On foot
Walking the reef
At spring low tides, you can walk almost a kilometre out into the strait on bare sandstone reef — gulls, lobster boats, and the lighthouse shrinking behind you. Strange and brilliant.
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Western PEI · Prince Edward Island
North Cape
The wind-swept top of PEI, where two seas meet and reef extends a kilometre out.
- Best time
- May – October; come at low tide to walk out on the reef.
- Getting there
- 2 hr northwest of Charlottetown via Highway 2.
- Suggested stay
- 1 night
- Known for
- North Cape Lighthouse · Tidal reef · Wind Energy Interpretive Centre
A portrait of North Cape
An essential stop.
At the very northern tip of PEI, the red cliffs of North Cape jut into the Northumberland Strait where one of the longest natural rock reefs in North America stretches kilometres into the sea — a quiet, wind-blown promontory of lighthouses and waving turbines.
Field notes
Three ways to feel the place.
On the map
The six places
to anchor your trip.
A tour through the icons and the under-the-radar corners — laid out the way a local would walk you through.
- 1
North Cape Lighthouse
1865 wooden lighthouse at the cape's tip with restaurant and small museum.
- 2
Tidal Reef
Largest natural reef in North America — extends two kilometres into the strait.
- 3
Wind Energy Centre
Canada's first wind R&D centre — interpretive panels among the turbines.
- 4
Black Marsh Nature Trail
5.5-km loop through bog, dune, and along the cape's western cliffs.
North Cape Lighthouse
Tidal Reef
Wind Energy Centre
Black Marsh Nature Trail
N
Year-round
North Cape through the seasons.
Spring
Massive ice floes still pile against the cape into April.
Summer
Wildflowers blanket the trail and the restaurant runs lobster nightly.
Autumn
Geese pass overhead and the marsh turns bronze.
Winter
Wind-bitten and beautiful; restaurant closes.
Insider tips
From people who live there.
- 01
Check the tide chart — the reef walk only works at very low water.
- 02
Detour to Tignish for the towering Romanesque Catholic church.
- 03
Combine with the Skinner's Pond drive — Stompin' Tom Connors' hometown.
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