The Keltic Resort

The Keltic Resort, long known as Keltic Lodge, is an ocean-side resort on the narrow Middle Head Peninsula at Ingonish. Keep it in mind as an overnight base inside Cape Breton Highlands National Park or for a meal with a striking coastal setting. The accommodations are spread among Corson House, Stanley Thompson House and the Courtyard Suites, rather than gathered in one hotel block, so check which building your room is in.

The property sits between North Bay and the Atlantic, with wooded slopes, rocky shore and water views on both sides of the peninsula. Arduaine's dining room looks over North Bay; its patio faces the Atlantic and the surrounding cliffs. If you are staying or dining here, the red-roofed lodge's twin gables and brick chimneys make a distinctive foreground; from the patio, leave room in the frame for the water and cliff line.

Arduaine is the resort's restaurant, with a menu built around Cape Breton flavours, Atlantic Canadian fish and other proteins, and seasonal produce. The setting is part of the appeal: the dining room overlooks North Bay, while the patio looks toward the Atlantic.

Before it became a resort, this was Henry Clay Corson's summer property. The Akron industrialist was introduced to Cape Breton by Alexander Graham Bell and hoped the island's clear air and natural beauty would help his wife, Julia. The family called the house Keltic Lodge in recognition of the island's Scottish heritage. The province bought Middle Head from Corson's widow in 1938, after the property had sat unused, and chose the site for a new public tourism lodge.