This is a short hop, from Truro on the Fundy shore (and a great point to detour to Halifax) to New Glasgow on the Northumberland Strait, where you can take the ferry to Prince Edward Island. This route goes through productive farm country and some forests re-growing on the hilltops.
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The Trans-Canada between Truro and New Glasgow moves through a slight hilly transition into the Pictou Lowlands and the Northumberland Strait.
South of Truro lies the Minas Basin which is part of the Bay of Fundy renowned for its extreme tides. There are several tidal estauraies in the Turro area that flow into the Minas Basin. Right in Truro (just one exit off Highway 102 from the Trans-Canada) is the Tidal Bore Observation Station on the Salmon River.
Truro itsself is an old community, which has both an old downtown featuriong lots of brick buildings, and a beautiful Victoria Park with scenic trails and a waterfall.
Nerth from Truro, the highway makes a steady climb, firts through low-lying farmlands and then as it climbs through forested lands on hilltops.
About midway is the Gully Lake Wilderness Area which protects a patch of Cobequid Mountain woodlands, with gardwood and mixed forest hills (with mature sugar maple, yellow birch and red spruce) rise to more than 300 metres above sea level. The area is home to endangered mainland moose, and other species, The waters here drain through tributary streams, primarily south into Truro’s Salmon River.
The high point on this port of the Trans-Canada is at the Mt Thom exit, after which the highway begins a decent to the St Lawrence Lowlands and the Northumberland Strait. The highway makes some impressive rock cuts to smooth its slopes here. Before lpong you are treated to fleeting glimpses of the St Lawrence Gulf and the Northumberland Strait. This area was settled early and much preferred for gentle river access to inland pine stands. The fertile farmlands along the West River were settled early on, but those lands that needed to be cleared of forests were less fertile and were not economic until the advent of commercial fertilizers in the 1950s.
As you move to the Northumberland Strait, you enter the Pictou Lowlands You will see an exit to the PEI Ferries ( run by Northumberland Ferries) at Caribou before reaching New Glasgow on Highway #104, at Exit 22. On the PEI Ferry route travelling 19 kilometres to the ferry ramps, you pass thorugh the small community of Pictou. And if you are coming off the ferry from PEI, after Pictou you cross a bridge and take the next left along a pretty shoreline drive along Little River into New Glasgow.
. The region’s market center is New Glasgow, and there is lots to see in this town.
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Note:
| KM | (metres) | Info | ||
| 0 | Exit 22 N to Hwy 106, town of Pictou (14 km), ferry to PEI (19 km) (Pictou) | 51.5 |
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| 1 | Exit 21 to Pictou Rd (Hwy 4), N to Alma, Greenhill PP, S to route 289 and Westville (5 km), services (Pictou) | 50.9 |
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| 2 | Crossing Skinner Brook | 13.7 |
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| 6 | Exit 20 N to Hwy 4 and Green Hill Prov Park | 62.2 |
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| 13.9 | Crossing Miller Brook | 41.5 |
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| 14 | Exit 19 N to Hwy 4 & Salt Springs Prov Park (1 km), camping, S to W River East Side Rd | 40.2 |
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| 28 | Exit 18A, access to Hwy 4, W to Kemptown (4 km), E to Mount Thom (2 km) | 186.2 |
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| 32 | Crossing River, flows north to Hingley Lake | 93.6 |
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| 35 | Exit 18 Stevens Cross Rd, N to Hwy 4, S to Riversdale | 168.6 |
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| 44 | Exit 17 to Hwy 4 (Pictou Rd ) and Salmon River Rd, SE on #4 into Truro (Truro) | 55.2 |
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| 50 | Crossing North River / Salmon River (Truro) | 15.5 |
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| 50 | underpass for route 311 (no access), N to North River, S to Bible Hill (Truro) | 17.1 |
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| 54 | Exit 15 to Hwy 102, S to Truro, Halifax, E to new Glasgow (Truro) | 34.1 |
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| KM | (metres) | Info |
| KM | (metres) | Info | ||
| 0 | Exit 15 to Hwy 102, S to Truro, Halifax, E to new Glasgow (Truro) | 34.1 |
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| 4 | Crossing North River / Salmon River (Truro) | 15.5 |
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| 4 | underpass for route 311 (no access), N to North River, S to Bible Hill (Truro) | 17.1 |
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| 10 | Exit 17 to Hwy 4 (Pictou Rd ) and Salmon River Rd, SE on #4 into Truro (Truro) | 55.2 |
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| 19 | Exit 18 Stevens Cross Rd, N to Hwy 4, S to Riversdale | 168.6 |
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| 22 | Crossing River, flows north to Hingley Lake | 93.6 |
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| 26 | Exit 18A, access to Hwy 4, W to Kemptown (4 km), E to Mount Thom (2 km) | 186.2 |
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| 40 | Exit 19 N to Hwy 4 & Salt Springs Prov Park (1 km), camping, S to W River East Side Rd | 40.2 |
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| 40.1 | Crossing Miller Brook | 41.5 |
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| 48 | Exit 20 N to Hwy 4 and Green Hill Prov Park | 62.2 |
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| 52 | Crossing Skinner Brook | 13.7 |
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| 53 | Exit 21 to Pictou Rd (Hwy 4), N to Alma, Greenhill PP, S to route 289 and Westville (5 km), services (Pictou) | 50.9 |
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| 54 | Exit 22 N to Hwy 106, town of Pictou (14 km), ferry to PEI (19 km) (Pictou) | 51.5 |
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| KM | (metres) | Info |
