6 Best Sights in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

This long, sandy beach remains untouched by modern development, other than the picnic tables on the adjoining grassland. It's a great place for beachcombing and pondering the journeys of First Nations boatmen who once set out from here to paddle to Newfoundland. A cairn in the park, commemorating the purported arrival of John Cabot from England in 1497, offers further historical insights, but the jaw-dropping views of Aspy Bay and the surrounding wilderness area provide the best reasons to come here. Amenities: parking (free). Best for: solitude; walking.

This restored 18th-century French blacksmith shop occupies a handsome stone structure on the waterfront. In its 19th-century heyday, it supplied parts to local shipbuilders, and a barn on-site today has seafaring memorabilia. There's also a genealogy center and gift shop.

On a spectacular headland, this site commemorates the spot at Table Head where, in 1902, Guglielmo Marconi built four tall wooden towers and beamed the first official wireless messages across the Atlantic Ocean. An interpretive trail leads to the foundations of the original towers and transmitter buildings. The visitor center has large models of the towers as well as artifacts and photographs chronicling the radio pioneer's life and work.

Take a hike through history at this park on the south arm of Sydney Harbour. Initially developed as the private domain of David Matthews, a onetime mayor of New York City who remained loyal to the crown during the War of Independence, its 56 acres are laced with trails.

The focal point of this park, 14½ km (9 miles) north of Baddeck, is a forested 1½-km (1-mile) round-trip trail to a much-photographed 50-foot-high waterfall (uisge is Gaelic for "water").

A wide sweep of sandy beach backed by a dune system is the standout feature of this 530-acre park on Mabou Harbour. The only public-access beach in the area, it also has a fishpond, a picnic area, and change rooms, but its status as a protected natural environment prevents any further development and preserves its peaceful quality. Behind the beach are 12 km (7½ miles) of hiking trails, through agricultural land and marshes, that have fine views. Amenities: parking (free); toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.