Where it is

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Scenic pulloutFishing Cove Look-off46.78937, -60.84718
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Plan your stop

Before you go

6 active Cape Breton Highlands alerts

  • CautionPedestrian prohibition on Cabot Trail near French LakeMentions Cabot Trail, referenced in this guidePedestrian use is prohibited at all times on the Cabot Trail between 19713 Cabot Trail (French Lake Look-Off) and 18865 Cabot Trail (Veteran’s Monument Look-Off) through October 25, 2026.Official details
  • ClosureCoyote-related area closuresMacIntosh Brook Campground and Trail, Lone Shieling, three Cabot Trail properties, and nearby pull-offs are closed because coyotes have approached people aggressively.Official details
See all 6 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Cape Breton Highlands Tour Guide

Your drive to Fishing Cove Look-off, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cape Breton Highlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Cape Breton Highlands audio tour

Recorded for this place

Fishing Cove Look-off
0:00 / 0:17
“You're nearing Fishing Cove Look-off, a roadside view about three hundred and thirty-five metres above the cove.”

Plays as you drive up to Fishing Cove Look-off in the Parkwolf Cape Breton Highlands Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • The Whales That Stay Together
  • Fishing Cove Trail
  • MacKenzie Mountain Look-offs
  • Rusty Anchor Restaurant
  • 50 audio storiesacross Cape Breton Highlands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Moose, Black Bear, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 27 trails, 38 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Fishing Cove Look-off

The cove from aboveFishing Cove Look-off is a roadside viewpoint high on MacKenzie Mountain beside the Cabot…

Fishing Cove Look-off is a roadside viewpoint high on MacKenzie Mountain beside the Cabot Trail, looking about 335 metres down to Fishing Cove's small grassy clearing and shoreline. If you're already on this stretch, it's worth a short stop: the view gives you the scale of the cove without the steep, long hike below. From the overlook, the wooded slopes frame the pale shore and Gulf water.

A fishing settlementFishing Cove below was once a Scottish settler fishing community.

Fishing Cove below was once a Scottish settler fishing community. Settlers fished the Gulf and traded with the French for supplies. Today, the cove is the park's only designated wilderness campsite.

If you want to reach the coveDon't confuse this overlook with the Fishing Cove trailhead, which is about 2 km away.

Don't confuse this overlook with the Fishing Cove trailhead, which is about 2 km away. Reaching the cove is a separate, difficult 12 km return hike that Parks Canada estimates at five to six hours; there's no potable water at the cove. A park pass is required to tour this stretch of the Cabot Trail.

coastcovehistoryoverlook

Wildlife

Wildlife in Cape Breton Highlands

All Cape Breton Highlands wildlife maps
Moose180 sightingsMooseMost seen around 5 AMSighting mapBlack Bear60 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapBald Eagle48 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapGrey Seal29 sightingsGrey SealMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapCoyote14 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapWhite-tailed Deer10 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cape Breton Highlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Fishing Cove Look-off

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ChallengingFishing Cove12 km · 5.5 hr · 2.1 km awayA 12 km cove hike with a tough climb back out.EasyBenjie's Lake Trail3.1 km · 1.3 hr · 5.1 km awayA quiet lake and wooden landing cap this level highland walk.EasyBog Trail0.5 km · 15 min · 5.5 km awayA short, wheelchair-accessible boardwalk through a highland bog.EasySkyline Trail8.2 km · 2.8 hr · 5.7 km awayFrom the boardwalk, the Cabot Trail looks toy-sized.EasyMacIntosh Brook Trail1.7 km · 36 min · 6.6 km awayAn easy brookside stroll with a waterfall at the end.

More stops nearby

Campground · 2.3 km awayFishing Cove Backcountry CampgroundEight reservable wilderness sites at the bottom of a steep coastal hikeScenic pullout · 3.1 km awayMacKenzie Mountain Look-off — The Highland PlateauA no-hike look at the plateau and MacKenzie River canyon.Scenic pullout · 3.3 km awayMacKenzie Mountain Look-off — The Gulf of St. LawrenceA Gulf panorama with its own stop on the Cabot Trail.Scenic pullout · 3.6 km awayMacKenzie Mountain Look-off — WhalesA Gulf view and whale exhibit, even without a sighting.Restaurant · 4.4 km awayRusty Anchor RestaurantSeafood, ocean views and a useful Cabot Trail pauseCampground · 6.6 km awayMacIntosh Brook Campground and Day Use AreaTen unserviced sites, plus a 1.7 km walk to a waterfall.Scenic pullout · 6.6 km awayFrench Lake Look-OffA quick lake-view pause along the Cabot Trail.Sight · 6.9 km awayMacIntosh Brook FallsA short brookside walk ends at a 10 m forest waterfall.

Parkwolf’s Cape Breton Highlands ranking

Top sights in Cape Breton Highlands

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  4. 4Lakie's HeadSight
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Take Parkwolf to Cape Breton Highlands.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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