Tourism on the Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia) facts for kids

The Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum is a fun place to learn about trains.

The Eastern Shore is a beautiful coastal region in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It's a popular spot for tourists and is famous for its stunning natural scenery. One of its most amazing features is an archipelago, which is a group of many islands, known as the 100 Wild Islands.

Explore History and Culture

The Eastern Shore is full of museums and attractions where you can learn about the area's fascinating past. You can discover stories about gold miners, fishermen, and the first people who settled here.

Step into the Past

Some museums on the Eastern Shore are "living museums." This means people in costumes act out what life was like in different time periods, making you feel like you've traveled back in time!

• Acadian House Museum/L'Acadie de Chezzetcook: Visit this museum in West Chezzetcook to see how Acadian families lived on the Eastern Shore in the 1800s.
• Fisherman's Life Museum: Located in Oyster Pond, this Nova Scotia Museum site shows you what life was like for a fisherman's family in the early 1900s.
• Memory Lane Heritage Village: This living history museum in Lake Charlotte takes you back to life in a rural Nova Scotian village during the 1940s.
• MacPhee House Community Museum: In Sheet Harbour, this historic building has been both a house and a hotel. It now shows what home life was like on the Eastern Shore long ago.
• Sherbrooke Village: This is a large living museum where you can explore a whole village as it was in the 1800s. It's part of the Nova Scotia Museum network.
• Whitman House Museum: This Canso museum tells the local history of the town, including the important battles that happened there.
• Old Courthouse Museum: Located in an old courthouse in Guysborough, this museum shares the history of the town and the building itself.

The Hunt for Gold

Did you know the Eastern Shore had a gold rush? These museums tell the exciting story of gold mining in the region.

• Moose River Gold Mine Museum: This museum and park tells the story of a famous gold mine disaster and rescue that happened in 1936.
• Goldenville Gold Mining Interpretive Centre: Learn how the small community of Goldenville became one of the biggest gold-producing areas in Nova Scotia.
• Goldboro Interpretive Centre: This center in Goldboro shares the history of the town and its gold mines.

Life by the Sea

The ocean has always been important to the people of the Eastern Shore. Learn about lighthouses, fishing, and life on the coast.

• Port Bickerton Lighthouse Interpretive Centre: Visit a real lighthouse in Port Bickerton and learn about its job of keeping ships safe.
• Out of the Fog Lighthouse Museum: This museum in Half Island Cove shows what it was like to live and work in a lighthouse station.
• Saint Mary's River Salmon Museum: Discover the history of salmon and other wildlife in the Saint Mary's River near Sherbrooke.
• Canso Islands National Historic Site: Take a ferry to this Parks Canada site to learn about the history of the Grassy Island Fort and the battles that took place in Canso.

More Cool Places to Visit

• Shearwater Aviation Museum: See amazing aircraft and learn about the history of flying at CFB Shearwater and other Canadian aviation sites.
• Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum: Located in an old train station in Musquodoboit Harbour, this museum teaches you about the trains that once traveled through the area.
• Icelandic Memorial: This site marks a settlement where people from Iceland lived in the 1800s. It includes a trail, a log cabin, and a monument.
• Baird's Tradesman Museum: See a collection of rare and antique tools, some over 200 years old, from many different jobs in the Aspen, Nova Scotia area.
• Prince Henry Sinclair Monument: This tall granite monument in Halfway Cove includes an information center and a lookout with great views.
• Mulgrave Heritage Centre: Learn all about the history of the town of Mulgrave at this heritage and information center.

Arts and Entertainment

The Eastern Shore is also a place for art and music. You can visit galleries to see local art or catch a show at a community theatre.

• Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre and Cultural Centre: This 230-seat theatre in Middle Musquodoboit hosts concerts, dances, and plays.
• Chedabucto Place Performance Centre: Located in Guysborough, this theatre is a popular spot for community events and musical performances.
• Mulgrave Road Theatre: Also in Guysborough, this theatre is known for creating some of the best plays in Atlantic Canada.
• Old School Gallery: In Musquodoboit Harbour, this gallery is in a historic school and features local art.
• Clipper Gallery: This small gallery in Musquodoboit Harbour shows art and photos of the local area.
• Eastern Shores Gallery: This shop in Head of Jeddore sells locally made gifts and crafts from over 40 artists.
• Black Sheep Gallery: Found in a converted fish plant in West Jeddore, this gallery features folk art from many provincial artists.
• Barry Colpitts House: Artist Barry Colpitts has decorated his house in East Ship Harbour so much that the house itself has become an attraction!

Outdoors, Beaches and Parks

The Eastern Shore is perfect for exploring nature. It has many beautiful parks and sandy beaches to enjoy. (This list does not include surfing spots.)

• Rainbow Haven Beach Provincial Park, Cow Bay
• Conrad's Beach, West Lawrencetown
• Lawrencetown Beach Provincial Park, East Lawrencetown
• Lake Echo Beach, Lake Echo
• Porter's Lake Provincial Park, Porters Lake
• Sandy Point Beach, Porters Lake
• Long Beach/Lower East Chezzetcook Provincial Park, Lower East Chezzetcook
• Petpeswick Lake Beach, Gaetz Brook
• River Oaks Golf Club, Meaghers Grant
• Dollar Lake Provincial Park, Wyse Corner
• Elderbank Waterway Provincial Park, Elderbank
• Musquodoboit Valley Provincial Park, Middle Musquodoboit
• Moose River Gold Mines Provincial Park, Moose River Gold Mines
• Martinique Beach Provincial Park, East Petpeswick
• Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park, Clam Harbour
• E&F Webber Lakeside Park, Upper Lakeville
• Coastal Adventures, Tangier
• Taylor Head Provincial Park, Spry Bay
• Spry Bay Provincial Park, Spry Bay
• Marie Joseph Provincial Park, Liscombe Mills
• Sherbrooke Provincial Park, Sherbrooke
• Stonewall Leisure Park, Sherbrooke
• Lochiel Lake Provincial Park, Lochiel Lake
• Salsman Provincial Park, Country Harbour
• Tor Bay Provincial Park, Tor Bay
• Black Duck Cove Provincial Park, Little Dover
• Queensport Beach, Queensport
• Osprey Shores Golf Resort, Guysborough
• Boylston Provincial Park, Boylston
• Port Shoreham Beach Provincial Park, Port Shoreham

Trails

If you love to hike or bike, the Eastern Shore has many trails that let you explore its beautiful landscapes, from coastal paths to forest routes.

• Salt Marsh Trail, Cole Harbour to West Lawrencetown
• Atlantic View Trail, East Lawrencetown to Seaforth
• Crowbar Lake Hiking Trails, Porters Lake
• Blueberry Run Trail, Porters Lake to Seaforth
• Gaetz Brook Greenway, Musquodoboit Harbour to East Chezzetcook
• Musquodoboit Trailway, Musquodoboit Harbour
• Oyster Pond Trail, Oyster Pond
• Liscombe River Trail System, Liscombe Mills
• Port Bickerton Lighthouse Beach Park Trail, Port Bickerton
• Loyalist Trail, Country Harbour
• Chapel Gully Trail, Canso
• Barrenland Trail, Queensport
• Guysborough Nature Trail, Guysborough
• Guysborough Waterfront Trail, Guysborough