Five Islands – Coastal Views, Trails and Geology

Five Islands brings together coastal landscapes, trails and geological features. Five Islands gave its name to both the community and the provincial park, and is one of the iconic locations in the Cliffs of Fundy Geopark. The Five Islands Provincial Park is also home to the Triassic-Jurassic Fault geosite. The park is located at 618 Bentley Branch Road in Five Islands, Nova Scotia.

Views between the Cliffs and the Basin

The Coastal Trail in Five Islands Provincial Park runs along 90 m-high cliffs and offers a viewpoint. From there, you can look out over Old Wife, the Five Islands and the world’s highest tides.

Five Islands Lighthouse Park is a coastal park overlooking the Five Islands in the Bay of Fundy. Its panoramic view across the Minas Basin takes in all the Five Islands and Old Wife. The two viewpoints offer different perspectives: from the Coastal Trail, the cliffs and tides are part of the view; at Lighthouse Park, the Minas Basin frames the panorama. Old Wife and the Five Islands feature in both descriptions.

Trails and Activities in the Provincial Park

The Economy Mountain Trail in Five Islands Provincial Park is 3.8 km long. The “Junior Geologist: Ocean Floor Discovery” experience follows a 4 km round-trip route in the same park to the geological feature Old Wife. The figures can be compared as specific route distances, but they describe different formats: one gives the trail’s length, while the other gives the total distance there and back. The stated 4 km route therefore includes the journey to the destination and back.

If you’re considering an activity on the water alongside the trails, you can canoe or kayak on the coastal tidal waters in the provincial park. This gives you a choice of different ways to get around: walking routes on the one hand and paddling in coastal waters on the other. When planning, you can decide whether the trail distance or the tidal waters should be the deciding factor.

Geological and Cultural Connections

Old Wife connects two of the perspectives described above: the name refers both to a feature seen from the viewpoints and to the geological feature at the destination of the 4 km experience. The Triassic-Jurassic Fault geosite adds another geological connection in the provincial park. For those interested in geology, there are therefore different points of interest: a geosite in the park and a feature at the destination of the Junior Geologist experience.

Five Islands is the setting for a famous Kluskap story: in it, Kluskap tries to drive away the giant beaver by throwing five large clumps of earth into the bay. Long Island, one of the Five Islands, contains toolstone material that ancestors used to make tools. The geographical connections differ: the story is associated with Five Islands as its setting, while the material is associated with Long Island. The story gives the place meaning through a traditional tale, while the toolstone material points to its earlier use by ancestors.

Discover more destinations: Brookfield, Truro, Great Village, Alton, Shubenacadie East, Tatamagouche, Upper Stewiacke, Stewiacke.

Back to the overview of the region: Colchester County.