Ingonish is a perfect fall family destination

By Lola Brown

For the past three years, we’ve taken our kids (now aged 13, seven, and five) to Ingonish for a long weekend in the fall. Cape Breton as a whole is amazing, and a few weeks ago we drove all the way around, but we’re already planning next year’s Ingonish break because there’s so much to see and do squeezed into a relatively small geographical area.

Here’s why we love Ingonish and think it is the perfect place to take your kids (whatever age they are).

Beaches, hikes, views for days

Ingonish Beach itself is gorgeous. The golden sands are framed by a barrier of smooth pink and grey rocks that my kids love to stack, and whenever we’ve been the surf has been gentle enough for us to feel safe with even my youngest kid splashing about in the waves. The beach backs on to a freshwater lake, so you can take a dip in there if you prefer it to saltwater, and there’s a fantastic kids’ playground between the two. There’s an easy hike you can take around the lake. We usually stay in the Parks Canada campground at Ingonish Beach, because it’s right there on the water and has excellent facilities (including tennis courts and a kiosk). This year we stayed at Broad Cove Campground (still in Ingonish) which was much quieter and a little further from its beach (still beautiful though).

There are too many hikes to list in the Ingonish area, matching all levels of ability, but we love going around Cape Smokey Provincial Park with the kids because the views out over the highlands are stunning, and there are tons of wild blueberries all over the trailhead. We’re yet to do the full 10k trail but exploring around there makes us happy.

Goats, whales, sunfish… moose?

An essential stop for us is always the Groovy Goat which has a small shop selling goat milk soap and bath bombs, and an awesome petting farm where helpful staff are only too happy to let you pet the baby goats and rabbits.

This year we did a whale watching trip with Keltic Express Zodiac Adventures which was tons of fun, even though we didn’t manage to see any whales on our trip out. Just as impressive to us though, we spotted three massive ocean sunfish, one of which swam right up to the boat. Sightings are not that common, and as they are the largest bony fish in the world – weighing up to 2.5 tons – we were super excited to observe them. Our captain on the trip was great and explained lots about the natural history of the area. We’ll try and go out with them again next year, maybe then we’ll spot a humpback or pilot whale.

There’s always a chance you’ll see moose in Cape Breton and there are signs all along the roadside warning you of their presence, but weirdly we are yet to encounter one in the wild. One day, I guess.