Parking
Use the Green Cove parking lot directly off the Cabot Trail; the trailhead is beside the lot.
Overview
About Green Cove
Why go
- A very short walk opens onto a rugged granite shoreline and Atlantic surf.
- Krummholz and bayberry give the headland a bit of natural history.
Heads up
- It is only a brief stop, not a substantial hike.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cape Breton Highlands map
Full mapElevation4–10 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cape Breton Highlands Tour Guide
Your drive to Green Cove, 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 tourRecorded for this trailhead
Green Cove0:00 / 0:22
“Up ahead is Green Cove, where a short boardwalk and footpath lead onto a granite headland above the Atlantic. It's a good ten-minute stop to watch the breaking surf, with a chance of spotting seals offshore.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cape Breton Highlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Lakie's Head
- Black Brook Beach and Still Brook Falls
- Built to Dive
- Jigging Cove Lake Trail
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Green Cove
A quick stop above the Cabot TrailGreen Cove is an easy 0.2-km (about 0.
Green Cove is an easy 0.2-km (about 0.1-mile) out-and-back from the parking lot on the Cabot Trail to a granite headland above the Atlantic. Plan on about 10 minutes. Follow the short wooden boardwalk and footway to the open rock, then turn around and come back the same way. It is a good leg-stretcher for surf and a little geology, but too brief to count as a substantial hike.
The rocky endWaves break against the granite point, and the open view reaches across the water.
Waves break against the granite point, and the open view reaches across the water. Whales can sometimes be seen offshore while lobster fishers tend traps close to the rocks; visitors often mention seals farther out. Sightings are a bonus, not a promise. For a photo, leave some of the pale granite in the foreground so the surf and offshore rocks have a sense of scale.
Shaped by wind and saltLook for the twisted, stunted trees called krummholz and the leathery leaves of bayberry.
Look for the twisted, stunted trees called krummholz and the leathery leaves of bayberry. Both are adapted to this windy, salt-sprayed shore. The headland is exposed: stay well back from cliff edges when winds or waves are high. Dogs are allowed on leash in the park.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Cape Breton Highlands
180 sightingsMooseMost seen around 5 AMSighting map
60 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
48 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
29 sightingsGrey SealMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
14 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
10 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cape Breton Highlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
