Parking
Use the Le Buttereau parking area beside the Cabot Trail trailhead, opposite Grande Falaise picnic area; lot capacity was not confirmed.
Overview
About Le Buttereau Trail
Why go
- Plaques and homestead foundations on a short walk
- River-mouth and Gulf views from a small hill
Heads up
- The opening climb can feel steeper than the easy rating
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cape Breton Highlands map
Full mapElevation5–39 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 Le Buttereau Trail, 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
Les Falaises and Le Buttereau0:00 / 0:27
“Les Falaises picnic area is coming up, beneath the bare rock face of La Grande Falaise, the Great Cliff. Stop for a close look up at the cliff without committing to a hike.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cape Breton Highlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- An Island Assembled from Continents
- Le Chemin du Buttereau
- La Bloc Beach
- Chéticamp Visitor Centre
- 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 Le Buttereau Trail
A short hill loop with a viewLe Buttereau Trail is an easy 1.
Le Buttereau Trail is an easy 1.6 km (1 mi) interpretive loop at Grande Falaise, usually a 30–45 minute walk. It climbs a small hill through mixed Acadian forest and old fields, then looks out over the Chéticamp River and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Pick it for a compact walk with a bit of local history; expect a few short climbs. Some walkers find the first rise more noticeable than the easy rating suggests.
Walk through old Acadian fieldsAcadian pioneers once tilled these fields.
Acadian pioneers once tilled these fields. Wildflowers, trees and shrubs have since grown back, and plaques mark former homesteads among the foundation ruins. Buttereau means a small hill, which is exactly the scale of this walk. It is the one-mile interpretive loop at Grande Falaise; Le Chemin du Buttereau is a separate 4.6 km return route with a different access point.
River mouth and GulfThe hill overlooks the Chéticamp River and the Gulf.
The hill overlooks the Chéticamp River and the Gulf. The sandy river mouth is a distinctive part of the view: include a little of the brush or old field at the edge of the frame so the water reads as river meeting ocean, not just open sea.
Start and planThe trailhead is on the Cabot Trail opposite Grande Falaise picnic area, with a mapped parking…
The trailhead is on the Cabot Trail opposite Grande Falaise picnic area, with a mapped parking area beside it. Bring drinking water; a source at the trailhead was not confirmed. Park admission applies, and pets must stay leashed. The trail is not maintained outside the main visitor season, so check footing and access before an off-season visit.
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.
