Cobequid Railtrail

This ride starts at the Truro visitor centre.  If the centre is open, find out the time of the tidal bore, as the west end of the railtrail passes close to the Salmon River.

A tidal bore is a strong tide coming in against the flow of a river.  A wave is created that rides upstream against the river flow.  The height of the wave depends on the moon's cycle, but even if you only see a small tidal bore wave, it is worth hanging around for half an hour or so to watch how quickly the river fills up with tidal water.

We often lock up our bikes, get an ice cream at the convenience store (just to the west of where the railtrail crosses hwy 236) and walk over to the dyke, if the tidal bore is due (allow 10 minutes or so either way).  There is a dirt parking lot and "path" from the road to the river dykes, just east of where the railtrail crosses the pavement.  (The ice cream cones were reasonably priced as of summer 2011.)

Anyway, the railtrail starts 1 km south of the visitor centre on King St.  Crossing Prince St to King St from the visitor centre is a nuisance intersection.  Be careful.

The railtrail goes west for 11 km to the community of Old Barns, crossing a couple of roads and several driveways en route.  Willow St is a nuisance road.  You may want to use the pedestrian crosswalk.   The beginning (east) end of the railtrail passes through residential and commercial areas.  The west half is more pleasant with farms, trees, the Salmon River and the sky.

We often see a bald eagle or two if the tide is out, and small flocks of sandpipers or Canada Geese in fall migration.  We've seen a coyote once.  There are a couple of picnic tables and several benches on the western half - pleasant places for a snack (or picnic lunch).  This is obviously a leisurely ride.

The railtrail is hard packed crusher dust, and we use skinny-tired road bikes without difficulty.

The return distance would be about 22 km.